BAY CITY, MI -- Essexville resident Mike Kostka took to Facebook a few days ago to let his friends know that he was toying with the idea of running hundreds of laps around the upstairs track at the Dow Bay Area Family YMCA for 16 straight hours.

When a gym member on Tuesday, July 26, heard about his stunt, she had a question that most of us are probably wondering: Why?

"Just because," said Kostka.

The 27-year-old, who is building quite the endurance running resume, woke up early Tuesday and arrived at the Y before 5:30 a.m. to embark on his 16-hour journey. He said money has been a little tight to pay for a longer race, so he decided to create his own personalized challenge.

The Bay City Times/MLive caught up with Kostka at about 10:30 a.m. after he took his second bathroom break of the day.

Before taking off again, his phone rang, though, and he left the track area for about 20 minutes.

"Where did he go?" one Y employee asked, looking around the track.

Turns out Kostka was in the running for a job in Grand Rapids and received a call to let him know when his orientation begins.

He wasn't out of breath for the call. After hanging up, it was back to running laps.

The track at the Y is 200-meters in length, meaning eight times around equals a mile. Kostka wasn't keeping track of pace or distance, but estimated he might run about 40 miles, or about 14 miles more than the length of a marathon.

While that may sound daunting, it's nothing for a runner who trains for ultra endurance runs. Kostka has run three marathons in his lifetime, a 50-kilometer (31.1 miles) race and two 50-mile races.

He has also entered into two separate 100 mile races.

"But I'm (zero) for two on the 100-milers," he said.

Aaron Cianek, marketing director at the Y, said he's unaware of any other running stunts at the facility. Officials at the Y are working with Kostka today by changing the direction of traffic on the track so his hips and legs don't get too sore on the tight turns.

Kostka, on Facebook, asked friends to stop on by and join him for a lap. He'll be running until 9:30 p.m. Tuesday when the Y closes.

"Feel free to run a few laps," he said. "I'm not doing it for charity, I'm doing this just because."

The Facebook status ended with an appropriate hashtag: #TheJustBecauseRun.