I ran the Tunnel Hill 50/100 in Vienna, Illinois yesterday. What a great race venue. Johnson County is full of Illinois History including the third site of the Lincoln-Douglas Debates. It is also crisscrossed with trails including the Tunnel Hill Trail with is a recovered railbed and the Shawnee National Forest Trail which is at the western end of the Trail of Tears. I was planning on running the 100 mile version but just wasnt feeling it yesterday so I finished the 50 mile version. Thats one of the great options of this race. One can still finish even if you drop down to a shorter race. The trail was fantastic and the weather, while cold, was surprisingly great for a long distance race. This would definitely be a race to consider for a first 50 or 100. It was very flat with little elevation change (200 feet over 25 miles!). Ive included a few photos.The tunnel was so long that I had to use the headlamp during daylight and I lost my gps signal. One interesting thing that happened was while I was finishing in the dark I noticed so eyes illuminated off in the brush. As I got closer I noticed that it was a large cat, not a house cat, but it gave the silhouette of a bobcat! Scared the heck out of me along with quickening my pace!! Looks like Ill have to try the 100 miler next season!
Posted on: Sun, 16 Nov 2014 13:42:15 +0000
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