There’s half-marathons, full marathons and ultra-marathons. And then there’s the Vol State run.
Competitors in the competition, which began last week and can span 10 days, start in Dorena Landing, Mo. – just across the Tennessee border – and go all the way to Castle Rock, Ga. The journey allows runners to travel across Tennessee – 314 total miles – and this year, no woman was faster than Warren County local Sue Scholl.
Scholl, 41, set the course record by finishing in four days, 12 hours, eight minutes and four seconds. Scholl was competing in the unsupported group, where she was left to find her own food and shelter while traveling from town to town across the state.
Scholl started her run Thursday, July 10 at 7 a.m., along with 64 other individuals and two relay teams. By the time Scholl was 24 hours into the event, several competitors had dropped by the wayside while the local runner had made it 91 miles – putting her in third place behind eventual winner Greg Armstrong and second-place finisher Johan Steene.
Scholl set out from Lexington, where she was at after 24 hours, and traveled through Parsons, Linden, Hohenwald and Hampshire on the second day. The course called for runners to hit several small towns throughout the state during the run, with her travels taking her near McMinnville on the fourth day.
After completing 216 miles in the first three days, Scholl set her sights on Middle Tennessee and arrived in Manchester late Sunday afternoon. Only a day later, Scholl would be standing triumphantly at the scenic overlook across the state border in Castle Rock, Ga.
Scholl finished less than a day behind Armstrong, who was announced the King of the Road when he concluded his run in three days, 17:50:53. Steene, a native of Sweden, was second at four days, 2:05:16. Scholl finished in front of 2010 King of the Road winner Juli Aistars and 2011 champion Don Winkley.
By press time Thursday, only 30 competitors had finished the event while 20 runners had dropped out of the event along the way.
This is not the first time Scholl has made a memorable run. Just last year, Scholl vowed to run 100 miles around McMinnville Civic Center to raise money for a friend in Ohio who had cancer. She completed the run in one day.
Scholl has been running in competitions since 2009, when she rekindled her running career after an injury suffered in a marathon in 2001 stopped her from competing.
The ninth annual Vol State run featured competitors from 25 states and two runners from Brazil.  Participation was up from 2013, when 33-of-40 runners completed the trek and combined to travel 13,072 miles. Runners still competing must finish by Saturday, July 19 – the final day of the 10-day challenge.