Race Report: 2019 Tunnel Light Marathon

On September 15, I ran the Tunnel Light Marathon in North Bend, WA.  This race uses the same course as the Light at the End of the Tunnel Marathon, which is held in June.  This course has a reputation for fast times, so everyone wants to run it to qualify for the Boston Marathon.  There are now several races on this trail.  This was the third time I ran one of the “tunnel” races.

When I first signed up for this race, I didn’t know if I could get in shape in time to qualify for Boston in one of my spring races.  Most of my summer races were on courses where I wasn’t likely to run fast.  I thought if I didn’t qualify in the spring, I might not get another chance until September.  This race is held on the last weekend that I could plausibly qualify and still register for Boston before it filled.  It was my backup plan.

As it turned out, I qualified in March and then got a faster qualifying time in April.  In fact, I was able to register last week.  This weekend is also the first weekend of the qualifying period for the 2021 Boston Marathon.  Instead of being my last chance to qualify for 2020, it was my first chance to qualify for 2021.

The race starts at Snoqualmie Pass and finishes in North Bend.  It’s run on gravel trails that follow an old railroad line.  The course is almost entirely downhill, but the grade is gentle, so it doesn’t beat up your legs.  At the beginning of the race, you run through a railroad tunnel that’s two and a half miles long.  That’s where the name “Light at the End of the Tunnel” comes from.

I flew to Seattle on Saturday.  I stayed at the Hampton Inn in Snoqualmie, which was about six miles from the finish line in North Bend.  This hotel must be relatively new.  I wasn’t able to find lodging this close the first two times I ran here.

I didn’t arrive early enough to pick up my race packet on Saturday.  There were three “host” hotels in Issaquah where you could get your race packet right at your hotel.  I’ve stayed in Issaquah in the past, but wanted to stay closer to North Bend, so I could have a shorter drive in the morning.  Instead, I had to wait until Sunday morning to get my race packet.

I had an early dinner at MOD Pizza in Snoqualmie.  This fast casual pizzeria was so close to my hotel that I could walk there.

I got to sleep early and slept well for half the night.  Then I woke up and couldn’t get back to sleep.  One bad night doesn’t usually affect me too much, but it was the end of a stressful week.  It was my sixth straight restless night, and it was starting to catch up to me.

When I got up, I had a cup of tea and some shortbread cookies that I had in my room.  I was tempted to have a second cup of tea, but I knew I wouldn’t have many opportunities to make bathroom stops before the race.

My digestive system was unsettled.  After multiple trips to the bathroom, I’m pretty sure I passed everything I ate in the previous few days.  I didn’t know for sure if I was done, which made me nervous.  Fortunately, I was.

It rained during the night, and it was still raining when I got up.  It was just a light sprinkling, but if you’re out in it long enough, your clothes will eventually get wet.  It looked like it would keep raining for at least a few more hours.  It wasn’t clear if it would stop raining before the race was over.  That made it difficult to decide what to wear.

By the time I left, it was 58 degrees, and it wasn’t going to warm up much during the race.  Now it was a steady rain.  In conditions like these, you have to choose between dressing for comfort and dressing to run a fast time.  This was a goal race, so I dressed to run fast, knowing I’d be uncomfortable.

I wanted to wear tights to keep my legs warm, but I knew that would be too warm.  I opted for shorts and my thinnest T-shirt.  I had a rain poncho to wear in the start area, but I’d get too hot if I wore it for the race.  I also had a Tyvek jacket.  I started the race in that, knowing I could always tie it around my waist if I didn’t need it.

I needed to drive to Twin Falls Middle School to board a bus to take me to the start.  The marathon started at 8:00, but the buses started loading at 5:50.  Breakfast service at the hotel didn’t start until 6:00, so I waited until I could get a little more food before starting the 15 minute drive to Twin Falls Middle School.  I ate a small pastry and drank just enough orange juice to wash it down.  Despite waiting to eat breakfast, I was still on a bus by 6:30.

The bus I was on had just started loading, so we didn’t get going until about 6:45.  Mine was one of two buses that missed a turn and had to do some extra driving to get turned around.  That may have been a blessing in disguise. Arriving a few minutes later meant less time standing around in the rain.

We got dropped off at the Hyak Trailhead in Iron Horse State Park.  This is a parking area that’s right next to the tunnel.  I immediately got in line to pick up my race packet.  Along with my race bib, I received two bags for gear check.  T-shirts were optional, so I didn’t order one.  It’s a nice shirt, but I already have more than I need.

One bag was for the gear check at the start.  The other bag was for a second gear check on the other side of the tunnel.  That gave us a chance to drop off flashlights or head lamps, since we wouldn’t need them any more after leaving the tunnel.

About 25 minutes before the race, I checked my gear bag.  Then I got in line to use the bathroom.  Nobody was in a hurry to line up for the race.  I finally lined up about 10 minutes before the start when I saw other people lining up.

My goal was to finish in 3:25 or faster.  That would be a Boston qualifier with 10 minutes to spare.  Anything under 3:30 would probably get me into the race, but average qualifying times keep getting faster.  I wanted to hit it out of the park.

They had pace groups, but there wasn’t one for 3:25, so I was on my own to establish the right pace.  I couldn’t see all of the pace groups, but I made a point of lining up behind the 3:15 group and ahead of the 3:40 group.

We ran a short out-and-back through the parking area before entering the tunnel.  I started at a pace that felt a little fast.  I didn’t want to risk starting too slow, because I didn’t know if I would have room to pass people inside the tunnel.

Inside the tunnel, you need a flashlight or head lamp.  I opted for a flashlight, knowing I wouldn’t need to have it with me for the whole race.  I held it low and aimed it at the ground in front of me.  There’s a lot of moisture inside the tunnel, and sometimes there are small puddles.

The trail surface inside the tunnel is a firm clay.  It’s not perfectly level, and it’s hard to see all the lumps, so I felt a little off balance at times.

Most people use GPS to know how far they’ve run and to check their pace.  GPS is useless inside the tunnel.  You’re out of communication with the satellites until you get outside again.  As usual, I just wore a regular stopwatch.  They have mile markers inside the tunnel, but you still have to be watching for them.  I had to shine my flashlight right on my watch to read it.  I ran the first mile in 7:26, which was faster than I planned.

The tunnel is the flattest part of the course, so I didn’t need to run as fast there.  I could have reached my goal by averaging 8:00 per mile inside the tunnel and then 7:45 for the rest of the race.

Halfway through the tunnel, I started to get hot.  Taking my jacket off while running through the tunnel would have been awkward.  I also didn’t know if I would need it again when I got outside and felt the rain again.  I decided to wait and see how I felt when I got outside.

In my second mile, I eased up a bit. That one was somewhere between 7:45 and 8:00.  I don’t remember exactly.  Just after the mile marker, I looked ahead of me.  In between the bobbing heads of other runners, I could occasionally see daylight.  It was the light at the end of the tunnel.  It looked close, but it was still seven tenths of a mile away.

As I got closer to the end of the tunnel, I pulled my second gear check bag out of my fanny pack.  The sides were clinging to each other, and I couldn’t get it open wearing gloves.  One at a time, I took my gloves off and stuffed them into my fanny pack.

By the time I exited the tunnel, I had the bag open.  I turned off my flashlight, put it in the bag, and tied it shut.  It was already labeled with my bib number.  There was an aid station just past the tunnel.  I handed my bag to a volunteer and then drank some Gatorade.  Then I worked to get back into my pace.

At three miles, I checked my time again.  I slowed down while I was fumbling with my gloves and the gear bag, but my average pace so far was still 7:48.  Now the grade was downhill.  I had to speed up a little, but that was easy running downhill.  Over the next several miles, I settled into a pace that was just under 7:45.

Outside the tunnel, I no longer felt hot.  The rain picked up, and I started to notice a cold wind.  It wasn’t strong, but we were running into it.  I had to zip up my jacket.  My hands were cold, but the jacket helped keep my core temperature from dropping.  I was really glad I didn’t take it off early.  Putting it on  again over wet arms would not have been  easy.

I’m not sure if the trail is ever used for motorized vehicles, but there were two distinct tracks.  Between them the ground was an inch or two higher, and there was grass and small rocks.  Normally, I would stay on one side to avoid running over the rocks.  Today, the rain was causing the tracks on either side to turn into long puddles.  You had to choose between having uncomfortable footing or running through puddles.  I did my best to avoid the puddles.

Photo credit: Claire S. Carder

Aid stations were spaced about 2.5 miles apart.  That was frequent enough that I could get by without carrying fluids, but far enough apart that I wasn’t losing too much time at aid stations.  About eight miles into the race, I didn’t pay enough attention to the puddles in front of an aid station.  One of my shoes got filled with muddy water as I stepped in a puddle while reaching for a cup of Gatorade.

As I approached the halfway mark, I unzipped my jacket to make sure the transponders could detect the chip on my race bib and record my time.  Then I zipped it up again.

I reached the halfway point in 1:41.  That put me on pace to finish in 3:22.  Anything under 3:23 would give me automatic entry into next year’s New York City Marathon.  I now had another goal besides breaking 3:25.  My fastest marathon in the last three years was 3:21:57.  Beating that time was also possible, but I would need a strong second half.

I ran with confidence, but I knew there were still several things that could go wrong.  I have a history of starting too fast and fading in the late miles.  Was I doing that today?  My clothes and shoes were soaking wet, making them heavy.  Would that wear on me in the second half?  I have circulation issues in my arms and legs.  If my legs get too cold for too long, the blood vessels constrict.  If that happened, I would slow down dramatically.  I was optimistic, but I wasn’t out of the woods yet.

Speaking of woods, we were running through the forest.  We occasionally crossed bridges and had views of the surrounding hills and valleys.  It’s a beautiful course on a clear day, but I was reluctant to take my eyes off the trail.  To my credit, I never tripped on anything.

Just past 14 miles, I ran across one of the bridges.  There was a photographer taking pictures of runners as they crossed the bridge.  I unzipped my jacket, so my bib number would be visible.

I meant to leave the zipper connected at the bottom, but I accidentally unzipped it completely.  Once I was past the photographer, I tried to zip it up again, but I couldn’t get the zipper started.  Even after coming to a full stop for several seconds, I still couldn’t get the zipper started.  My hands were so cold, they were useless.  I had to run the rest of the race with my jacket open.

Most of the aid stations had water first, then Gatorade.  I always skipped the water tables and went for the Gatorade.  Somewhere around 15 miles, I reached an aid station that didn’t follow this pattern.  When I realized I was already past the Gatorade, I opted not to drink anything.  I had no interest in drinking water.  I was cold enough that I didn’t need much in the way of fluids.  I drank the Gatorade mostly for the sugar.

Mile 15 was a little bit slow, but only because of the time I wasted trying to zip up my jacket.  After that, I got into a nice rhythm.  Despite the doubts I felt earlier, I picked up my pace.  My next few miles were all about 10 seconds faster.

Usually, in the second half of a race, I count down the remaining miles.  In this race, I was more concerned with how much time I had left.  Specifically, how much longer would I need to endure these cold conditions?  At19 miles, I knew I had less than an hour to go.

I was picking up my effort, and I was suddenly passing most of the runners around me.  As I approached the 20 mile sign, I was curious to know how much I sped up.  I knew the mile marker was misplaced when that mile apparently took 8:31.  I was passing everyone.  If I slowed down by almost a minute, how slow was everyone else going?

At the time, I assumed the mile marker was badly misplaced.  In retrospect, I may have made a mental arithmetic error.  I don’t record my miles splits.  I do my best to remember them, and it gets more difficult to remember in the late miles.  In the late miles of a race.

My time at 21 miles seemed more reasonable, but it still seemed too slow.  Looking at miles 20 and 21 together, I computed an average of 7:50.  Assuming I was off by a minute, the average was actually 7:20.  Because of that confusion, I didn’t realize how fast I was now running.  I waited to see what my watch would say at the next mile marker.  In the meantime, I didn’t let up in my effort.

Just past the 21 mile mark, we left one trail and ran some switchbacks that took us to the trail we would follow for the last five miles.  In a few places, it was sharply downhill.  The runners ahead of me slowed down as they descended over these sections.  I sped up and raced past them. 

Next, we ran through a campground.  This is one of the few places that can be reached easily by spectators.  Here, we got some crowd support.

As I left the campground, I focused on catching and passing other runners.  I was running so hard, I was starting to get out of breath.  I passed four or five runners.  Then I looked ahead and saw a runner who looked familiar. This guy had been right in front of me just two or three miles earlier.  Now he was way ahead of me.  How did I fall so far behind him?  I worked harder and harder to catch him, but I wasn’t getting any closer.  He was putting on a clinic, moving rapidly through the field.  He kept passing other runners.  I’d eventually pass the same runners, but I couldn’t catch him.

By 22 miles, I seemed to have made up the lost minute.  In fact, I had probably gained a minute.  I still didn’t know how much faster I was running.  I kept working to catch up to that one runner who was stronger than everyone else.  When I finally caught up to him, I had mixed feelings about passing him.  He was finishing so strong, I didn’t feel like I deserved to pass him.  I also didn’t know how I would stay on pace after passing him. There was no one else that fast to chase.

I put those thoughts aside and passed him. Then I lifted my effort even more.  I ran the 23rd mile in 7:02.  That was my fastest so far.

I ran mile 24 even faster.  That one was 6:52.  It’s a downhill course, but I still didn’t know where this was coming from.  Because of my earlier confusion, I didn’t know how much I could trust the mile markers, but I was on pace to break 3:20.

Mile 25 was also fast.  If I remember right, it was 6:49.  It was now obvious I would break 3:19.  I might even break 3:18.

It was only in the last 1.2 miles that I struggled to reel in the runners ahead of me.  Most of the other runners were also trying to qualify for Boston.  At this point in the race, everyone was fighting for every second.  I kept up my effort, but I wasn't gaining ground on the runners ahead of me.  I felt like I was almost out of gas.  Shortly before the finish, we ran under I-90.  As I ran under the bridges, I realized it was the first time since the tunnel that I didn’t feel any rain hitting me.

Just past the freeway, I could see the balloon arch over the finish line.  I got there in 3:17:19.  I knew I had a strong finish, but I was still in shock.  This was my fastest marathon in more than five years.  I ran negative splits by almost five minutes!  Most of that came in the last seven miles.

They had a variety of post-race snacks in the finish area, but I wasn’t interested in anything that seemed cold or wet.  I had some mixed nuts, a cookie, and a piece of cake.  The cake seemed appropriate, since I definitely was in a mood to celebrate.  The only post-race beverage that looked appealing was chocolate milk.  It was a long time before I could open it, however.  My hands still weren’t working normally.

I retrieved both of my gear bags and caught the next bus back to Twin Falls Middle School.  Then I drove back to the hotel.  I had the heat on in the car, but I knew I would have to go back out into the cold rain to walk from my car to the hotel.  I could barely remove my wet clothes, but after a hot bath, I felt almost as good as new.

I often eat pizza after races, or before races, or when I travel, or on days that end in “y.”  I also sometimes celebrate BQs with BBQ.  I decided to do both at once, with this spicy BBQ pizza.

I slept well the next night.  I felt well-rested for the first time in a week.  I’m surprised how little soreness I have in my legs.  I don’t feel like I expected to feel after an all-out downhill race.

I do have other minor issues.  I have a rash on my chest and small abrasions in other area where my skin was rubbing against wet clothes.  That’s another reason why I don’t like running in rain.  I had a good race result, but it’s still not my favorite weather.

This race provides free downloads of the official race photos.  About a week after originally posting this, I added a few of the photos.

Race Statistics

Distance:  26.2 miles

Time:  3:17:19

Average Pace:  7:32

Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:  384

Boston Qualifiers:  125