IN THE PREDAWN
Southern Illinois dusk, a line of vehicles wends its way down narrow, remote roads. The migration, made up mostly of large vans, looks very much like a herd of brick-shaped pachyderms heading for some mysterious elephant graveyard.

But that's not the case at all. Instead, the parade is made up of some 2,000 men and women, heading for Alto Pass and the starting point for the 11th annual River to River Run, which was held this year on Saturday, April 18.

The run, which brings serious runners and fun joggers together, is serious business in Southernmost Illinois. While some 250 vans were needed to transport runners, there are many more vehicles involved, and gas stations and convenience store sales jump dramatically.

There was plenty of rural countryside for the runners to enjoy. Above, it takes some 400 volunteers to make the race run smoothly, and here, retired school teacher Ruth Walker Hume directs traffic through Goreville.

Gordon Pitz, a psychology professor at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale (SIU-C), came up with the idea for the run several years ago. He notes that it came about after he and his club, "River-to-River Runners," had been approached by the local tourism council, who suggested that a mass run might bring dollars into Southern Illinois. They proposed a 10K run or marathon.

"I'd read about a run in Oregon," Pitz says, "called the 'Hood-to-Coast,' which involved a relay from Mt. Hood to the Pacific Ocean, a distance of about 180 miles, and a similar run seemed like a good idea. I suggested a river-to-river run."

In retrospect, it's surprising that people thought it was a silly idea. Even so, Pitz persisted, and he and his wife cruised miles of rural roads, looking for a route. While there's a River-to-River hiking trail, it wasn't viable as a race course, although the original run did use a small part of it.

"It takes an enormous amount of groundwork to get a project like this off the ground," Pitz says, "and if there's one thing I'd tell someone hoping to set up a run, I'd urge them to make careful preparations, and be ready to have to make a lot of adjustments. On our second year, we learned a week before the run that part of our road was underwater, and that a critical bridge on the hiking trail was out."

He adds that working with towns on the way is important, too, "While the race is a boon to towns," he says, "it's also disruptive. And we had to find lots of volunteers to help. That first year, we had 40 or so. Now, there are about 400, and some have been doing it for years. In some places, we just turn over the baton ex-

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Bob Reed, a director of Illinois Rural Electric Co., and a Nebo farmer, right, hands over the baton to Glennon Rost of Quincy after running his first of three legs.

change locations to a local organization, and they handle it."

Pitz chuckles at his attempts on that first race, and notes that after the club had decided to try the idea, it had advertised in every running publication they could get hold of, and sent invitations to every club they could find an address for.

"I'd promised the tourism people we'd have 20 teams," he says, "and we crossed our fingers and hoped for 12. We finally wound up with 60, and we were astonished. We've since quit advertising and seeking publicity, because we have more teams than we can handle. We had to turn about 70 teams away this year."

Teams come from all over the Midwest. Some came from as far away as California and Florida. Some motels throughout the area are booked for the nights before and after the race for a year in advance, and area restaurants and campgrounds do a land office business, too.

Boosters say the race brings some $200,000 into the area economy, and compares favorably in economic impact to Parents' Day at SIU-C and Graduation Day.

The relay, which ends in Golconda with the kind of festivitiess usually reserved for the ends of Wars, is a particular boon to that small Ohio River town.

Charlotte Anderson, program manager, Main Street Golconda, gotes that her organization is involed in economic development for the town. The run, she says, brings several thousand dollars into the community, and she's hoping to help it snag even more of that money in the future.

"We hope to convince more people to spend at least one night in our town. Now, most runners spend the night before and after the race in Marion, Carbondale or Murphysboro, and we hope some of them will spend more time exploring Golconda. Our town has a lot to offer," she says.

But the people in the wending vans don't worry too much about that kind of thing. They're focused on the run, and they're an interesting blend of different ages, occupations and outlooks.

One team in this year's race was "Team Dix," which is based in Quincy. Jim O'Niell, a Quincy insurance adjuster, heads up the team. Bob Reed, 51, is a Nebo farmer, and a member of the board of directors of Illinois Rural Electric Co., Winchester.

Don Van Houten is field services representative for the Association of Illinois Electric Cooperatives in Springfield. At 53, The was the team's oldest number. Glennon

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At the end of the run, all members of a team, and maybe an occasional hangeron, all run across the finish line together. Here, Team Dix makes the final sprint.

Rost, 35, is a bank vice-president in Quincy. Ryan Constable, 19, is the youngest member of the team. He installs security systems for his father's business in Hannibal, Mo. Darren Bishop, who works in the shipping department for a department store chain, is 30. Tom Santee, 32, is an executive in a Hannibal factory. Phil Wiegard, 30, is a UPS driver who lives in Quincy and works out of Palmyra, Mo.

Each team has a name, and the names picked range from the indecipherable to the whimsical to the bizarre. Silkworm, a Murphysboro firm, had a team there, and its "Team Worm" wore matching black uniforms with white accents. The "Dozier Tribe" ran, too. John Dozier, a member of the Wayne-White Counties Electric Cooperative board of directors, is patriarch of the tribe. At 74, he doesn't run in the race. But the entire tribe is made up of sons, daughters and grandsons, all Doziers and ranging in age from 19 to 51. The name "Fastor Pastors" left little doubt as to the occupation of that team's members, while SNAROSLA did little to describe the people running with that team. And, WeSDust suggests a team with a short winning streak.

For many, team standings, which, were posted at the end of the run, were very important. Here, a man scans the rankings.

Long before dawn, people emerged from their motel rooms and loaded their vans for the trek to the starting line, and two very different types were easily discernible. Some immediately began exercising, as if they begrudged the sleeping time that had cut into their conditioning.

Others dragged weary bodies to vans for the drive to the start. One, rubbing sleep from half-open eyes, looked at an exercising team and grumbled, "It's disgusting how pumped up some people are. I got up so early that I had to pinch myself to see if I was awake, and I still don't know." But most were rarin' to go.

Teams were made up of eignt runners each, mostly, and each runner ran three times during the day. If, for some reason, there were only seven members on a team, someone was responsible for running two sets of legs.

In several small towns along the way, and at many houses, small clutches of people gathered to cheer the runners on. Some Southernmost Illinois residents have been, doing that for years.

People offered water to runners, and the First Baptist Church of Cobden had set up tables to provide liquids and nutrients to those who were interested.

Although runners couldn't appreciate it much, they ran through some scenic countryside that might well put the Great Smokies to shame. But the scenery offered a mixed blessing, too. Nearly every leg of the race had some uphill in it, and the teams' leaders plotted their strategies carefully. Organizers had broken the entire distance into separate legs, with a profile illustrating each segment's ups and downs. Legs were rated. "Easy, moderate, hard and very hard."

Naturally, runners who run well on hills were assigned to hilly terrain, while others were scheduled to run the level or primarily downhill segments. It was all part of winning for some, or making at least a respectable showing.

And while they were doing that, they were also priming the Southern Illinois economy.

Those interested can call RRR at (618) 453-7200. Or point your web browser to rrr.olm.net

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