Living life on the run

A couple years ago, at the Toybox One-Mile Run on Broadway, Bryan Kelpe finished the race in an uncharacteristically slow 7 minutes, 20 seconds.

Also uncharacteristic was his style of running: backward.

Kelpe took a bet from one of his friends and finished "near the top" of the pack in the race, something to which the 26-year-old is accustomed by now.

Kelpe, a Cape Girardeau resident, was inspired in grade school by an article about a famous runner and has since tried just about everything in the sport -- from running backward to running ultra-marathons. He ran for the Central cross country team in high school but opted not to participate in the sport in college.

In the past year, he's finished first overall in four races, including the Twappity Trail 5K, in which he set a course record.

"I'm been doing pretty good," he said. "I've been pretty happy with how I've run so far this year."

Kelpe joined the Cape Girardeau Road Runners Board of Directors six years ago and now serves as the editor of FootNotes, a newsletter for members of the organization. Because of his involvement with the organization, he has to sit out certain races to help during the events.

When not at road races, Kelpe spends time at the Central Junior High track, coaching a local youth track program he started. The first-year club, which includes children from kindergarten to sixth grade, competed against area teams in about 10 meets during its first season from March to May. The team practices twice a week during the season, and Kelpe also meets with some of the young runners once a week during the summer.

"Every other community throughout the state has had a youth track program," he said, "but Cape hasn't had one. I figured you might as well try to spark an interest in track and field early."

The program consisted of nearly 50 runners last season, and Coach K thinks that number will continue to grow.

"I've been pretty excited about it," Kelpe said. "I hope to see it expand, but being the first year, it was a nice number that could be handled. I was able to get my feet wet, and next year I hope to see up to 100."

Meanwhile, Kelpe continues to pound the pavement. He has run four marathons and two 31-mile ultra-marathons, in which he placed third both times. He qualified for the Boston Marathon, finished third in his age group at the Mardi Gras Marathon in New Orleans in February and placed fifth overall at the Mercedes Marathon in Birmingham, Ala., last year.

"My biggest accomplishment was probably at the Mercedes Marathon because I just went there to finish the race, and I walked at every water station, and I ended up running a PR that day," he said.

His PR -- personal record -- time was 2 hours, 53 minutes and 41 seconds.

Kelpe hopes to keep running and someday be the 80-year-old who is running road races.

"It's definitely going to be part of my life for as long as I can run," he said. "I'd eventually like to break 2:40 in marathons and break 16 minutes in a 5K.

"I just love competing," he added. "I love that feeling that I've done something after a good hard run. If I don't run, then there's something wrong that day. It's a stress-reliever for me, and it can be painful, but I enjoy it."

Mark Unterreiner is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian, and his Spotlight feature appears every Thursday.