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HUGHES TAKES ON TUNNEL HILL 100MI IN ILLINOIS, USA

Kate Dzienis • December 18, 2019

Contributed by Stuart Hughes, AURA Member

Tunnel Hill 100 Mile Run (Illinois, USA)

November 9, 2019

“Oh, so you did it for bragging rights?” said the chirpy hotel receptionist upon hearing I’d come all the way from Australia to do a race for no cash prize.

He had seen straight through me.

Yep, I had my 100 miler ‘Why?’ – ‘This’ll look good on Facebook if I get anywhere near my target, so just keep running, and no one will remember how flat it was in six months’ time’.

I had found a 100 mile trail ultra where I could still be tucked in bed by midnight.

But dialling it back a bit, in 2017 Camile Herron smashed the Tarawera 100km in February, which I ran, and then in November smashed the 100 mile world record at the USATF certified Tunnel Hill 100 in Vienna, southern Illinois running 12:42 on a former rail trail.

That sounds like a PB course, I thought. Seemingly I am the only Australian or New Zealander to have had this thought so far. It must be because I don’t hear the mountains calling. I flirted with the idea of doing it in 2018 but it sold out. Just as well, as I had a year to train for it with a mission of flatter, longer and faster along the way grabbing 100km and 24hr PBs, with a 100 mile spilt of 16:51 in the 24 hour which I now hoped to beat.

I entered, booked flights, and drew it to the attention of my American-based running buddy Mandy Hufstader, who entered the 50 miler. I told Amelia Griffith (fellow AURA member) about it on one of several Sunday long runs we did (she didn’t believe the Tunnel Hill course records, at first).

I told Rohan Day (would it be a qualifier?).

Otherwise it was a secret mission, only Katherine Macmillan guessed outright what longer, flatter and faster in November meant. I can’t remember whether I denied it, or swore her to secrecy. Probably both.

I spent most of the year running enjoyable 100km weeks with an ‘easy running will get me there’ mantra, but in September, egged on by Rohan, I hit the panic button and joined Sean William’s Melbourne Pack to work on the ‘faster’ bit, with two sessions at Edithvale a week, backed up by a program from Sean that had me doing some long flat runs at specific paces, with lots of time on some of Victoria’s former rail trails.

Sean’s aim was to get me in a rhythm, and it all worked, picking up consecutive parkrun PBs the weekends before travelling to Chicago and meeting Mandy and driving south.

We stayed in a converted barn on a farm and went for a run in the frosty back blocks. Mandy put me in a hi-vis vest so I wouldn’t be shot by deer hunters.

We went to scope out the start/finish and course. Laz was there helping set up, Mandy bowled up to chat to him, we tried to help him unload his van, and we put in a good word for Aussies silly enough to want to do the Barkley Marathon.

At rego we got to hear Camile Herron give an awesome talk, two weeks out from breaking her own 24hr world record. I purchased all the merchandise, and we had a pasta dinner in the local school hall, and turned in early.

Aside from the regular hypochondria, my main worry was how I’d cope in the un-Australian cold, so I had three drop bags each with arm sleeves, fleeces, gloves, and thermals. But thanks to Brett Smith telling me about the optimal temperature for running, I took a chance and started in -5 with a singlet, shorts, a buff, arm sleeves and gloves. I dumped my jacket with Mandy 60 seconds before the start, and took off with a 4:57 first km, before settling into a rhythm as the day warmed up that got me 100km in 9:22, just before dark, at which point I put a fleece on.

The course was flat, and straight. Run south, turn and run north, then turn and run south, then turn back north, turn, and run south to the finish.

Frog Hollow parkrun has more cornering. I was able to see and say good morning to the entire 100 mile and 50 mile fields of several 100 runners, including Mandy three times, and Darrell Duke who we’d met at rego wearing a t-shirt saying ‘No one cares you run ultras’.

Some of the aid stations I could see 7km or 8km out on the straights. I cussed only once, when I put my foot on the only small stone I saw underfoot all day. I got to run through the Tunnel Hill tunnel built in 1929 four times. At one point Camile – the reason I was there – ran past on her afternoon run saying I was doing great. Eeeek!

The aim had been to run 10km an hour as long as possible, and get as close as possible to 16 hours. At 100km I had 38 minutes up my sleeve to spread over the next 61km, and I was hoping for sub-16, but of course the pace slowed and there were too many 7-minute kms after dark.

I managed to hold on and picked it up on the final push heading south, crossing the line to receive a buckle, a towel, a railway tie with my place on it, and a finisher’s jacket. Mandy, who’d just smashed out her first 50 miler sat me down, got all my drop bags, and got me to the car and back to the barn. I was completely lucid and compos mentis, and moving freely; no doubt she will tell it otherwise, but she’s a champion anyway. Thanks to her support and wisdom, and that of all my other running buddies, and Coach Sean, and Kylie, Harriet and William, I’d finished in 16:09:02.

Near enough, and good enough for 8th. I’d been hoping for top 10 based on previous year’s results. Ha ha, 8th in the world’s fastest 100 miler, or 8th in the world’s easiest 100 miler, just depends on how you look at these things!

Pictured (feature): Stuart Hughes welcomed to Illinois ahead of his race. Photograph – Supplied.

Pictured (1): Stuart Hughes’ friend Mandy Hufstader with Gary ‘Lazarus Lake’ Cantrell. Photograph – Supplied.

Pictured (2): Stuart Hughes with Camille Herron and friend Mandy Hufstader. Photograph – Supplied.

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AUTRA News Report 19-02-2025

By Kate Dzienis • February 19, 2025

The latest in race results, covering Cradle Mountain Run, City Run, Oscars 100 Hut 2 Hut and Yaberoo Trail Ultra.

Final 2024 Points Competition Results

By Alexis Oosterhoff • January 30, 2025

Results for the 2024 AUTRA Points Competition have been finalised, and are available on our Points Competition page. Full details of the top 10 (as shared on Facebook during January) are detailed below, and results for all participating AUTRA members can be found in the documents at the above link. It was a real battle throughout the year between our top two finishers, Phil Gore & Kevin "BK" Matthews, with both giving it their it their all at events, and through contributions to the community - volunteering at multiple events, and submitting articles to our monthly newsletter, Ultramag. They finished within 2km of total distance for the year (Phil on 1203.087km, and Kevin on 1205.510km), and it was only Phil's final volunteering effort on 6 Inch Trail Marathon in December that gave him the that very narrow victory. As you'd be aware from previous communications, this marks the end of the Points Competition. With trail running (of all distances) now incorporated into AU T RA's constitution, and after careful consideration of the costs of the competition payouts in it's current form, the committee felt it was time for it's retirement. This marks my seventh and final year of delivering the points competition to membership (2018-2024), after taking on the role from Cheryl Symons. It has brought me great joy in doing so, and I feel like I've had an opportunity to get to know so many of our members through seeing their race (and volunteering) performances over the years! I'm continuing in my role as the AUS/NZL statistician for DUV (from whom we shared the data for the points comp), and you can expect to continue to find your ultra-race result on their site. 1st Place - Phil Gore (WA) - 86 points Phil's achievements this year have included a massive 265.653km (and 2nd place) at the IAU 24h Asia & Oceania Championships, wins at the Red Dirt Backyard Ultra (33 laps), the Australian leg of Big Dog's Backyard World Team Championship (96 laps), and the Soochow/Taipei 24h Ultramarathon (270.826km). He also knocked out an easy (!) 72km at the Light Horse Ultra 24h in between supporting his amazing wife Gemma. Those two 24h wins netted Phil new Oceania 24h Open Male records, IAU Level 1 qualifiers, and pushed him to the top of Australia's 24h trophy board (with only the great Yiannis Kouros having run further). Phil topped-up his points by contributing one article to Ultramag, worked as an Event Director at Herdy's Frontyard Ultra, and volunteered at a further five events through the year. He finished on 86 points. 2nd Place - Kevin Matthews (WA) - 84 points Finishing in 2nd place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is WA's Kevin Matthews. He monstered his way through the year with finishes at Australia Day Ultra 100km, Delirious WEST 200mi, 24 laps at Herdy's Frontyard Ultra, 190km at Light Horse Ultra 24h, 23 laps at Birdy's Backyard Ultra, and also completed Feral Pig 100 miler, Sandman 50km and Six Inch 47km. And to top things off, he contributed five articles to Ultramag, and volunteered at five events. BK ran 1205km in Ultramarathon races this year, all of them AUTRA-listed, and surpassed 100 marathon finishes (including 51 Ultramarathons!) Kevin finished the year on 84 points, a massive 34 points ahead of our 3rd place finisher Sue Robertson. 3rd Place - Sue Robertson (WA) - 50 points Finishing in 3rd place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is WA's Sue Robertson. Sue completed the Ultra Series 100 miler trilogy of Delirious WEST, Irrational SOUTH and Unreasonable EAST, and rounded out her year with the Sandman 50km and Six Inch 47km races. She received 30 points from the racing at AUTRA-listed events, and was awarded a further 20 points by volunteering across eight events and contributing two articles to Ultramag, for a total of 50 points for the year. Thank you Sue! 4th Place - Margie Hadley (WA) - 47 points Finishing in 4th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is WA's Margie Hadley . She was the top-female finisher at both the No Time to Die Frontyard Ultra & Wild Dog Backyard Ultra, 2nd at Birdy's Backyard Ultra, ran 182km at the Australian 24h Track Invitational and placed 3rd at Coast to Kosci. Margie received 47 points in the competition 5th Place - Melissa Robertson (NSW) - 44 points Finishing in 5th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is NSW's Melissa Robertson. Melissa took out 1st place at Irrational SOUTH 200 miler, 2nd place at Lakes Trail Festival 100km, 1st place at Hume & Hovell 100 miler, 3rd place at Rumble in the Jungle and 6th place at Ultra-Trail Kosciuszko 100 miler! She also volunteered at the GNW 50km event, receiving 44 points in the competition! 6th Place - Aaron Young (WA) - 42 points Finishing in 6th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is WA's Aaron Young . Aaron finished in 1st place at each of the Ultra Series "Triple Crown" of 200 milers (Delirious WEST, Irrational SOUTH and Unreasonable EAST), 55 laps at Big Dog's Backyard World Team Championship, and rounded his year out with Feral Pig 100 miler. Aaron receives 42 points, just nudging ahead of Maree Connor (who also finished on 42 points) on a count-back 7th Place - Maree Connor (NSW) - 42 points Finishing in 7th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is NSW's Maree Connor. Maree had an outstanding year, achieving 2nd place with 221km (and an IAU Level 1 qualifier) at the IAU 24th Asian and Oceania Championships, 1st place at the Lakes Trail Festival 100km, 1st place with 67km at the Southern Sydney 6h race, and 1st place with 116km at the Narrabeen Allnighter 12h. Maree also competed at Spartathlon race this year (for which she contributed an article to the September Ultramag on her experience), receiving 42 points in the competition. 8th Place - Darren Linney (SA) - 41 points Finishing in 8th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is SA's Darren Linney . Darren completed 34 laps at No Time to Die BYU, 199km at the Adelaide 24h race, and 814km at the Australian 6 Day race, for a total of 1241km raced and 41 points . 9th Place - Tristan Cameron (WA) - 40 points Finishing in 9th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is WA's Tristan Cameron. Tristan completed the Ultra Series Triple Crown of 200 mile races (Delirious WEST, Irrational SOUTH and Unreasonable EAST), along with Feral Pig 100 miler, for a total of 1154km raced and 40 points. 10th Place - Jen Millum (WA) - 39 points Finishing in 10th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is WA's Jen Millum . Jen finished 1st at all three of the Ultra Series Trilogy of 100 milers (Delirious WEST, Irrational SOUTH and Unreasonable EAST), and was 2nd female with 35 laps at the Wild Dog Backyard Ultra. With a volunteer stint at the Yaberoo Trail Ultra, Jen finished the year with 39 points in the competition. To view the complete list of members who secured points in 2024 click here and then follow through to Points Summary under the 2024 tab. All winners have already been contacted, with cash prizes distributed for 1st - 7th places, and AUTRA Store vouchers sent for 8th, 9th & 10th.