Des Moines adventurer carries names of cancer patients as he attempts 1,000-mile Alaska bike race on Iditarod Trail

TO READERS: This story has been updated to reflect this correction: A story about an Iowan bicycling across Alaska incorrectly described Steve Cannon’s time at the University of Iowa. He graduated in 1988.

Steve Cannon takes adventure seriously.

The Iowa native has almost 100 marathons under his belt, along with 20 RAGBRAIs and the world's longest kayak race. He was also the second person to run across Iowa in 11 days and the first person to run around Lake Michigan.

Soon, the 52-year-old author and adventurer hopes to be the first Iowan to complete a 1,000-mile race across Alaska on a fat bike. It's a task only 39 people have ever accomplished, he said.

On Sunday, the Mediapolis native and Des Moines-area resident will embark on the Iditarod Trail Invitational: The world's longest winter ultra-marathon that will take him on a journey across the northernmost state in about 30 days.

► IOWANS AND IDITAROD EVENTS:Iowa City musher finds solace from pain in the dogs who lead her

It's a trail made famous by dog sled races and danger, beginning in Anchorage and finishing in Nome.

"It's where I find the very best of myself," Cannon said. "You always find out if you just keep putting one foot in front of the other that you're capable of so much more than your mind would allow you to believe. That's the sweet spot for me."

He became an endurance athlete 22 years ago, following a rocky emergence into adulthood.

Cannon described facing many common peer pressures of youth including an overindulgence in alcohol that got him in trouble. But he re-focused his life, graduating in 1988 from the University of Iowa and pushing his body to new limits while committing to raising money for people affected by cancer.

► BELOW: Cannon spoke to the crew at the Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa about his extreme bicycling for their Just Go Bike podcast.

"Adventure has become a lifestyle now," said Cannon, who speaks and writes about his experiences in the hopes of inspiring others. He calls it maximizing his one opportunity on Earth.

With such strenuous trips comes plenty of mental, spiritual and physical challenges. And he's faced plenty of each while living and training in Alaska for the past three months.

► EARLIER:Cannon's book a great story about the human spirit

Some days, the temperature drops below minus-50 degrees. Other days, the snow blows so hard Cannon can barely see his hand in front of his face. Sometimes, fresh wolf tracks cross over his own. Moose often post up in the path he's trying to cross.

But he said when he begins to doubt his ability to succeed, he thinks of everyone he's competing for.

Cannon does it for those named in a notebook, which lists "everybody who's in the cancer fight and everybody who's lost it and everyone who's won it."

There are now too many scrawled names to count.

Cannon said his fundraising efforts have raised more than $700,000. His upcoming race, in particular, is an effort to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

He left for Alaska on Thanksgiving, training for months out of a cabin a few miles past Fairbanks.

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"It really shows you your place in the world: Mother Nature is in charge everywhere, but in this place, you really get a sense of just how far down the food chain you really are," Cannon said. "It's magnificent, breathtaking, awe-inspiring; it's everything that nature was intended to be."

He aims to consume 6,500 calories a day. During a slow training week, he'll bike 10 hours; a big week involves closer to 50 hours.

Cannon's training regimen demands not only physical and mental endurance, but also the ability to handle daily tasks, like starting a fire and breaking out camping gear in brutal conditions.

He described the state of his cabin floor as he spoke over the phone a few days before the race: freeze-dried meals, fire starters, electrolytes, boots, goggles, hand warmers, a stove, a sleeping bag, tools, peanut butter cups, M&Ms and homemade breakfast bars. Come Sunday, it will all be loaded onto his bike.

He's looking forward to waking in his sleeping bag under the open sky, no people in sight, no emails to answer, no social media to distract him from the colors painted across the sky by the rising sun.

"I don't know if many of us get that opportunity to be that alone," he said. "Not lonely, but that alone."

But as much as he is captured by the wild places he visits, Cannon always makes his way back to the Hawkeye State.

"The best people in the world live in Iowa," Cannon said, speaking of the work ethic and kindness inherent to the people of his home state. "I love every place I get to go to. But like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, there's no place like home."

Cannon's race begins at 5 p.m. CT on Sunday. He has 30 days to complete the course.

Tracking the race

The race offers athlete tracking at its website, IditarodTrailInvitational.com. Those interested in following Cannon's adventure or donating to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society can visit his website at ExpandYourPossible.com, where he plans to post race updates.

Follow the Register on Facebook and Twitter for more news. Anna Spoerre can be contacted at aspoerre@dmreg.com, at 515-284-8387 or on Twitter @annaspoerre.