By Blake Haas
MORTON – One Central Illinois Physical Education Teacher is now a World Record holder.
Taggert VanEtten, a K-8 P.E Teacher at Bartonville Grad School, broke the 100-mile treadmill World Record by more than half an hour Saturday, completing the run in 11 hours and 32 minutes.
In preparation for the run, VanEtten said he runs an average of 196 miles a week, with his longest runs two weeks ago of 258 miles in seven days.
“I’m not trying to run fast; I’m just going out every day and basically just running between under a seven-minute pace up to a seven-and-a-half minute pace.”
However, VanEtten’s time was faster than the previous 100-mile record of 12 hours and nine minutes set by Zach Bitter.
Once completing the run, VanEtten celebrated the record-breaking run by hugging his mother and popping a bottle of campaign.
“You know my dad passed away when I was 19, and it was a day before (the run) was the anniversary of his death; he had been gone for 6-years. She was there beside me a lot toward the end. I’ve got this tattoo of a ribbon that is dedicated to my dad on my back, and she said ‘that I needed to touch the tattoo because he was there with us.’ And you know, the last two miles, I was getting really emotional, and then I stepped off and was able to hug my mom was just an unbelievable feeling.
You know she has been supporting me since I was in High School for this crazy dream. And just to have her be there, be the first person to just to grab. I go so deep in the well inside myself that I’m just exhausted and can hardly stand up. It was a moment I will never forget.”
VanEtten said the record-breaking run was a ‘tune-up’ in preparation for Six Days in a Dome, where he will attempt to smash the overall world record 100-mile record of 11 hours and 14 minutes.
“I think I have a shot (to beat the record). I wouldn’t be announcing it and going if I didn’t think I really could.”
Blake Haas can be reached at [email protected].
