Tunnel Hill is one of my favorite races to be a part of. I have run or crewed at this race every year but 1 since it has been around. The runners, the volunteers, and the race director really make this race a fun one for me. As such, I find myself coming back year after year and this year was no exception. This year I was back to take on the 100 miler.

Tunnel Hill takes place in a small town called Vienna, IL. It is pronounced with a hard I sound, and not like the city in Austria. It’s roughly a 5 hour trip from my home in Cincinnati to the race, which makes it a nice race to get to since it’s not to far. I arrived early, with Sara, so we could get to packet pickup, enjoy the spaghetti dinner, and listen to the guest speaker, Pete Kostelnick (fun fact, Pete holds the record for fastest run across the US and is probably the only person who has ever run from Alaska to Key West, FL, some 5000 miles). I saw a bunch of friends while waiting in line for my packet, to many to remember them all, but I did make sure to say hi to Terri and Steve Durbin, the race directors. After picking up my packet and goodies, it was over to the dinner held in the local high school’s cafeteria to listen to Pete. His presentation was pretty interesting, though I am not sure I can relay what he spoke about well here. After dinner it was off to the hotel, about 30 minutes away (I did mention Vienna was small, right?) to prepare my gear and rest.

I slept pretty well through the night, only getting up once. It’s sometimes hard to sleep on race night, so I was happy to sleep pretty soundly. I woke up at 4:30am to grab a quick shower (helps wake me up) and eat some breakfast. Sara and I took off early from the hotel to ensure we would arrive early enough to find parking. No issues there. After placing my drop bags at the start line, it was back to the car to keep warm prior to the start.

The race started at 7am, central time. It was a cold morning, probably low 30’s, but it would warm up nicely. I had met up with my friend Leanne and we planned to run the race together and shoot for a sub 24 hour run. We took off, but were running just a bit faster than we probably should have been because of all the others around us and we got to talking to another runner, Walter, who had just broken the world record for most 100 milers in a year (as of this writing, he has completed 43 and is on pace to hit 50 in a year – almost 1 per weekend). After a few minutes, he noted he was running a bit to fast, and Leanne and I agreed, though we didn’t slow down quite as much as he did. The first 5 miles were all about finding the right pace for the day.

The first aid station came and went pretty quickly. I filled up with SWORD (my electrolyte drink of choice and sponsor of Tunnel Hill) and had half of a banana. I was feeling good. Leanne and I continued to knock down mile after mile going into aid station number 2 (Karnak), where I saw Sara. I asked her to have a small bit of food ready for me and a Ziploc of Sword ready to go (even though it’s on course, I like to carry some dry powder form, just in case) when I came back through the aid station, in about an hour. I refilled on SWORD and grabbed a small bean burrito and started walking. Leanne took a few extra minutes at the aid station, but we began running as soon as she caught up.

A brief mention about the course, it is set up as a double out and back for 50 miles, then repeat for 100 miles. Leanne and I hit the first turnaround and headed right back to the aid station where I saw Sara. I grabbed a thing of gold fish crackers she had ready for me and the baggie of SWORD and off I went. She mentioned to me that I was moving well, but ahead of my pace and should probably back it off a bit to save some energy. While I did slow down, it was likely not enough, but more on that later. I was still feeling good and was now at mile 16. The sun was shining, but the weather was still nice and cool. It was a great day for a run.

Leanne and I continued to push mile after mile, coming through the Herron Pond Aid station and mile 21 and continuing into the start finish area at mile 26. I believe it was when we got back to Vienna that we picked up another runner, Mary, and ran with her for the next several miles. I was still feeling really good, but I was having some soreness in the legs. Quick note, Tunnel Hill is a mostly flat race, however, heading out from Vienna toward the races name sake, Tunnel Hill, an old train tunnel, there is a long climb, though it’s maybe 2% incline at it’s steepest. Somewhere during this stretch, my legs were feeling fatigue and I told Leanne and Mary I was going to walk a bit and stretch. They also slowed down, but were walking much faster than I was. We made it to the Tunnel Hill aid station where I again saw Sara. I asked her to get my warm clothes ready and my Headlamp. Even though it was only around 3pm, I knew night would fall around 5pm, which would be before I got back to Vienna.

After leaving the aid station, we ran the short section to the northern turn around and came right back. Sara had my flashlight ready and I strapped my long pants to my packet and tied my jacket around my waist (I wasn’t quite cold enough to put them on, yet) and changed my shirt and quickly took off. Made it back through the tunnel and began running down the not so steep descent. Somewhere during this time, Walter had caught up to us and Leanne and Mary began chatting with him. He was still moving strong (as were Mary and Leanne) and they began to pull away. After a few miles, I wasn’t really able to keep up any more, though I was still running decently well at this point.

Back at the start/ finish line, now at mile 50 (10:33 elapsed time) I grabbed a bit of food, refilled on SWORD, and proceeded to take off to repeat the course. No sooner did I leave the aid station did I get sick. Seems I scarfed down my food to quick in an attempt to catch back up to Leanne. I recovered quickly, but my legs decided to disappear. I do not know why they decided right then and there to give out, but they did. Suddenly I was struggling to find any power in them. I was able to run a bit, but much of the next 50 was a walk, not because I was tired or felt like I was lacking energy, but simply because my legs had no strength. I knew I had plenty of time to finish, so I was not so worried about that and as long as I proceeded to move forward, I would be ok.

The sky was beautiful on Saturday. The moon was almost completely full, so I occasionally found myself turning off my headlamp and looking up at the sky to see the stars. The wind had been present all day, but after night came and I started walking more, it really became noticeable. Somewhere around 3am, I had to put on my jacket and my running pants and put some hand warmers in my gloves. I moved aid station to aid station, filling up with SWORD and taking some caffeine when needed. I would also partake in warm soup when it was available. Because I was doing mostly walking and it was night, the next several miles were pretty uneventful, other than being cold.

As day broke, I was headed back from the north turnaround at about mile 88. I had text Sara that I had roughly 12 miles to go (she had gone to the hotel to rest so she could drive us home), but that I had been walking and it would be a few hours before I finished. I continued to march back from the tunnel and the sun slowly rose. After about 3 hours, I hit the final aid station and saw Sara waiting to pace me in. She encouraged me to run, but my legs couldn’t find the strength and my mental capacity to will them to do so had dwindled. We walked and talked the last 2.5 miles into the finish. When I came across the finish, I saw Steve the race director there and he gave me a handshake and I was presented my belt buckle. The race was done! 26:52:19. Second fastest 100 miler.

After the race, I didn’t have much time to hang around. Sara and I had to head home. I thanked Steve and his wife Terri and Sara helped me back to the car. I was able to get a quick shower at the high school and we headed out. I slept most of the way home, only waking up long enough to ask Sara to stop for food or restroom breaks. It was a great weekend.