· Date: Wednesday July 3, 2019
· Where: Broadus, Montana to Rapid City, South Dakota
· Total Distance Covered: 154 miles
· Running Partner: Krystan and Jack
This morning was different from others in two ways.
For the first time since early into the trip, we had more food than we knew what to do with. This was thanks to the church members and the pastor who had made enough food for a group twice our size last night.
The second difference was that we prayed. In the morning dedication circle, which happened every morning, we held hands and voiced who we were running for out loud. Together, we heard who everyone was running for, which made our dedication more important and more powerful. In some respects, this was similar to what I would consider praying to be. However, this morning, the pastor also contributed something. She prayed to God and asked for our protection and safety from above as we made our way across the country. She thanked God for our opportunity given to us to embark on this journey and prayed that we found peace once we reached Boston. She then thanked us personally for our journey and shared her connection with the cancer community.
Concerns for our safety as well as hopes that we found internal peace was something I had frequently thought about before the 4K for Cancer began. However, hearing the pastor voice these concerns out loud and ask God for guidance to make these possible, made me think about them much more. Somehow, the pastor’s words made this trip, our safety, and our internal struggles seem more real. We weren’t in a dream anymore. This wasn’t an alternate reality. Although I often felt like I was experiencing another person’s life throughout our trip so far, these were my memories. We were learning from each other and ourselves. We were finding peace with ourselves. This morning made me confront this aspect of 4K. From this point forward I tried to consciously address finding peace more frequently than I had before. I became more appreciative of what we were doing as I confronted my past.
Today, I ran with Krystan and Jack. We were running as a group of three because Krystan was experiencing an overuse injury and hadn’t been able to complete all her miles for the past few days. Krystan was not the only one experiencing trouble. Because of this, there were a few people who couldn’t run at all and some who were running fewer miles like Krystan. Thus, the running pairs were starting to repeat and be slightly messed up for the remainder of the trip.
During our first run of the day, all three of our stomachs were hurting because we had eaten such a large and full breakfast. Despite knowing we had some of the first miles of the day, we couldn’t help but take advantage of the plentiful breakfast we were given. It was amazing. These first few miles brought us views of wet fields and antelope who were foraging. The muggy weather brought about humidity and mist that was even heavier than yesterday’s weather. There were drainage ditches on either side of the road where there were deep pools of water. Small birds flew in and out of them as they bathed in the water. We could hear the ribbits and sounds of insects in the water as we ran. Sometimes we would pass large farms for cattle and farm noises would be added to the song Montana was playing for our ears. These underpopulated lands of Montana and the Mid-Western United States were something that we didn’t realize how much we would appreciate as we left them and made our way further east.
Halfway through the day, the Host Van brought us Cinnamon Buns from Rapid City, South Dakota. These were incredible and for anyone who knows me, cinnamon buns are one of the many foods that I can’t resist. Even though Jack and I had six more miles left to run in our twelve-mile day, I wolfed one of these down. It was amazing. In hindsight, I am realizing that between breakfast and this cinnamon bun, I did not eat the right foods in preparation for running twelve miles. Regardless, all these heavy calories were worth it. I was sure that at some point soon, we would be wishing we could eat like this as our food donations ran low again.
Once my stomach had digested most of my food Jack and I were able to push each other hard later in the day. If Jack wasn’t from England and lived closer to Connecticut, I think we would make amazing training partners. We were similar speeds, and both enjoyed talking with each other as well. I wished we wouldn’t have to say goodbye in Boston.
As we approached the host, Jack, Evan, Luke, and I wanted to run a few extra miles today so that we could run into the parking lot. We ended up getting out of the van about three miles before we arrived and ran the rest of the way to the church we stayed at. I enjoyed this since the four of us liked to push the pace and these last three miles were a faster pace. It was quite a challenge! Finishing miles at the host was one of the best feelings as well. Physically taking part in running into the host parking lot allowed us to connect each day. Physically and psychologically, this significantly contributed to the feeling of running across the country.
Overall, today’s mileage was fantastic, and we were able to have lots of fun together. Once we got to the host, we traded stories with the other van who had broken down again. This time, the van was close to the enterprise and it was the same van that had been giving us trouble yesterday as well. It seemed our trip to the service station was just a patch. Now, we were back to using a minivan and an SUV in replacement of one of the fifteen-passenger vans. Ulman wasn’t sure when we would be getting a replacement again. Maybe at some point later in South Dakota.
The van I was not in also had the privilege of crossing two state lines today. The first was the Montana to Wyoming State Line as a portion of the route crossed back through the North-Western corner of Wyoming. The second state line was the Wyoming to South Dakota state line. Our team had checked off another state!
After showers, I quickly laid out all my stuff to dry from the rain and claimed my area in the church hall. I blew up my sleeping pad and rolled out my sleeping bag. Within a few minutes, I was passed out and slept through dinner. I had put on headphones to drown out the noise from the team and placed a bandana over my eyes to block out the light. I guess this had worked extremely effectively, and I didn’t wake up until almost eight o’clock! Using my headphones and bandana like this was something I started doing every night after this. I hadn’t slept that good in quite a while. Even though it was only a two-hour nap, I still felt more rested than some nights. Since dinner wasn’t any kind of community dinner and was only small sandwiches that the Host Van was able to obtain, I was not worried. I found some leftovers and watched a few minutes of TV with Bea and Justin. Then, I went straight back to bed. Tonight, I had caught up on some much-needed rest. Since tomorrow was a rest day, I knew I would be able to sleep in as well.
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