Maybe the boundless Western Kansas plains tempt kids to race to the horizon. Maybe the humidity that settles in each summer and chokes the energy out of everyone prepares Kansans for the pain that comes from pushing the body to its limit.

Whatever the reason, Kansas has produced some of the best runners in U.S. history. Glenn Cunningham, Wes Santee, Jim Ryun and Maurice Greene all hail from Kansas. Same with one of the country’s best meets, the Kansas Relays.

This year’s installment started Wednesday night and continues through Saturday. Since 1923, all that homegrown talent has wowed crowds at the relays.

Cunningham, who once held the U.S. record for the mile, won several distance events in the mid-1930s. Ryun set a meet record for the mile with a time of 3 minutes, 54 seconds.

Santee and Greene’s stories are the best to tell.

Fortunately for us, Neal Bascomb wrote a wonderful book, “The Perfect Mile,” that gives an in-depth look at Santee’s life. The book chronicles Santee, John Landy and Roger Bannister’s chase for the first sub-four-minute mile in the early 1950s.

As a kid in Ashland, Santee ran. He ran to the barn. He ran to the grain silo. He ran five miles to school. He ran far away to the University of Kansas to escape his sometimes abusive father.

All of the running prepared him to take center stage in the race for the first 3:59 mile. After a few sub 4:06 times, Santee thought he was finally ready for the big one. Of course, he wanted to do it at the Kansas Relays.

A then record large crowd sat on the edge of their seats waiting for the mile race on April 18, 1954. A little before the race, a drop of rain fell from the sky. Then another. Soon, the cinder track turned into a Slip ‘n Slide.

Crews finally cleared off the flooded track, but the conditions were terrible. Standing puddles dotted the outside lanes and a sharp wind blew. That didn’t stop Santee. He ran the gutsiest race of his life. After three laps, he had the chance to be the first runner under four. Fifty-five seconds and 440 yards stood between him and immortality.

But it didn’t quite work out. The wet surface and harsh winds were too tough to overcome. Santee finished with a 4:03.1 time, the second fastest U.S. mile at the time. It was also the best mile time at the Kansas Relays until Ryun ran faster in ‘67.

After the eras of Santee and Ryun, something happened to track and field: Americans began preferring long home runs instead of long distance runs. They began watching cars zoom around a track, not people.

Apathy towards the sport also hurt the relays. Attendance lagged in the ‘80s. In 1998 and 1999, renovations to Memorial Stadium caused the event to be cancelled. By 2000, the Kansas Relays were in danger of extinction. That’s when Kansas City, Kan., native Maurice Greene helped save it.

Thousands rushed to see the world’s fastest human, who would win the gold medal in the 100-meter dash later that year at the Olympics. Spectators stood and cheered when he strutted along the track before his 4x100 meter race. They crammed into the front row on the stadium’s west side to get the best view while he did his warm-ups. They flashed cameras when he received the baton in his anchor position.

Then, the commotion stopped. Everyone held their breath and admired Greene as he glided down the homestretch, perfect stride all the way, for a first place finish. The Kansas Relays were back.

This year there are plenty of Kansas natives on the Jayhawk roster to carry on the tradition — Matt Baysinger, Lisa Morrisey and Josh Kirk.

To me, Paul Hefferon sticks out. Hefferon, who’s from Overland Park, was an All-American in the 5,000 meter last year and placed sixth in the mile at the 2006 Kansas Relays.

He’s probably not going to run a mile in less than four minutes or attract a record crowd. That doesn’t mean he won’t do something that will make people gasp with excitement.

After all, he’s a Kansan. And Kansans know how to make the relays special.

Dent is an Overland Park sophomore in journalism.

— Edited by Jyl Unruh