Tonya Nunn is addicted to running.
The Mahomet resident finished the Illinois Marathon 116 overall on April 27. This placed her 18th in the women’s division, and third in her age group.
In her fourth marathon, Nunn beat her personal best time at 3:25:09.
“Whenever I go to races, it just me and the clock,” she said. “If someone passes me, I tell them good job. I’m very competitive with myself.”
Nunn qualified for the Boston marathon with the finish time from her first Illinois marathon in 2010. She qualified with an even better time when she ran in the Twin Cities marathon in Minnesota in 2011.
Nunn knew she was injured before she ran the Boston marathon in 2012, but she thought that she could run through the injury.
After a bone scan in Champaign, Nunn was diagnosed with a femur fracture, which sidelined her for several months.
“It was horrible because I had worked so hard to get to where I was, and I was worried that I was going to lose all the conditioning and everything that I worked so hard to get,” she said.
In October, she received the green light to walk in increments of 10 minutes, followed by one minute of running. Doctors warned her that if she did not take the time off, she could potentially break the femur bone, which would require surgery and a longer healing time.
On January 1, 2013, Nunn decided that she would run the Illinois Marathon again in April. While preparing for the Illinois Marathon in 2010, she used a four month running program she found on the internet.
“If my training schedule said to run, I ran,” she said. “No matter what. Once I get on a training plan, I make it happen.”
From January 1 to April 27, Nunn ran six days a week. With a flexible work schedule, she was able to run four days a week during her lunch break. On the weekend mornings, she ran between 10 and 22 miles.
Nunn’s training also included a speed work day, and tempo run. She ran between 30 to 60 miles per week.
Nunn, a mother of two boys, felt guilty leaving every Saturday morning to run.
“It was really challenging because whenever I set out on a three hour run, all I could only think about the things I needed to get done at home, and how much I wanted to spend time with my boys,” she said.
Being able to run a marathon so close to home was convenient for Nunn. Her sons followed her along the course. The last time she saw them before crossing the finish line was around mile 20.
It was then that Nunn began to hurt from running the first 12 miles too quickly. The half-marathon runners started with the full-marathon runners, which picked up the starting pace.
“Even though this was my fastest marathon ever, I was hard on myself because I wanted my time to be a little better,” she said. “I know that if I had not started out so quickly, I would have met my time goal. I had no idea how fast I was going until I hit the clocks at the half-way point. Then when the half-marathon and marathon runners split, I was all of a sudden alone.”
When Nunn started to hurt, she removed her IPod touch and observed the crowd. When a spectator told her that she was in the top 20 for female runners, she found the energy to finish the race.
“That right there was perfect timing and encouragement for me,” she said. “I just kept telling myself that every step is one step closer to the finish. I’ve ran four marathons, and every time I do, I learn a lot.”
Because of the time and training commitment for running a marathon, Nunn will only run one marathon this year. She said she plans to run the Illinois marathon again next year. Nunn will continue to run six days a week.
With her first 12 mile pace at a personal best, Nunn said she is excited to see what she can push herself to do in half-marathons during the rest of 2013.
