For many of us, running a few miles is a challenge, but for Mancos Town Board Trustee Todd Kearns, a few miles is just a warm-up.

Kearns, Mancos mayor pro-tem, recently completed his first 100-mile race in Zion National Park.

Kearns and his friend from California ran the race in 31 hours.

"I think the hardest thing for me was watching two sunrises," he said this week when asked about the race.

The race started on April 10 at 5 a.m., and Kearns finished on April 11 at 1 p.m.

About 200 racers entered the race, and 135 finished. The winner finished in about 18 hours.

"We were shooting to finish in 30 hours, but finished in 31," Kearns said.

Kearns said he stopped occasionally to walk or change his shoes or socks.

"The most you sit down is for five minutes," he said.

Over the 100 miles, Kearns changed his shoes once and socks six times, but he still had problems with his feet.

"I started to get blisters," so it was pretty painful. "They were giving me grief at the end."

Kearns, 47, said he was inspired by his 14-year-old son, Simon, who is an ultrarunner.

The trail wound its way around Zion National Park, up and down trails, single track and jeep trails, rocky and steep terrain.

The hardest part for Kearns was a steep downhill in the middle of the night.

"It was dark and dusty and steep and rocky," he said.

Kearns said he spent most of the last year training for the race, including running in Sand Canyon.

Kearns came in 99th out of 135, but he was just happy he finished and plans on doing other 100 mile races this summer.

"It is a lot of fun, I know that sounds bizarre, it's a great challenge," he said.

The biggest battle in the race is your own mind.

"It's very mental," he said. "A lot of it is to just keeping moving, if you get tired, walk for a bit, but keep on moving and keep positive."

For his completion of the grueling race, Kearns earned a belt buckle for finishing, something he was proudly wearing on Monday.