Old Glory Relay 2016

Photo courtesy:
Harness Digital Marketing

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter
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For the second year in a row, I've had the honor of being a part of the Old Glory Relay. For those who don't know, it's a running event in which the flag is carried and passed across the country. The only difference this year is that the route went further south and bypassed southern Illinois.

Proud to be included

That's where my buddies Tom Harness and Brian Flath stepped in. As members of Team RWB (the force behind the national effort), Tom and Brian worked with local veterans, runners, police departments and sponsors to make sure the Stars & Stripes made its way through our region too. The route of this year's Old Glory Relay went through three southern Illinois counties; Randolph, Jackson and Williamson. The course covered about 64 miles and was completed in about nine hours. 

The community gets involved

I'm honored to have been a part of the effort, not just running with the flag, but also winding things down at the end. The final mile a large group of us walked the flag to the final destination. Lined the sides of the road and applaud as the flag passed. Others in the group, which included veterans, runners and children, carried flags too. 

Photo courtesy:
Jim Olsen

The most poignant moment was watching veterans in the crowd get a chance to walk with the flag. Some took just a few steps, others went further along. There were tears and cheers and a lot of respect. It makes me proud to live in this great community of Carterville, Illinois but it also makes me proud to be an American. (Other communities were out supporting the relay too, I wasn't able to be at all the exchanges, so thanks to all who came out). I did not serve this great country in the military, but I will do all I can to support those who did. Thank you to all who served and to everyone who made the Old Glory Relay possible.

The Benefits of Peer Pressure

Run with the Eagles half marathon

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter
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A few years ago I decided that my midlife crisis should be about running.  At that point I was doing 5Ks and a little bit of extra running in between those races. I added the Warrior Dash to my bucket list and that was followed by a half marathon.  I've now done two of each and am eyeing an upcoming marathon in October.  It's the Shawnee Marathon in Harrisburg, Illinois and my goal is to complete the race and live to tell about it.

Me, Jim and Justin after a run

As my running journey started I met others along the way in my same age group, including a friend I'd made years earlier when I moved to southern Illinois.  When I first met Jim Olsen he was about twice the size he is today.  Jim started eating right and running and lost a lot of weight.  I'm sorry I don't know the total, but the important thing is he did it and he's continuing to do it.  I'm proud of what he's accomplished.

2015 River to River Relay 

Jim recently announced his plans to run 1,000 miles this year.  My goal is set at 700 for 2015.  I did 600 in '14 and 500 in '13.  But because of his example, I've decided to push myself to hit that 1000 mile mark this year too. I hope by putting this new goal in writing it'll help me stay accountable. I finished 600 miles for 2014 on New Year's eve morning.  I know I can do it, but I'll welcome any support along the way.  Thanks for reading and supporting all my crazy endeavors.

Middle Age Ain't So Bad

Ready, set, GLOW
2014 Glow Run

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

Before we start, yes I'm aware that "ain't" isn't a word, but it's my blog and I'll use bad grammar if I want to.  (And I just ended a sentence with a preposition).  

Anyway, when I turned 40 a year-and-a-half ago, it really didn't bother me.  In the months leading to the big birthday, I blogged and vlog my feelings about entering a new decade. Truth be told, hitting 30 was harder for me. 

Not long before I turned 40, I started running.  More accurately jogging fast.  Well kinda fast.  I entered a few 5Ks and my only goal was to run the 3.1 miles without stopping to walk.  It was something I could never accomplish as a teenager when I ran cross country.  Then nearly two decades passed and I could probably count how many miles I ran on both hands.

My first half marathon
February 2014

I recently ran in a 5K in my town.  For me, this was just another race.  I've done several 5Ks and even a half marathon.  I just aim to get in under 30 minutes when I run a course like the one here in Carterville.  But I had a strong desire to finish in the Top 3 of my age group (40-44) and get a medal.  I never earned one in my cross country days, so I'm probably over compensating for that.

As the gun sounded at this most recent race, I looked around at the wide variety of runners and walkers.  I'll be honest, I was motivated to beat some of the younger guys at the event.  I didn't realize just how motivated I was.  When my app (Runkeeper) gave me my first update at five minutes, the voice told me I had run 0.62 miles. Usually I'm between 0.52 and 0.56 miles at that time. I was moving like I'd never moved before.  

The weird thing is, I thought I'd wear myself out as the humidity was thick enough to cut with a knife that night.  But I chugged along.  I ended up finishing in 24:56, with a pace of 7:59 per mile. I finished fifth out of 20 in my age group and 35th out of about 245 runners.  I was more than pleased with my performance, and even though I didn't get that top three medal, I achieved a personal goal. That to me has proven to be more important than a medal collecting dust.

I was also impressed that night that the overall male and female finishers are over the age of 40.  The male runner is 51, the female is 48.  They've shown me that hard work and dedication pay off and I hope to improve my own performance.  The 2014 Carterville Twilight Glow Run has rekindled my running spirit as I continue to move toward my goal of 600 miles by the end of the year and look ahead to another half marathon in 2015.

Butts & Guts

Before the race!

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

Just over a month ago I ran my first half marathon. I haven't done any competitive races since then, just my runs around the neighborhood. I recently got an invite from the American Cancer Society to do the Butts and Guts 5K for colon cancer awareness. The flier included the line wear your favorite pair of boxer shorts.

Earlier in the week, I picked up a pair of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle boxers.  I grabbed a TMNT mask from the kids collection and was ready to run.  However, when I arrived at the sign up, there was no one else in boxers.  There were a few female runners there with the boy shorts style underwear, so I chickened out.

I asked one of the race organizers if others would be wearing boxers, and he said probably.  A moment later, I noticed several racers wearing boxer shorts on top of their running shorts.  So, not to be a trend setter, I followed suit and put my boxers on over my shorts.  I felt more comfortable doing this.  I had read about the Undie 500 before, but folks here seemed a bit more conservative.  

We all got medals in our age group

I ran the 5K with a couple of people from work. They're much younger than me, and I actually think this helped me to run faster.  I don't know if this was a true 5K, as I finished in 24:15.  My best is somewhere around 28:00, so I don't know that I really ran it that much faster.  But I could tell I was moving quicker than usual, and while I couldn't keep up with my younger counterparts, I did feel inspired to at least try to.  

That philosophy worked, because I ended up finishing second in my age group and earning a medal.  This is the first time I've got a medal in a race where they weren't awarded to everyone who participates.  Granted, there were only four men in my age group, but I'm still taking it as a victory.  But what really matters is this event was a fundraiser for a great cause and a I had good time doing it.  I like when organizers spice up a usual 5K event. 

Half Marathon Full of Mistakes

Everyone get a medal

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

Over the weekend I completed my first half marathon.  I ran in the Fly with Eagles Half Marathon put together by the River to River Runners.  The 13.1 miles took runners through the Crab Orchard Wildlife Refuge with some beautiful scenery.  Despite some icy spots on the trail, it was a great course.

This is the first time I've run more than 10 miles.  When I finally crossed the finish line I was exhilarated, but I was also in a lot of pain.  Pain that I'm now learning I could have avoided had I been better prepared.  So I'm sharing the mistakes I made with you, just in case you ever feel the need to lace up and run any type of race.  By the way, I finished 27 out of 31 in my age group (40-44) with a time of 2:23:00.  My goal was to complete the race in 2:20:00, so I'm disappointed, but I did finish and never stopped running.

My shoes are now race retired

These Shoes Were (Not) Made for Running
My biggest mistake by far was not having a good pair of running shoes.  For more than a year now I've been running in a pair of Nike custom designed shoes my inlaws got me for Christmas several years ago.  I never really thought I was going to do more than just run 5Ks, so I never wanted to splurge on a pair of quality running shoes.  But in 2013, when I ran 500 miles my knees were in a lot of pain.  My wife told me then (and she's getting great pleasure in reading this) that I needed new shoes.  I continued to ignore her, because I'm an idiot, and kept running in these style over substance shoes.  Thanks to my parents, I now have a new pair of running shoes.

During the course of the half marathon, I could feel the pain coming on in my knees and thighs.  By mile seven I was hurting quite a bit and was cursing myself for not investing in some good shoes.  I slowed down significantly, but never stopped running.  My pace was 10:52 per mile.  My average on the last 5K I did was 8:09 per mile.  While I know my shoes were a reason for this, I also believe the bitter cold contributed.  It was 16 degrees when the race started.  I dressed in layers: a tshirt, long sleeve tshirt, and a hoodie.  I also wore gloves and a headband over my ears.  

Eat This, Not That
My eating habits the day before the race killed me too I think.  I did load up on carbs Friday night in the form of pizza.  There were probably better and healthier ways to accomplish that.  I also had several sodas the night before the race and didn't drink nearly as much water as I should have.  I admittedly skimped on the water the morning of the race because I didn't want to stop on the course to pee.  I did take advantage of almost all the water stations and had Gatorade at two of them.  One thing I did RIGHT on that morning was eating before the race.  I normally run on an empty stomach, but at the advice of a coworker who runs marathons, I had a bowl of oatmeal with peanut butter.  

Crossing the finish line
Photo by Ashley Smith

Charge It Up
Lastly, I ran without a fully charged iPhone.  I always listen to podcasts while running, as I feel like it helps the time go by faster over listening to music.  I think I'm too busy calculating the time when I have songs playing.  I can get lost in the conversation of a podcast and not focus so much time.  However, podcasts can be quite draining on the battery and I was only 80% charged before the race, so my phone died at the 12 mile mark.  The last mile was quiet, which is not necessarily bad, but I do like to have the sound of something to keep me moving.

So those were the mistakes I made.  I wasn't sure if I'd ever want to do this again, but I really do want another go at it, if nothing else to take what I've learned this time around and hopefully have a better experience.  Thanks to everyone who has been so supportive on Facebook and Twitter.  Your words of encouragement go a long way.  Now to start gearing up for that next race.

The Thrill of Defeat

Who wears short-shorts?
Cross country my Senior year

By Kevin Hunsperger 
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

When I was in high school I ran cross country, however run is the operative word here.  I more accurately jogged and walked cross country.  While I wasn't the worst on the team, I was definitely at the bottom of the pack.  It's weird to me more than 20 years later I run nearly every day and actually run the whole time.

Probably my biggest moment of glory came my sophomore year.  Each September we traveled two-and-a-half hours south to Sikeston High School in southeast Missouri for their invitational race.  This race was a unique one in that there were four races, one for each grade level.  It wasn't the usual Freshmen, JV, and Varsity races.  Instead, freshmen raced freshmen, sophomores raced sophomores, and so on.  The other cool part of this race was instead of medals or ribbons, the top five runners on the school's team won a trophy.

That year the sophomore class was overflowing with runners.  I think there was probably ten or more on the squad.  So if our team won, the top five would get a trophy.  The junior team that year only had four runners.  Before the meet started and while we were all doing our warmups, I remember Coach Nelson calling me over to him.  He said "Hunsperger, you're running with the juniors today."  At first I thought it was a joke, then Coach explained to me that I was guaranteed a trophy.  It made sense to run one of the weaker sophomores, because the four juniors would place at the top.  Our cumulative five runner score would still be better than any other team.

Part of the sophomore team (1988)

When some of the other guys on my team and their parents heard the news, I remember them asking in disbelief, "Why him?"  I had to explain, it's not because Coach thought I was good.  It was to solely a move to round out the team and quite honestly give a guy who was never going to win a medal or a trophy one shot at it.  I think some were still upset by the decision, but I couldn't worry about that.  I had a race to run.

I was always nervous before meets anyway, but this event made me even more so.  I felt like I had something to prove, fhat I deserved to be with the older group.  I told myself I would not finish last.  I remember running the course (around 3 miles) and ending up neck and neck with a guy who talked to me for what seemed like an eternity. He told me he hated running and was only doing it because his basketball coach thought it would help with his conditioning.  I finally realized that he and I were the last two runners in this race and broke off into a sprint.  Sadly though, he caught me and crossed the finish line seconds before me.  I was last.  It's the one and only time I finished dead last.

It's not much, but it's mine

But just like Coach Nelson predicted, Sean, Clint, Doug, and Tim finished first through fourth, and even with Hunsperger bringing up the rear, we all got our trophy that day.  I still have it.  It's a reminder of that one shot at glory I had during high school athletics.  It also reminds me of the kindness Coach had to give me that opportunity.  It was 25 years ago, and I still remember it like it was yesterday.  Coach, if you happen to read this, thank you.  It meant the world to me then and still does today.

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