Mike McKellips is like a lot of people in their forties. He ran some in high school and after, but as the years passed, he slacked off. He married, had three kids, and put in long hours at his job. It got easier to relax on the couch when he had a little free time than it did to exercise.

The results weren’t good. About three years ago, McKellips was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol. He had also gained weight.

Since McKellips’ grandmother had died from complications of diabetes, he knew what he faced. He still didn’t make immediate changes. He credits his wife Tanya as being the instigator of his change.

Tanya started running and nagged at McKellips to get off the couch and join her. Finally, one day he went on a run with her and did a two-mile run/walk. Mike never looked back. He ran 5Ks and joined the local running club JOG,inc.

He stepped up the pace when he started adventure racing, which involved teams of four running 10-15 miles through the forest, canoeing 10-15 miles, and then mountain biking 30-40 miles. The adventure races got McKellips accustomed to running in the forest over rough terrain.

In April he ran the 26.2-mile Go St. Louis Marathon, with a time of 3:49.

His ultimate challenge was when he completed the Ozark Trail 100-mile endurance run this November, where he finished a 100-mile run in under 32 hours.

When people heard that McKellips had completed a 100-run, they had a lot of questions about training, logistics of the race, and maybe the biggest question, why in the world would he run 100 miles. What would take McKellips from running 5Ks of just over three miles to 100-mile marathons?

After the marathon and the adventure races, McKellips began reading about ultra marathons online and thinking about doing one. Then, in July he ran across information about an inaugural 100-mile race in Crawford County in November. McKellips really wanted to take part in the race’s first year, and it seemed very convenient since the race would occur in the Cuba area.

With only four months to prepare, McKellips, with Tanya’s support, made the commitment to get ready for the race and paid the $150 entry fee.

McKellips said, “Don’t use how I prepared as an example.” There was a big jump between McKellips’ previous running and what a 100-mile race required, and McKellips probably didn’t build up to the long distance in a way that he should.

While McKellips said he “ran, ran, ran, up to 49 miles a week,” he also conceded that he probably needed to have run longer distances.

“I work a lot. I didn’t want to take time away from my kids and wife. I didn’t want to cheat them out of family time,” stated McKellips.

Because of this goal, he would get up to run in the dark at 4:30 in the morning and he would be finished and home before the rest of the family got up at 6:30. “Sometimes I ran in the evening when they were in bed,” he added. These running habits kept disruption of family time to a minimum and gave him experience running in the dark.

One other pastime that McKellips credits with preparing him for nighttime running is the hours he spends coon hunting at night, a sport he started when he was younger. As a result, he loves the woods after dark.

These training restrictions also limited the distances that McKellips ran prior to the long race. He only ran about 10 miles at a time, although he would sometimes run 10 miles in the morning and another 8 at night, and another 10 the next morning. That is a lot of miles, but it isn’t close to a 100-mile race. He also never got around to making a trial run on the course even though he intended to. What McKellips needed to make up for in preparation, he would provide with heart and determination during the race.

On race day, Nov. 7, McKellips, his wife, and his two children Ben and Emma woke at 3 a.m. to go to the beginning of the race, which would start three hours later. An aunt would pick up the youngest family members, and their older sister Hannah would stay with their mom during the race. From Bass River Resort, runners were shuttled to the first race station. Racers do not run the entire race, and, actually use some walking as a strategy to complete the grueling course. Nevertheless, running is a major aspect of finishing by the 32-hour deadline.

Runners were able to leave drop bags containing special foods, energy drinks, socks, etc. at the beginning of the race to be distributed at certain aid stations. Stations also had drinks and snacks available and porta-potties, although most runners answered the call of nature behind trees or logs along the way. Prior to the race, crews worked at preparing and clearing a rough trail. A storm had felled thousands of trees during the summer that had to be removed from the trail.

Racers are also able to have crews meet them at designated stations to help them change shoes, give them food from their drop bags, etc. McKellips’ wife Tanya and oldest daughter Hannah were scheduled to be his race crew and meet him at 5 of the 13 stations. Before the race he thought this would be enough because he really didn’t want to bother anyone else because of the long hours involved: “I didn’t think anyone else would be interested in spending all that time in the woods, especially at night.”

Tanya was a little reluctant for just her and her daughter to be alone in the some of the remote areas of the forest at night. That’s when she decided to ask fellow runners Brad and Rachelle Austin if they would consider crewing for her husband along with Tanya and Hannah. As part of the crew, they would also be able to run some miles with him for encouragement and pacing. They said yes, and now say it was one of the coolest things they have done.

Tanya said, “It was fun. Time flew, and we got to know other families and crews.”

One potentially serious error McKellips made was in not carrying his own water in the early part of the race. He thought it would be enough to drink at the stations, and he didn’t want to be burdened by water bottles. McKellips said, “This was a costly and almost fatal mistake. Not fatal as in death but fatal in not finishing.”

As the day heated up, McKellips was unable to urinate and his kidneys were shutting down. But at the next station at mile 28, he was able to drink water and Heed (an electrolyte replacement). “I ate some more, drank more, filled my water bottle, and I was off again,” he said.

The grueling race and passing hours took their toll on McKellips. His crew noticed he was looking rough as the race extended through the night. Leaves covered the trail, and he tripped a couple of times. For a while his back hurt, his hamstrings were a problem, and his feet pained him from the pounding they took on the trail.

Although it was a challenge, McKellips said that it was cooler at night, and he made a game of trying to catch and pass other runners on the trail. “It was a beautiful night,” he recalled. “On occasion I would turn off my flashlight just to see the stars and take in some of God’s glorious creation.”

At the mile 51 station, McKellips was moving well. He stopped at stations for food, water, salt, and he would be off again, going from station to station.

At mile 68.5, Brad Austin was allowed to join McKellips on the run. McKellips was plagued with hamstring problems, fatigue, and he was walking more than running.

McKellips wrote a running journal after the race. After about the 75th mile, he commented, “Pretty slow at this point but still in a forward motion. One thing I stress to my adventure racing team, and it works for ultra running or any endurance event as well, is forward motion. I don’t care if you’re running, walking, crawling, stooping, or puking. As long as you do it in forward motion, you will find the finish.”

At this point Brad was still running with him, telling jokes, encouraging, and singing a little. They now joke that McKellips asked for some Bee Gees, but Brad didn’t know any.

At mile 81.5, Rachelle took over the running duties from her husband. The hamstring was bothering McKellips, but he was getting in some good runs on the gentler terrain. Rachelle was keeping an eye on the time because McKellips needed to finish under 32 hours, and he was succumbing to the hours of racing, race food, and drinks. He was having some intestinal problems, and he was embarrassed about the idea that he might be less than a gentleman around Rachelle.