The "Manhattan Optimist Club Bulletin" Vol. 2026 #3 10-15-25

VOLUME 2026    OCTOBER 15    NUMBER 3

President Kelly Karl welcomed everyone and gave us our daily reflection that was followed by the flag salute.

ACHES & PAINS: Pumpkin Spice season… be kind and enjoy the beauty!

PROGRAM: Mike Fincham introduced our speaker this morning, Jessa Peterson. Mike became aware of Jessa through an article that appeared in the Manhattan Mercury this past August, as the headline read, “100 Miles of Pain-and Gain-Business Owner Jessa Peterson competes Ultramarathon.” Fascinated by the article which described Jessa’s completion of a 100-mile-ultra race that took place in the Rocky Mountains last July and that’s just a teaser!

Jessa Peterson graduated from KU in 2002 with a BS in Business and Marketing. She hales from Manhattan and graduated from Manhattan High School. She lives in Wamego with her husband Brian (also an Ultra Runner) and her two children, Indie and Crew. She is the founder and owner of Chapter 5 Yoga, with studios in Manhattan and Wamego. She pioneered a yoga culture in Manhattan when she moved from Los Angeles to Manhattan 15 years ago. As she realized there was more we could be doing for our community and left to follow her passion of helping people. Jessa started teaching in 2007, she has taught over 12,000 classes and is E-RYT 500 Certified. She leads 200-hour teacher trainings and 100-hour mentorships. She believes there isn’t a “one-size fits all” to yoga and encourages students to find what works in their individual bodies while paying attention and working hard. She loves building community and seeing people grow through yoga practice.

Not everyone can complete a 100-mile race, but Wamego’s Jessa Peterson can lay claim to that honor after finishing the grueling High Lonesome 100 in the rarefied air of the Colorado Rocky Mountains on July 19th. Ultra racing is defined as anything that is over marathon length – or 26.2 miles. The average runner just doesn’t start out on a 100-mile race, Peterson has been running since she was 18 years old. She continued to run thru her 20s and 30s, has done a bunch of ½ marathons and attempted her first 50 miler in 2022 and did not finish, she was pulled at the 34-mile mark. Thinking at that point, there was no way, she continued to work hard, did two 50-mile races last year and felt very good and started training for the 100-miler. Jessa trained with a coach that had done this race before as well as her husband. Training from January thru July, and Kansas not really having any “alpine terrain” made it more of a challenge, but she made it happen.

The actual race started at 6:00 am on a Friday morning and she had to keep going, as an ultra-race id done in one stretch. This one had a 37-hour cut off, if you don’t make it in 37 hours, you don’t get the finish. Throughout the race, there are checkpoints, and they call them cut offs, if you don’t reach a cut off at a certain time, you are out of the race. She ran through the day, through the night and through the next day, finishing the race at 5:04 pm Saturday, with a time of 35 hours and 4 minutes. WoW!

“For the first 83 miles, I felt fantastic” she said. “I was in a good mood, I was dancing at aid stations, I was giddy – it was just fun.” Then came mile 83… “From 83 to 93, I really struggled mentally” she said. “It was just a long time to be out there, by then, at least 24 hours, I started to feel kind of outside my body, lightheaded and not feeling great. My feet started to really ache, and I got to the aid station at mile 93 and only had 7 miles left.” “By this point, the pain had turned into grit and determination. I was like OK, I know I can do this. It’s just going to hurt and be uncomfortable, but I can get it done.”

At this point her friend and fellow runner Paul stepped in as one of her pacers. (Pacers can lead runners, talk with them and encourage them, but are not allowed to help them.) Paul got her to jog for a while, walk a few steps, breathe and kept her from being distracted by the pain, she focused on his feet in front of her to keep from thinking about her own discomfort. Then came the last mile and a half… a place the runners call “swear hill” because as Peterson explained, it’s a steep incline and you can hear people cussing as the struggle up it. “So, I walked up Swear Hill and at the top of the hill, my kids were waiting there with my husband, and they ran with me into the finishing chute, and I finished!” Peterson said, “It was a little surreal, hard to imagine I had made it 100 miles. It was a powerful experience, and I’d do it again.” What an experience, she said it is just a great sense of achievement. Thank you, Jessa, for sharing your story.

Chili Crawl is coming together, October 18th is this year’s date. Bill Wisdom and Greg McCune sounded great Friday on the radio!

Bewitching in Westloop on Halloween, Clyde Scott and a few others will assist handing out candy.

Hoop Holler & Shoot is right around the corner, Thad Hall will be looking for some help, with these shoots. (some of the dates are Nov 8, Nov 11, Nov 18 and Dec 8) Please reach out to Thad if you are able to assist!

Huge shout out to all those helping keep the Optimist Park and Fields in great condition. Thank you, Bruce Bidwell, Jim Franke, Steve Boeckman, Dan O’Neill, Steve Springer, Brad Horchem, Clyde Scott and Marlene Franke. Thank you all so much and all others who help out when they can. It is a commitment and so much appreciated.

DUES ARE DUE: October 1st, $140.00 can be given to Clyde Scott.

GUESTS: No other guests were in attendance today.

Meeting adjourned with the Optimist Creed