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Kansas Epsilon (Emporia State) Phis Raise Money For Iron Phi at Dirty Kanza 200 Bike Race |
 Delivering babies at all hours of the day and night and his training for triathlons undoubtedly gave Dr. Sam Tovar the endurance to overcome an unfortunate twist of fate to finish his first Dirty Kanza 200. The seventh annual ultra endurance gravel grinder bike race began and ended in downtown Emporia, Kansas. The race circumnavigates just over two hundred miles in the heart of the magnificent Flint Hills region.
Dr. Tovar, a brother of the Kansas Epsilon Chapter, crossed the finish line at 1:20 a.m. with a time of 19:24:01 becoming the 237st overall to complete the race. Thirty other riders finished after Sam. A face-plant wreck 3 miles from the finish line loosened a tooth and rendered his bike useless. Brother Tovar pushed, carried, and ran with his bike to the finish line. The race began at 6 a.m. the previous day on Saturday, June 2.
Also completing his first race coming in 149th overall with a time of 16:49:01 was Kansas Epsilon Brother Shane Heiman, an Emporia elementary school teacher. Four hundred and twenty riders from 37 states, Canada and the UK began the grueling race, only 267 finished.
 The Emporia Phi Delta Theta Alumni Chapter (1909) joined with Emporia State University’s Sodexo Dining Service to sell fish tacos and Philly cheese steak hoagies at the DK 200 Finish Line Street Party to raise money for the Kansas Epsilon Iron Phi Team.
Dr. Tovar is in general practice in Emporia. Sam was an outstanding Emporia High wrestler, was a past chapter president and was vice president of the ESU HALO (Hispanic American Leadership Organization), today he is involved with Emporia youth wrestling, his own personal training, and occasionally writes health-related columns for Famous Phi William Allen White’s Emporia Gazette newspaper.
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