Adaptive athlete division added to Salina Crossroads Marathon

6 days ago 2

Registration for the Salina Crossroads Marathon's fifth anniversary race is open, with 1,018 runners from 41 states and Canada already signed up.

The race, scheduled for Nov. 7, 2026, will feature a new Adaptive Athlete Division, allowing participants with disabilities to take part.

"This is an exciting year for the Salina Crossroads Marathon because we will be adding a new Adaptive Athlete Division," said Daniel Craig, co-race director. "Over the last 12 months we have visited with races that have adaptive athlete divisions to ensure we have accommodations in place to make the 2026 Salina Crossroads Marathon a fun and exciting experience for all of the adaptive athletes who participate."

Craig said one adaptive athlete was key in helping make this possible.

"We especially want to thank Ray Stelly, an adaptive endurance athlete from Texas who participated virtually in last year’s Salina Crossroads event, as he was gracious and offered his time to talk through and discuss the key elements we need to have in place to be ready to add the adaptive athlete divisions," he said.

The marathon weekend will feature five events: a marathon, half marathon, 5K run/walk, 10K run/walk and a half-mile kids run.

The 2026 race will be the fifth anniversary for the Salina Crossroads Marathon, which has grown from 817 registered runners to 5,416 registered runners in 2025. The 2025 marathon generated an estimated $1.49 million in economic impact for the Salina community, drawing about 4,700 visitors from beyond a 60-mile radius.

The marathon has branded itself as the "Most Runner Friendly Marathon in Kansas," offering runners the option to change their race distance at any time, defer entries to the following year and race day packet pickup.

"It is really neat seeing people set running goals; some of which have considered themselves non-runners. Watching them train for months, stay on schedule, and then have it all payoff on race day is fulfilling," co-race director Andrew Manley said. "Just like running a marathon, the event itself is months in the making. Our marathon committee starts designing and building the race 6 months in advance, just like all of the runners. As we get closer to race day, everything just gets a little harder.

"To finally get to race day is neat, not only for the runners, but for the hundreds of volunteers, the community, and the race staff. Last year, I heard one of the members of our race staff say to me, 'We did it!' just as someone was crossing the finish line saying, ‘I did it!' Pretty cool. Yes, we did. Everyone did.”

The event is supported by local organizations, including Vortex Company, the Marathon Presenting Sponsor, and Schwan’s Company, the Half Marathon Presenting Sponsor. Funding from local foundations and statewide organizations allows the Salina Crossroads Marathon to put on one of the premier marathon events in the Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Iowa region.

"We are thankful for strong support from the City of Salina and local businesses to help the ideas come to life," Co-Race Director Chris Lehecka said. "From a vintage vehicle leading the pack at the starting line, to live music along the course, to slices of ice cream pie when you cross the finish line, our goal is to create a race experience for runners and spectators that people will talk about and remember."

The Salina Crossroads Marathon is a "Gold Standard" race and provides 100% of the race entry fees back to Saline County Youth Sports.

The marathon has a planning team of about 25 individuals, including local nonprofits, small and large businesses and local runners. The marathon will also need more than 500 volunteers. Individuals interested in helping out can email the race directors at runsalinacrossroads@gmail.com.

Anyone interested in registering for the race can do so at https://raceroster.com/events/2026/113366/salina-crossroads-marathon.

This story was created by reporter Charles Rankin, crankin@salina.com, with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Journalists were involved in every step of the information gathering, review, editing and publishing process. Learn more at cm.usatoday.com/ethical-conduct.

This article originally appeared on Salina Journal: Salina Crossroads Marathon opens registration for 2026 race

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