Wichita becomes a popular destination for runners

When the Prairie Fire Marathon began in 2010, race director Bob Hanson made the decision that he would not pay elite runners or provide them free entry to lure them to Wichita.

He gambled that the race would grow organically and from reputation. Five years later, with a star-studded field expected in Sunday’s three races, Hanson has established the Prairie Fire series into an enticing option for elite runners in the region.

“A lot of these elite runners have to have free entry or they’re not going to come, so we weren’t interested in that,” Hanson said. “We treat every runner fairly and that’s what we wanted to focus on building. We’re not drawing the names like New York does, but we do have a lot of really good times coming this year.”

The men’s marathon could be special with defending champion Geoffrey Kiprotich and two-time champion Mario Macias, whose winning time in 2013 (2 hours, 23 minutes, 12 seconds) was the fastest time in Kansas since 1987. Local runner Javier Ceja, who has won two Prairie Fire titles at shorter distances, is also in the field but isn’t close to his physical peak.

Hanson thinks the field has a chance to push the winner past Macias’s time, which stands as the fifth-fastest in Kansas history.

“I think we have the runners to do it, but we just don’t know what the conditions are going to be like,” Hanson said. “If we have a cooler morning and we don’t have much wind, then I think they’ll have a chance.”

In total, Hanson counts 11 runners expected to compete Sunday who have won some form of race in the Prairie Fire series.

So what has all of these top-tier runners coming back?

“It’s run very well and what keeps me coming back is the course,” said Katie Kramer-Ochoa, who won the marathon in 2013 and is coming back for the third time from her home base in Tulsa. “If you’re looking to qualify for Boston or you want to run a really fast time, then I think Prairie Fire has a good course to do that. You get the best of both words: a well-organized race and a good course.”

It’s not a coincidence that since the Prairie Fire series began in 2010, the state’s history books have been busy updating. Chris Burnett, at 1:04:25, set the state record for the men’s half-marathon in his title-winning performance, while Aliphine Tuliamuk-Bo (2013 half-marathon in 1:14:36) and Raquel Stucky (2014 marathon in 2:44:58) both set the state record in their respective women’s races.

“I definitely see myself coming back in the future,” said Burnett, who recently completed his collegiate career at Wichita State. “I get to run in front of a lot of people that usually don’t get to see me race, so it’s like my one opportunity to run well in front of them.”

While Hanson certainly enjoys the exposure that comes with having runners of that caliber choose his race, he has focused his efforts more on building a quality experience for every kind of runner — not just the ones that are finishing in front.

The Back 2 Back Challenge, which allows runners to sign up for races in the spring and fall edition of the series and collect three shirts and three medals, has been a hit with nearly 1,000 runners signing up.

Hanson has aggressively recruited runners in Oklahoma and Texas, which he thinks is an untapped market for the race. He expects more than 400 from the two states to run on Sunday. He’s also gone after runners attempting to finish a race in every state and expects to have over 100 such runners in attendance, including runners from 40 states and five countries.

Prairie Fire will also become the first race in Kansas to use RaceJoy, a free mobile app that spits out a runner’s current pace, projected finish time, and even GPS tracking during the race through a chip implanted in the each runner’s bib.

It’s all part of an experience that Hanson wants for everyone who chooses his race.

“We want to be a runner-friendly event and everything we do we have our runners in mind,” Hanson said. “I think it’s going to be the best one yet with everything we have going this year.”

This story was originally published October 7, 2015 at 11:22 PM.