· Date: Wednesday June 26, 2019
· Where: Salt Lake City, Utah to Pocatello, Idaho
· Total Distance Covered: 181 miles
· Running Partner: Alexis
This morning stands out as an incredible one with multiple dedications that grounded us in our journey. We were lucky enough to have center court available for use again and this is where we held our dedication circle. With an empty NBA stadium except for us in the center, it echoed a little and made what we were saying seem significantly more important as our voices grew louder. It felt like our voices were traveling throughout the arena just as we hoped the messages that we wanted to spread would carry us across the country. In addition to the Ulman dedication, we honored Leah’s grandmother who passed away from an aggressive form of cancer today. This was the anniversary of her death and the love and passion for her grandmother showed as Leah told us what her grandmother was like. She told us some funny stories and by the end of it, her tears had turned from sadness to laughter. We ran for Tyler B.’s sister Tatum as well. This was the first time that Tatum was receiving imaging results since her treatment. When I heard about Tatum’s appointments, I remembered how nerve-racking this had been for both me and my family. Waiting in anticipation for the scans to come back and confirm that your worst fear, having cancer again, would remain a fear or become a reality was terrible. It would take me months until the feeling of apprehension, dread, and helplessness would go away with my follow-up appointments. Even today, over four years later, those feelings are still with me before my appointments. Even though these feelings have lost their strength and no longer control my emotions, it is still there. It took a while to get to the point I am at and it was an honor running for Tatum and her family.
I think that this moment, when everyone so willingly honored each other’s family members may have been a defining moment for the team. I thought back on the past few days when we had our differences about the first “Why” meeting in Sparks, the conversation about supporting each other in Delta, and the second “Why” meeting our first night in Salt Lake City. I thought of the van trouble we had gone through and shortages of food we had shared. It’s not that the team was irrationally divided or split sides and sparred with each other. It isn’t that we weren’t enjoying the trip or wished we hadn’t participated. But now, there was no denying the fact that the events over the past few days had brought us all much closer together. We all came from different backgrounds including interests, homes, attitudes, and personalities. We all came from a uniquely special history that connected us with the Ulman Foundation and ultimately connected us with each other. Now, the team was truly supportive of each other and there were elements of companionship throughout the entirety of the team and not a few groups.
Today I ran with Alexis and we had a lot of great conversations. We talked about politics, religion, work, and plans for the future. The conversation went everywhere and included a lot of topics you don’t typically include in your first one on one conversation with someone. A recurring theme I noticed at this point in the trip was that we were all extremely comfortable talking with each other. Even as a team, not just with Alexis, we have touched upon so many topics that are usually avoided in the first stages of friendship. Alexis was not the first person I had talked about abortion, gay marriage, and God with. It’s not that I always talk about these things, in fact, I very rarely do. It’s that we had shared our vulnerabilities and now we were bonded. We could all talk about pretty much anything and most of us seemed to be open books for discussion. I don’t think there was a lot that was off the table for conversation. Despite our differences or similarities, in beliefs, we were there to support each other regardless if this was related to cancer or not.
Running today, the scenery was quite different from the past few days. We were surrounded by green grass, plants, and trees with rolling hills, fields, and mountains in the distance. It was so much different from the desert and arid climate we had been running in. Now it was hot, and the humidity was beginning to rise as well. For most of the day, our route was along a small road that paralleled Route 15. It felt strange to be running on a road without a yellow line while a few hundred feet to our right, there was a busy interstate. I imagined that this road must have been an old farm road. There was limited traffic and every mile seemed to have a horse farm. I don’t think I ever saw so many horses in one day! About halfway through the day, we crossed our third state line into Idaho. We now had run from California, through Nevada and Utah, and finally to Idaho. We were starting our fourth of eighteen states! It was exciting to think we had run through state lines multiple times now and our own two feet had carried us this far. As we finished our miles in Idaho, I could only think of the potatoes that the state is known for. I was starving and was looking forward to dinner!
It ended up being quite a long day of running and the team hardly made it to the community dinner on time. Since one of our fifteen-passenger vans had broken down in Salt Lake City yesterday, logistics were a little different. We had one SUV and a minivan as a replacement for the fifteen-passenger van. Since Enterprise was phasing out their larger vehicles, there was not an available replacement for Ulman. The next fifteen-passenger van wouldn’t be available for a few days and it was in another city. Knowing our route, Ulman and Enterprise agreed that we would just run to the Enterprise. Although this seems like a simple solution to the problem, now the team was split into three groups of runners with the remaining van being filled to capacity. This left us cramped and created a long day as everyone completed their miles.
Once we arrived at the host, it was Tyler S. (Guyler) who had the idea to ask local running stores for donations to the team. This was the first time we were in a large enough town that offered one and we decided to give it a try. Since the store, Pocatello Running Company, was closing soon, Tyler, Brenna, Rizwan, and I, ran from the host to the store and got there just before closing. The owner was extremely nice and hit it off right away with Tyler. Tyler had worked in a running store through college and knew how to strike a conversation and form a great relationship with the owner. We followed Tyler’s lead and soon all of us were laughing and talking about the local running, the trails around Pocatello, and what the 4K for Cancer was all about. The owner shared with us that his son had just finished up some rounds of chemo because he had lymphoma. Generously, he gave us all huge store discounts and donated a supply of electrolytes for the team. We all didn’t even expect this as soon as we walked into the store though, despite how well we all got along. The Pocatello Running Company was moving their building down the block and everything was in the middle of being boxed up and hauled out. The store was in no shape to make donations. But the owner dug out a donation from somewhere; either from his business or his own personal fund without even thinking twice. The shirt I purchased from this store is still my favorite from the entire summer. Not only because of the fit but because of what it stands for. I thought this was an incredible moment where the running communities were coming together for a cause. The owner had a passion for what we were doing and thanked us repeatedly. His donation in a tough time for his family and his store didn’t go unnoticed or unappreciated!
The owner asked us if we would go on a trail run with his store’s running club so that he could show us around the area. He explained that it would be a beautiful run and some people in the club could benefit from our stories. Tyler and I really wanted to go even though it would add six to eight miles for the day which would bump us up to around twenty. Since we had a community dinner to get back to with the host and were already late, we had to decline. The run was scheduled to start in less than an hour. I still think that if we went back to this store and introduced ourselves to the owner reminding him who we were, he would invite us again to go for a run. Brenna, Rizwan, Tyler, and I all thought this experience was awesome and promised each other we would try to hit up as many running stores as we could throughout the rest of the summer.
When we got back to the host, there was tons of food. We sat and ate with the church community who were hosting us. Even though the four of us were late, the pastor greeted us and invited us to sit down. We talked about our days and shared our stories much like any other community dinner. This church gave free meals to the community one or two times a week and had a massive room filled with fresh produce, bread, and other food that they used. Everything was donated by the parishioners and town’s residents. It was incredible the impact that this church made each week. Spending time here was a great way to end a long day.
As we got settled for the night, I was reminded that this was a day we had all been looking forward to. It was our first of four mail drops we had throughout the summer. Since we were always moving, we could send things to our friends and family, but they could hardly send anything to us. Ulman created “mail drops” with four hosts who collected mail that our friends and family had sent us. Someone on the team had placed my mail on my sleeping bag which I had laid out before. I couldn’t be more excited. The past few days before Salt Lake City felt isolated as we made our way through the Loneliest Highway. Now, having spent some time in a city, and having run to a bustling town like Pocatello, it truly felt like we were back in civilization. Receiving mail from my family really brightened my day. Immediately after opening the contents, I was looking forward to the next one. Annalyse and my family could not have known me any better. I love them.
Later that night, a large group of us played the card game spoons. It was a blast and I think a few of us got a little too energetic playing, me being one of them. Guyler and I ended up taking advantage of the fifty or so cartons of yogurt that the host had given the team. We all had to eat it quickly since they were expiring soon, and we didn’t have a great way to keep it cold in the vans. We had an eating competition to see who could eat a container the fastest. We raced maybe three times and I don’t even remember who won. All I remember is laughing as we squeezed and spooned yogurt into our mouths. It got all up our noses and all over our faces. It was hilarious. Over the next twenty-four hours, we would each have something like six yogurts because they had to be finished before they went bad. What a difference from almost a week ago when the team had to split bags of grapes for dinner!
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