CARBONDALE - Mike Matteson isn't having a stereotypical midlife crisis. He didn't buy a sports car, dump his wife, dye his hair or find a girlfriend half his age when he neared the "big 5-0."

"Last year, I turned 50 and wanted to do something challenging, so I ran five 100-mile ultramarathons," Matteson said. "This year, I wanted a different challenge, so I decided to run my first 150 this weekend."

That's 150, as in a 150-mile race. He will attempt such a task in Pekin.

Unlike some men, Matteson - a physician's assistant at Memorial Hospital of Carbondale - chose to cope with his midlife crisis by keeping his car, his natural hair color, Mary, his wife of 20 years, and taking his running passion to new lengths.

"My wife gets on me because I spend a lot of time training," Matteson said. "She is part of my crew on my races, but sometimes I think she doesn't understand what her job is. One of the first 100s I ran, she met me at the 50-mile mark and said, 'Why don't you just quit and go back to the hotel with me?'

"It was a pretty offer, but the crew is supposed to inspire you to push on - not give you reasons to quit."

Matteson wasn't an athlete in high school. He took up running while in P.A. school in 1984. He started running marathons in the late 80s and worked his way up to the 100-mile ultramarathons three years ago.

"Running ultramarathons is a passion for me," Matteson said. "All you win is a belt buckle and T-shirt, so I do it for yourself, not to get rich and famous."

An ultramarathon is a race much longer than the traditional 26-mile marathon. It is typically 50, 100 or 150 miles in length and can last up to 50 hours.

"It takes me around 25 hours to run a 100-mile race," Matteson said. "Usually, the 100-mile race starts in the morning and the 150 starts the day before at noon, so you are running all through the night. At night, we wear headlamps."

There are three main types of ultramarathons. The loop type is like a shorter-distance race at a track meet, where the runners circle a course. In the out-and-back type, runners run half the distance out and circle back. The third is point-to-point, where runners start in one place and end up in another.

"Most of the races I run are trail races," Matteson said. "I like the point-to-point, because it's a different course entirely. There's always a surprise around the corner."

He suffered a groin injury in his last race last year, so he is just getting back into shape. He has competed in smaller races in order to build up to his first 150-mile event this weekend at McNaughton Park Trails Runs in Pekin.

"The Pekin race is special to me," Matteson said. "It was my first 100 and it will now be my first 150."