race report: this feels oddly familiar

The one thing that totally caught me off guard about my first DNF was how long it took the imposter syndrome to actually wear off.  Sure, there are a fair bunch of y'all that would give their left nut to be able to do 91mi at Hardrock - but it's more painful when my performance was a clear regression of fitness and a stark reminder of my own mortality.  

That being said - I totally signed up for Tunnel Hill prior to running Hardrock fully expecting this scenario to play out.  It definitely helped with scrubbing the imposter syndrome away...but it still hurt like a bitch.

yup, this is how I dress for races now.  nothing to do with kolache intake though.

While not the flattest WSER qualifier out there, Tunnel Hill takes place in downstate Illinois just across from Kentucky on legacy rail trail.  It boasts a disturbingly high sub-24 finish rate (~50%) as the terrain is mostly crushed gravel (limestone?) with minimal pavement, making it ideal for setting personal and world records.  The course itself has 25 unique miles, with the start/finish approximately dead-center so that runners would head south for an eighth of the course, then north for a quarter, then back to the start for a total of half of the course.  (Repeat for 100mi.)  

I picked Tunnel Hill to do as it is the earliest WSER qualifier for a given race season - taking place during the first weekend of the qualifying window but also more than eighteen months before the actual WSER iteration you're gunning for.  The intention was to bag this race then take at least twelve months off - in the form of a drastic reduction of weekly run volume, something that hasn't happened since right before my Cocodona training block in 2023.  I also wanted to see how running a race in cooler weather while training all season long in the seventh circle of hell would play out - while I have run some colder races (2015 Gord's Frozen Ass 50) - I had never gone from a warm training context to a cold race before.  

My training regime since Hardrock looked like this - 

• Immediately back to the San Juans the first weekend of August for some High Five crewing/pacing.  It didn't go as planned but this was my last high altitude exposure as I still managed to bag Wetterhorn.
• Reduced volume until September - I ended up running through the summer through Huntsville State Park, dodging coral snakes but also reducing my time on feet (3h max?) because of the heat and humidity having noticeable impacts on my recovery period and nether region chafing/Squirrel's Nut Butter consumption rate.
• Pacing a friend at Steep 100k through the back 50k the weekend after Labor Day.  Not my fastest 50k, but still good to get the time on feet.
• Medic duty at Run Rabbit Run the weekend after.  Between the search and rescue callouts and the post-race running, this was more quality altitude exposure I did not need but appreciated.
• Medic duty in Buena Vista two weekends after for the Sawatch 50/50.  It wasn't as high as Steamboat but because I missed leaf peeping season two weekends before I decided to spend a few more days up north right after the races.  
• On the topic of totally unnecessary vert exposure - crewing friends in October at Kodiak 100.  I wasn't on pacer duty but I still got an ascent of Sugarloaf mountain in - it's wild that sits just under 10000' right next to LA.
• Medic duty at Javelina Jundred.  This involved rucking three laps with my ~20lb jump kit (including my AED) followed a deflag loop run at fartlek pace.  I bagged 75mi over 19h during all that commotion, which provided some much-needed confidence, albeit two weeks prior to Tunnel Hill.  
• what was slightly unnerving was how much inflammation my legs got from throwing down a casual 100k like that, but I guess that's what happens when you just go right off the couch.

Not part of my training regime was getting hit by a car on my bike at a low-speed the Monday after Javelina, resulting in some road rash on my bum knee.  Certainly wasn't ideal, but I was hoping this would provide some incentive for my good knee to pick up the slack with five more days of training before my taper.  

My goals for Tunnel Hill were as follows - 

1. <22:15.  Check-in for my SWA flight home opened at this gun time, and my intention was to finish prior to this time so I could keep running back to my car, grab my phone and check in.
• For my international friends who don't know what this means - Southwest has a legacy open-seating policy ending in 2026.  The idea is that boarding priority is assigned by order of check-in, which also provides for some hilarious dynamics (e.g. "jetbridge jesus" scenarios, where passengers claim to require a wheelchair to board first before everyone, but apparently flying seems to cure them of their ailment and they are able to deboard without assistance).  As I was traveling home with just a carry-on in some crippled condition at the ass crack of dawn, I was adamant to grab a favorable position that ensured I was able to board amongst the first 60 passengers with room for my carry-on.
2. <23:29 for reasons
3. <24:00, because the buckle says something different.
4. <30:00, because we gotta do something about this imposter syndrome, and because i'm tired, boss.

Lap 1

The race started at 7am, but I had already been up since 4am as I wasn't coping well with the time change coinciding with my taper, and because I wanted to ensure my car was parked decently close to the finish line so I didn't have to waddle too much at the end of the race.  After dropping off my drop bags (one staged 2.1mi from the northern terminus at Tunnel Hill, and one 2.5mi from the southern terminus at the village of Karnak), I crawled back into my vehicle for a 40 min nap.  It wasn't the quietest but I did manage to stay off my feet and drift off for a bit.

I wasn't prepared for one mass start across four race distances (marathon, 50mi USATF nationals, 100k and 100mi) which made for some hilarious start line seeding - it was hard to gauge if the pace I was running was appropriate for my race distance as everyone's bib's were on their front, and I would not be able to get a good assessment until just shy of the turnaround after Karnak.  I was passed by not one but two amputee runners, along with all the runners running with no hydration, and runners packing full-sized wireless over-ear headphones.  It was hella confusing, but I just stuck with a ~9min mi for the first 5mi and went from there.  

way too goddamn fast

Aid stations on the southern leg were spaced just over 5mi apart, cutting through wetlands and swamps and totaling a casual marathon once you hit the southern terminus and got back to the start.  I elected to pass through all aid stations on this section with minimal stoppage time as my hydration pack was loaded for bear - I went with my 10-year old UD Timmy Olsen vest, packing 1L of fluid and all the snacks.  I caught the lead pack coming the other direction just before hitting Karnak, and taking a look at bib colors - I was sufficiently mid-pack in the 100mi distance.  9 min mi's still felt easy and my fueling/hydration was still following a disciplined regime - alternating Maurten/everything-else gels between aid stations, and solid sodium filled items at aid stations (read: bacon), and alternating between Maurten/Tailwind for electrolytes.  

Heron bridge

I didn't manage to start any sustained conversation until after departing Heron Pond, just over 22mi out, probably as I have a tendency to unconsciously pick up the pace when I talk.  A high school teacher from the Chicago area caught me and we got to talking about how we got here, along with how we expected our day to go.  Having someone to talk to definitely took my mind off the pain, and I rolled back to the start/finish at Vienna Park just after 11am, holding a sub-10min mi pace.  

not drugs in that bag

The northern half of the race was set differently than the south - the first aid station was less than three mi from the start/finish, then followed by a 6.6mi stretch (with a water drop on Breeden Trestle 4mi in), then the out-and-back section being 2.2mi one-way.  I didn't notice it this lap but apparently there is a hill going up to the tunnel just shy of the end of the 6.6mi stretch.  This was probably because I staged my first shoe change at Tunnel Hill at mi35, where I'd go from the Arcteryx Norvan LD's to Craft Nordlite Ultras, providing a much needed boost in cushioning - so I kinda just sent it.  I was able to also restock on gels, pickle juice and other non-aid station fares at this point and grab my headlamp, despite sunset occurring another five hours later.  

Vienna bridge

out of the tunnel

I slowed down on the outbound leg for sure, breaking 10min mi's hitting the northern turnaround - I could feel the effect of not sitting down all day plus a mild heat starting to wear on me, as my "comfortable" pace was starting to decelerate.  I had been fasting caffeine for a whole week, so I tried to counter this by taking coffee chews after hour 8, but these second winds only lasted 60-80 minutes at most.  My mind was still sharp enough to do runner math - as long as I kept it under 12min mi, this would keep me sub-20h as I banked sufficient time on the first 26 mi.  

back into the tunnel

Lap 2

I kept it under 11min mi all the way back to the start/finish - I wasn't sure if I slowed down after this because I stopped slightly longer here for a bacon cheeseburger, or because I was able to finally figure out the folks I was chasing were all in the 50mi distance.  The sun was still up but my agoraphobic ass finally felt overly comfortable with the reduced runner field.  There'd be 100k runners for a little bit longer but I didn't notice them at all - and I finally felt no pressure to run anything beyond an uncomfortable pace.  

As the sun set I could feel my quads start to lock up - this usually kicked in after mi 70, and not under mi 60.  I tried to counter this by finding a sturdy fence post at every railway trestle (there were lots) to pull a quick Morton stretch, but this only helped for the next 1-2mi.  I was also finding my pickle juice consumption was approaching a saturation point, and its effectiveness too was reduced to agitating my stomach and not doing anything to my cramps.  I was starting to notice my nutrition was excessive for how quickly I was moving, leading to some feelings of bloating - so I started to ramp down my refueling to warm fluids at aid stations and gels only when hungry.

Karnak had my other pair of shoes, a set of Altra Lone Peak 6's, but I elected to slap these on after clearing the southern turnaround.  I was able to swap out my headlamp here for my waist lamp, but much to my chagrin, I had left both of my jackets at Tunnel Hill and only had a neck gaiter to supplement my gloves; I had broken 12min mi's by this point so I stuck around a little longer to scarf down some brothy mashed potatoes, and I was able to link up with another runner who tried to hold me down to 11 min mi's for a bit, but unfortunately I had to let him go on a less-than-opportune pee break.  Once I hit the mi 70 mark/100k turnaround, I was now touching 14min mi's.  

Goddammit - every single time.  

My placement started dropping with more and more runners overtaking me as the battle now shifted to staying above 5mph.  To top it off, I could see lightning hit the northern leg of the race, and all I was rocking was a short sleeve Rabbit button-up.  I did hear a light drizzle start up, but it was hard to discern if it was actual rain or the wind knocking off a bunch of leaves.  Doing some quick math as my watch was now showing 18min mi - I figured that I would need to venture back to my car once I got the start/finish to grab my phone, as I would be missing my A-goal by at least 60 minutes if I was stuck at my 3mph walk speed.  

After what seemed like eternity chasing fleeting glimpses of the streetlights of Vienna - I finally reached mi76 just prior to 11pm.  The warming tent was a bit of a pity party that looked like I would belong to, but I waddled over to grab my phone from my car after getting some chicken noodle soup.  No more hamburgers, but I still grabbed a few chips and salty pretzels before waddling off towards the storm.

The next 25mi, while on paper not the most challenging - turned into yet another exercise of chickens coming home to roost.  Presuming walking 3mph (I was still consistently hitting 3.3), my worse-case-scenario would mean this out-and-back would take me 8h and I'd just slide in under 24h.  However, to complicate this the temperature was now dropping towards the 30s when you factor in a wind that evolved beyond a breeze the further north you went.  There were not too many headlamps at this point as I figured I was probably on the tail end of the first third of the pack - but it was still pretty loud with squirrels scurrying in the dark and leaves/small branches falling around me.  

I could feel a hamstring cramp and fairly unresponsive knees characteristic of late-stage mountain race efforts now as I wandered into the Shelby Rd aid station 2.6mi later, 20 minutes to midnight.  Wet pavement indicated it did indeed rain up here but it was calmer now; nevertheless with the increasing gust I elected to only grab some brothy potatoes here and keep waddling towards Tunnel Hill.

It was a painful trudge uphill, watching runners sprint downhill towards the finish as I just kept shuffling uphill.  My watch was continuously showing sub-18min mi's and I didn't feel cold outside of my bare arms, but I knew the minute I reduced my effort I would likely start shivering.  A random Sheriff's deputy rolling downhill on the trail in his Dodge Charger kept me on my toes here, but it was otherwise a very mundane hike on this section.

Runners starting passing me en masse after the trestle at 1am while I was still maintaining speed.  The wind was absolutely wild at this point - I was lucky I was running alone as you probably had to shout at someone next to you in order to be audible.  It still took me about another hour to get to Tunnel Hill, where I put on my seam sealed rain jacket and waterproof gloves (beggars can't be choosers), reloaded on pickle juice and all the caffeine and got out of the warming tent just as the uncontrollable shivering kicked in.  The northern turnaround provided me the opportunity to see the pack of folks now right on my ass, and these 4 mi took another 90 mins to do.  I felt sufficiently bloated at this point with all the calories not being utilized so beyond grabbing another cup of soup back at Tunnel Hill, I started heading back up the hill at around 3:20am.

One would expect the downhill after the tunnel to have made me faster, but all it did was slow down my fatigue.  A fallen tree not on my outbound trip kept me on edge and awake, and yet it was another hour just to past the trestle.  I was now completely caught up in a parade as numerous runners and pacers were now surging from behind, including Mike Wardian coming in to shepherd his sister in after he was done.  I passed the time by restarting my phone as the clock rolled past 5am, and checked which one of my two SIM cards would work better in these trees.  Fuckin' millenials.

The runners coming from the other direction were now folks looking for their sub-30 buckle, and encouraging them kept me engaged as well.  About 15 minutes after getting an A30 position for my flight home (i.e. 30th person onboard), I rolled into Shelby Rd for the last time.  I grabbed more brothy taters and thanked the ladies there for seeing me through the night before shuffling uphill.

Only three folks passed me in this stretch, but it was absolutely wild how gassed I was 97 mi in.  I usually have a finish line kick but even though I had marked out the 1mi, 0.5mi and 0.25mi marks to the finish line - all I could muster up was a weak 15min mi coming into the finish line as my knees were fully zapped.  I was so done with that day that despite clearing my B goal by 9 minutes - I was probably lingering at the finish line for only 30-45 seconds before getting my drop bags and driving out of there.  I was literally back at my hotel room within 40 minutes of finishing.  

"the fuck happened to you in the last 6 hours"

---

I don't think I hurt that much ever in my life after a race - it was insane that I had to use my hands to lift my knees into my RAV4 to go anywhere or to even get into bed, because my knees were not responding whatsoever.  For a minute I actually thought I had nerve damage but this subsided by the time I got back to the airport on Monday morning.  The closest analog of a previous experience I could think of was the first half of Fat Ox but even that didn't feel this bad - granted that trauma was all mental, but this was 100% physical.  

While this whole adventure sounds like one giant pity party - it's rather rare for me on an ultra to maintain my position during the last 30mi so longtime readers will probably not be surprised.  The last time that was done was probably Steep, but I would factor in a smaller pack as helping me with that endeavor.  Nevertheless - this race has definitely showed me that I have regressed quite a bit since moving to the flatlands, and I definitely need to take a minute to reflect on whether my lifestyle choices led to this or if this just all a part of growing up/aging horribly - 

• No offseason: I'll try to work on this during the winter since my gravel bike is just gathering dust, but I haven't really taken a "zero day" period outside of a race taper since 2023.  Urban areas here aren't that cyclist friendly but I'm far away enough from the big city to be in the vicinity of some fun gravel.  Barring getting into WSER in 2026 - I am deliberately keeping my race season next year relegated to volunteering, crewing and pacing.  These biomechanics need a break.
• An absolute lack of discipline: I haven't been able to find a local dry needler as good as the ones I had back in Calgary, and I feel like I'm entering races rather still tight despite a period of tapering.  Also it doesn't help that health insurance doesn't cover this down here.
• shoutout to Kinetic Energy PT out of Steamboat Springs.  I'd be there basically after every big effort if I lived there.  
• also like what is up with RMT prices down here?!  
• Someone wise once said that if it doesn't scare you, you're probably not dreaming big enough - but the challenges I'm signing up for are probably borderline sadism for the cards I'm dealt where I am, and to an extent - it almost feels like self-harm again.  Some of you will probably liken this to turning the game difficulty down to grandma mode, and I'm fine with that.
• I felt really good to the last time through Karnak around the 100k mark - and that may be the distance I stick with going forward.  Mentally and nutritionally I was good with going another 40mi but physically my muscles were done as soon as I was out of there.  

By the numbers:

• Time: 23:20:24
• Place: 84/173
• Elevation gain: 942m
• Stoppage time: 59:33s

Tips for prospective Tunnel Hill runners:

• This is a good gateway drug 100 (also 50 as it's got the same time limit, but not the cutoffs) - it's not technical, has a small footprint and is very easy to crew.  However,
• Flat and fast <> easy.  I still can't pace myself properly and suffered through the back 25mi.......although that's pretty much my MO since the beginning of time.  It is a gravel treadmill with no douche grade - all of it is runnable which leads to questionable decision making.
• I counted only one directional course marking on the whole course, but as a rail trail if you get lost it's your own damn fault. 
• There are no gels or salt pills at the aid stations.  
• There's one DNF listed on the results - you have the option of avoiding a DNF by dropping distances midway through the race, which affects this figure.  The RD is also known to give you the belt buckle you earned and knock your finish time back to the commensurate distance.  
• Race weekend weather is anywhere between snow to a heatwave. 
• For a race this pedestrian in terrain-cushioning would go a long way.  Unless you are dyspraxic, having stack height would probably delay fatigue substantially.
• This corner of the world is kind of a bitch to get to, and care should be taken to factor in how you get out.
• There is a regional airport in Paducah, KY about 30mins from the start but only Contour flies in from CLT.  
• Otherwise STL/BNA are basically equidistant, roughly 3h to the race venue.  I went with BNA as they had a 0515h (!!!) Monday flight back to Houston that would get me back to my desk for 9am, but this made for some hilarious driving between 1-3am on I-24 given all the roadkill carcasses the KY DOT doesn't bother to pick up since it made me wonder what exactly was lurking in the shadows.  
• I did overhear a few folks who dropped down to the 50/100k because they were trying to get out to STL on time for a Sunday afternoon departure.

Stray observations:

• I said I wouldn't go back to WSER but I'm curious about how my blood volume adaptation living on the Gulf Coast would factor into my race experience.
• It is sobering to think the pace I put up (14min/mi) is only 32s faster than the minimum speed for a backyard ultra.  I always thought I was above an event of that format but it's eye-opening to think I would now struggle in that context.
• As the name of the southern terminus aid station suggests - downstate Illinois has some wild history.  
• I didn't mention much about the tunnel for which this race is named for - it definitely is a bit trippy running through it, especially during broad daylight - but I think I was just too tired to shout "PENIS" and hearing my voice echo every time I went through.  
• At least one person was littering used UCAN gel wrappers through the entire course.  It stood out to me because while the race itself didn't have much littering in the day until everyone started throwing their soup cups in the bush at night - it was still pretty hilarious just running into wrappers in 5-6mi intervals consistently and like clockwork.
• Maybe it's because I'm Canadian and we stress that no one cleans up after you - but it's absolutely wild to me that some races tolerate rampant littering like that, including those in Texas.  
• the few weeks after this race were one of the few times in recent memory where my right knee no longer hurt.  but only because
• my left foot swelled up like my foot had broken another metatarsal
• this also made driving a stick shift hella funny
• my right Achilles swelled up because I was still running through that left foot pain 
• I did get a window seat on my flight home but somehow got seated next to someone who thought they could watch a movie with no headphones during the entire flight that took off at 515h

And so this is not completely a pity party, things I'm grateful for:

• The volunteers: notwithstanding the windstorm that absolutely wrecked Tunnel Hill on Sunday morning - y'all were amazing and absolutely professional despite my nihilistic post-mi75 self.  It was refreshing to hear "ebbs and flows, dude!" as a response to "my entire day is going to shit".
• Everyone that told me 91mi at Hardrock is something to be proud of.  Still doesn't feel that way, but I think the more I age, the more I'll feel this statement is true.   
• Pati Coury, for suggesting I try to get me a 100k belt buckle at Javelina despite not actually racing it.  That's bad juju but I appreciate the sentiment.