The 2nd annual Prairie Spirit Trail 100 & 50 Mile Ultra Races take place on Saturday, March 29, 2014, starting in Ottawa, Kansas.

The races take place on the Prairie Spirit Trail, a “rails-to-trails” course that runs through numerous quaint little towns. Runners will do an out-and-back, beginning in Ottawa and traveling south to Iola (100 milers) or Garnett (50 milers), then, back north to the finish.

The course is primarily on a crushed limestone trail, with asphalt paths as you travel through each town. Manned and unmanned aid stations will be approximately every 5 miles (with no greater distance than approximately 6 miles) and the course is easily accessible to crew.

It’s a great event for first timers, as it’s a flat and relatively easy course. It’s also the perfect course for experienced runners wanting to set a PR. The atmosphere will be family friendly with plenty of places for crews to hang out and relax while cheering. Pacers WILL NOT be allowed in the 50 mile event. Pacers WILL BE allowed for the second half of the 100 mile event.

Last year’s event was, to put it mildly, epic. As if running 100 miles wasn’t challenging enough, a late-season snowfall made the conditions surreal, and extremely difficult.

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Event organizer Eric Steele writes:

None of us could have ever predicted or fully prepared for the magnitude of “ultra-experience” we were all given the opportunity to partake in. Massive congratulations to everyone who was gutsy enough to toe the starting line, in either race on March 23, 2013!

In nearly twenty years of directing and competing in ultra races, I have never witnessed such relentless intestinal fortitude and raw determination from a group of runners then I did at Prairie Spirit, especially late in the race Saturday night and into the wee hours of Sunday morning.

Here’s hoping for more favorable conditions this year!