OTTAWA — Neither the wind, nor snow nor the dead of night could deter more than 60 runners from making the rounds of the Prairie Spirit Trail this weekend. Despite a blizzard along much of the route early Sunday, six ultra-marathoners ran slightly more than 100 miles from Ottawa to Iola and back, and 55 ran the 50-mile course from Ottawa to Garnett and back Saturday and Sunday. The runners took off early Saturday morning from Ottawa and kept on hot-footing despite the cold, snowy conditions, Franklin County Convention and Tourism executive director Kristi Lee said. Lee, who lives in Richmond, said she tried to stand along the trail to wave at and encourage the runners but even the weather got too bad for her. A Web site by race organizer Eric Steele reports that Brandon Purdeu, 25, Lawton, Okla., had the fastest time for the 100-mile, going from Ottawa to Iola and back in slightly more than 16 hours. The oldest runner in the 100-mile race, Randy Ellis, 61, Sapulpa, Okla., came in third with a time of slightly more than 23 hours — 23:07:40, to be precise. Thomas Aten, 27, Oklahoma City; came in first in the 50-mile in 6:58:24. April Calaway, 34, Wichita; came in third and was the fastest woman at 7:36:30. Billy Weaver, 29, Paola; finished 46th with a time of 13:49:17. Although most runners came from Kansas and surrounding states, there were runners from Washington, Georgia, Maryland, Alabama and Philadelphia.
Tuesday, March 26, 3 p.m.
