Like many ultramarthon runners I’ve talked to on the show, Jonathan Prosser hated running when he was young. But then, his experience with running was in training for high school basketball. Running consisted of sprints with a lot of stopping and starting.
He started running after he left high school and discovered that he loved it. He started running two mile loops around Washburn University campus. He did it to stay in shape and he thinks the reason he loved running was because there wasn’t a coach yelling at him to go faster. It was his own inner challenge.
Jonathan started running longer distances in 2019 as part of a goal to complete an Ironoman. He entered a triathlon in Topeka called the Tin Man. It’s an Olympic distance triathlon.
His friend, Josh Thompson, had a small group of runners that met at local trails and invited him to go out with them. He enjoyed the woods and found trail running to be harder than road running. But he loves the challenge of trail running and now only occasionally enters any road races.
In the fall of 2019 he completed his first marathon, the Kansas City Marathon. Then in January of 2020 he finished a 50K trail race. These races made him curious to test his limits as a runner. And he likes the longer distances because he says he’s not a fast runner.
Johnathan wasn’t satisfied with the 50k distance. He wanted to see what his body was capable of. So in the fall of 2020 he entered the Austin Rattler 66K. It was farther than a 50K, but he felt like he had more to give.
After the race, he won a drawing for a free entry into the Leadville 100. His first thought was that he would have to find a qualifying race so he could run Leadville. He had the option to postpone his entry for a year. He said it was a good decision that he did so.
He decided to enter the Silverheels 100 with his friend, Devin Nelson. They didn’t give themselves any time to adjust to running at altitude, and it caused them to struggle. They made it to an aid station at 65 miles and found they were the last ones on the course. The course sweeper was with them and said they had time, but they would have to push hard. Johnathan said that part of what contributed to the DNF was his mindset. Somewhere along the way doubt had crept in and he didn’t think he had time to make the cutoff. Sleep deprivation and lack of calories also contributed.
He says that for anyone who is thinking about running this far to lean on the power of self-talk. It’s more powerful than you think, and it is something that he now uses in his running.
After the DNF, he still needed a qualifying race. So he entered the Outlaw 100 in Oklahoma. He finished that race and took the lessons learned into his run at Leadville.
He says his race started with a funny twist. He was with all 600 or so other runners at the start. Waiting for the race he was taking pictures and enjoying the moment. Then, four minutes before the start, he realizes he doesn’t have his nutrition in his pack. He quickly calls his wife who gets his coach. His coach sprints to get something out of his own car and runs to hand it to Johnathan. He says one of his favorite pictures is of him as the last person across the starting line. And, he ran faster in those first miles as he tried to catch up with the pack.
His coach gave hun a strategy for his race. He said, “Don’t try to bank time. Focus on banking your energy.” So Johnathan was conservative during the first half of the race. He conquered the challenge of Hope Pass at the turn-around point. But he says that the back side of Hope Pass was even more challenging than the front.
But once he got to pick up his pacers, he began to push himself a little more. He began to pass runners who hadn’t managed their energy as well as he had. He was running strong for the final miles and felt great crossing the finish line.
Next he plans to run the first of October the Ouray 100 and then he will recover and see what he will do next. But he still wants to go further and see how far he can go so he is working with his coach on the possibility of doing a 200 next year. But he knows it won’t be easy.
Bridge questions:
Something you needed but didn’t have at Leadville: An actual headlamp earlier in the race. He had only a small one.
Something you had that you didn’t need: Carried too much nutition with me.
Weirdest thing you’ve seen on the trails: He ran into some students who were getting high and looked at him like he was a weirdo.
What is the word or phrase that sums up your philosophy of life: Comfort is a slow death.
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