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05/04/2020 12:00 AMTanner Kern recently completed an incredible feat when he ran 100 miles in a single weekend at Valley Regional High School. Kern ran this ultra-marathon sponsored by Aravaipa Running in support of coronavirus (COVID-19) relief efforts, where 10 percent of the registration fees collected went to the cause. In addition, Kern made his own efforts in fundraising and gathered $600 for the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Kern ran the 100 miles over two days, April 24 and 25.
The conditions were not ideal, but Kern finished his 100-mile run in 22 hours and 13 minutes. On April 24, Kern ran 60 miles, and the next day he finished up the remaining 40 miles. It was the longest distance that he had ever run, and he persevered through some difficult circumstances.
“The longest I had run in a week was 80 miles, and that was about four weeks prior to the race. I ran 60 miles on Friday, and that took 12 hours and 21 minutes. Then I woke up on Saturday, and I did the last 40 miles in nine hours and 54 minutes,” said Kern. “It was definitely painful. It proved to me you can do anything you want. You just have to do it. I wasn’t as trained as I felt I needed to be for that distance, but I did it.”
In the days since the marathon, Kern has been on the mend after pushing his body to the limit. Running 60 miles in a single day can take its toll, but adding on another 40 miles the subsequent day in the cold and rain compounded the difficulty.
“I’m still recovering a bit. I’m doing more walking, weight-lifting, and stretching right now. I felt pretty good that Saturday morning. The first three miles, I was running faster than I had been. Then, I tried to pick the pace up a little,” Kern said. “I felt a bit of a pop in my right ankle, and a pain shot up through my leg. That was bothering me a lot, but in a way it was good because it took my mind off the cold. I had to run very precisely to avoid the pain. There were a lot of highs and lows on the weekend.”
This endeavor for Kern was the culmination of a long journey that began with the Essex resident playing on the line for Xavier High School football team. After graduating from Xavier in 2014, Kern played center for Division-I Lafayette College, but his career was cut short due to sustaining too many concussions. By 2017, Kern was out of football and started to carry even more weight than he had as a 300-pound lineman.
“Xavier was a great program, and we were playing against great competition every week. That really took my game to another level. At Lafayette, I started as a true freshman. The thing about the line is you have contact every single play. The recurring shots got to me,” said Kern. “In the spring of 2016, I got hurt and had concussion symptoms. I missed the whole season. I tried to come back in 2017, but I did a few practices, and I was done. It was hard because it was my life. I was in an extremely low spot. I didn’t have a reason to work out. I gained 40 pounds. I had been playing for 10 years, and I didn’t know what to do.”
At his heaviest, Kern weighed 340 pounds and wanted to make a change. Of course, it’s hard to start a high-impact workout like running at that weight, but Kern took it one step at a time.
“I always hated running. It was terrible as a football player. I was 340, and I went out to run a mile. I quit after a lap. I knew that wasn’t going to work for me,” said Kern. “So, I just got on the elliptical and focused on moving. I also focused on my diet and stopped eating like I was still playing D-I football. Once I got down to 300 pounds, I knew I could reach my goal of 240 pounds. Now, I’m down to 200.”
After his weight loss made running as exercise more manageable, Kern began exploring running longer distances.
“When I was down to 260 pounds, that’s when I started running. I got into interval training, run-walk kind of stuff. That’s really how I got into the running,” Kern said. “My cousin is an ultra-runner. He does it all. He really inspired me to start running. He was an important role model. One day I just went out there and ran a 5k, and that got me hooked. Since then I’ve bumped up my mileage and taken on new challenges.”
Kern’s success in losing weight has drawn interest from others trying to do the same. To help keep people motivated, Kern started a website at www.tannerkern.com with links to a blog and a podcast that he hopes will help people meet their weight-loss goals.
“It’s not easy to lose 140 pounds. A lot of people came to me asking how I did it. So, I started a website, a blog, and a podcast, and that’s what I do in my free time. The hardest part of losing weight is the mindset. I use my story to help others. I say you can do anything you want. It just takes work,” said Kern. “The biggest thing for me was being disciplined in my diet. You have to break bad habits. I cut out sweets and processed foods. It was about calories and being conscious of what I put in my mouth.”
When Kern’s life seemed the bleakest, he had completely ostracized himself from football—the sport he loved. Since then, he took a long journey that brought him back into football’s sphere then some. Soon, Kern heads off to Springfield College to pursue a masters degree, and he will be starting a new job at a nearby high school.
“When I stopped playing, I couldn’t even watch football for a whole season. I started missing football, and I went back to Xavier to coach the offensive and defensive line. I’m back to having a great relationship with football now,” said Kern. “Everyone’s career has to end at some point. Once I found other things to be passionate about, that really helped me. I also coached track and field at Mercy and Xavier. Next year, I’m going to Springfield College for my masters. I got a job working in a public high school counseling athletes. So unfortunately, I had to resign at Xavier, but it was a good two years for me.”
In the end, Kern knows that it has taken a network of support in refashioning his life after leaving his playing career behind, and he’ll be forever grateful to his father, Jim Kern, and his mother Kathy Kern for their help.
“I just want to thank my parents. They’ve been amazing through this whole process. They’ve been there for me since day one, and when football ended, they helped me find a new passion through running and supporting me with whatever I wanted to do,” Kern said. “Also, thanks to all the people at Xavier that supported me over the past two years and welcomed me back to a place I love so much. They helped me get through a tough part in my life.”