Tyler Pence didn’t come into the TBK Bank Quad Cities Marathon thinking he was going to run his fastest time ever.
He also didn’t expect the two runners from Kenya who were far out in front of him through the first half of the race to be disqualified for running the wrong route.
But both things happened Sunday in the 23rd running of the marathon.
Pence, the head track and cross country coach at the University of Illinois Springfield, crossed the finish line in 2 hours, 15 minutes, 6 seconds to become the first U.S. runner since 2001 to win the race. His time is the third best in the history of the event and earned him the first prize of $3,000.
This article appeared in The Dispatch Argus on Sept. 26, 2021.