10th annual Howard Aslinger Endurance Run in the lead for participants, proceeds

With nearly 140 contestants and a goal of more than $20,000, this year’s Howard Aslinger Endurance Run is on track for being the biggest yet.

Between 7 p.m. Friday and 7 p.m. Saturday in Arena Park in Cape Girardeau, runners and walkers from all over were voluntarily inconveniencing themselves for a good cause, according to co-organizer Bryan Kelpe.

Proceeds from the 10th annual event benefit the Howard L. Aslinger Memorial Scholarship Foundation.

“Howard (Aslinger) was a tremendous person and a mentor to me,” Kelpe said Friday. “Whenever he [died], we wanted to honor him. He always wanted to provide scholarships for students with disabilities, so that’s what our foundation does.”

According to Kelpe, Aslinger was confined to a wheelchair because of polio from the age of 11 until his death in 2009. But during his life he didn’t let his disability stop him from living life to fullest.

Aslinger coached soccer, softball and basketball, and also helped introduce youth soccer within the Cape Girardeau area, Kelpe said.

And since the run’s inception, Aslinger’s motivational saying, “It’s not a handicap, it’s an inconvenience,” has become a mantra for the event.

There are a lot of obstacles in life, Kelpe said, but it’s important to not let those obstacles become disabilities.

“They are inconveniences that we can overcome,” he added.

Logan Range, 13, of Carterville, Illinois, was participating midnight Friday in ordinary running attire. But he also was wearing a chicken hat because he “just likes to wear funny stuff.”

“I’m trying to beat my record of 50 miles, faster than 21 hours,” Logan said. “I didn’t do 50 miles last year. I did 50K.”

Stacey Barrientos of Barnhart, Missouri, was in attendance Saturday to “see how far I can push myself,” she said while jogging.

“I do crazy races all the time,” she said. “I just did The Endurance Trials, exactly two weeks ago [Saturday], in 52 miles. That was in Festus, Missouri.”

Barrientos said she travels and participates in similar events all over the country.

“My sister is disabled. She’s epileptic and acquired brain damage when she was a baby. So, this [race] I thought was personal, because of her,” she said. “She does Special Olympics every year.”

Also Saturday, Christopher Bonner of Cape Girardeau was running alongside his friend Tyler Schlesselman of Jackson.

Schlesselman was well on his way to hitting a personal 100K milestone, Bonner said.

“It’s a training run for me, for a 50-miler,” Schlesselman said. “And also, my dad ran a 50-miler last week, and I wanted to up him one.”

Schlesselman said last year he and his father ran the trail at the Grand Canyon.

“It took 18 hours,” he said of the venture.

According to Bonner, Schlesselman helped him train for his first marathon. Bonner said he has been running consistently for two years, triggered by a report of having high cholesterol at the age of 25.

And since that time, Bonner said it’s been “just a slow progression of ‘madness.’”

He started with 3 miles, and thought he could probably do a half-marathon, he said. Then after a half-marathon, he thought about taking on a full marathon.

“I did two full marathons last year, and thought I should go for an ultra marathon this year,” Bonner said. “So this is it.”

The competition comprises a 24-hour run that started at 7 p.m. Friday; a 12-hour run that began at 7 p.m. Friday; a 12-hour day that started at 7 a.m. Saturday; a midnight 5K Friday; and a one-hour noncompetitive run Saturday.

This year’s run raised between $20,000 and $25,000, Kim Kelpe, daughter of Aslinger and co-organizer of the event, said via text message Saturday night.

jhartwig@semissourian.com

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