Annual River to River Relay draws thousands to southern Illinois

The day of the big race had finally arrived, and thousands of runners from all across southern Illinois were wiping the sleep from their eyes, donning their running gear and following a convoy of about 350 vehicles through the cold and rainy predawn darkness to the starting line.
It was the start of the 30th-annual River to River Relay, a race that has become famous if not infamous to many runners for its beautiful scenery and grueling course with the kind of hills that run through a runner's worst nightmares.
"The weather was a challenge this year as we had one of the wettest and coolest relays in our 30-year history," said race director Brad Dillard. "The conditions forced the cancellation of the first leg, located in Pine Hills, and we started at exchange point two, near Wolf Lake, for only the third time in relay history."
There were 223 teams and nearly 2,000 runners in this year's race coming from 17 states, including Florida, New Mexico and New York. Each team had eight members and up to two alternates that came in all shapes, sizes and ages, from pre-teens to septuagenarians, but each one ran about 10 miles of the 77-mile course (shortened this year from 80), in three, 3.3-mile legs, before passing the baton to a teammate at one of 24 exchange points.
Dillard knows this race like the back of his hand, having run it a half-dozen times before becoming the race director 11 years ago. He can tell you where the hills are, where the asphalt turns to gravel and back to asphalt, and every spot along the route where the road narrows.
"It's a challenge, even for experienced runners, especially Section 22 with the mother of all hills," he said. "There are a couple of really steep downhill stretches at the beginning and near the end of the race, too."
There were runners determined to beat the clock or their best time, but the reasons they were running were as diverse as the runners themselves -- elite athletes, recreational joggers, weekend warriors and first-timers.
For each runner, this race stands alone as an exhilarating, exhausting, intimidating, inspiring event, one that they will not soon forget, and one that they can't wait to run again next year.
And the same goes for the volunteers -- about 250 of them -- who gave up their day to direct traffic or monitor exchange points.
"We couldn't have this race without our dedicated volunteers who help get these runners safely across the state," Dillard said.
The first runners crossed the finish line in Golconda Saturday afternoon. The rest came straggling in, hoping to beat the 8 p.m. deadline, when the finish line came down and the volunteers went home. (They all made it.) Team members celebrated (or commiserated) together when all was said and done, whether they'd known each other for years or had just met that morning. And they all marked the date for next year's River to River Relay as something they wouldn't miss for the world.
To register for next year's race, visit rrr.olm.net at 6 p.m. on Oct. 24. That's when registration goes live. This year, the race field filled in 10 minutes. For more information on the race or to volunteer, contact Dillard at dillard@mchsi.com.