· Date: Saturday June 22, 2019
· Where: Austin, Nevada to Ely, Nevada
· Total Distance Covered: 148 miles
· Running Partner: Krystan
Last night was not a restful night. We slept on a gym floor in Austin’s public school which was not a big deal because of our sleeping pads. We had already slept in a few similar places and we were getting used to it. What we could not get used to was the scoreboard buzzer going off every hour. No one knew how to stop this, and we did not want to call our host contact since the buzzing didn’t start until late at night. Looking back, it was kind of comical how much it scared me and woke me from a dead sleep every time it went off. My heart would be racing and it seemed just as I was in a deep sleep again, the buzzer would go off. In hindsight, we probably could have and should have moved somewhere we couldn’t hear the buzzer but in my sleepy state, this never occurred to me. Those who slept outside last night were lucky because they hardly heard it!
Today we encountered no towns as we left Austin and headed to Ely. Similar to yesterday, the only reliable signs of civilization throughout the day was the continuation of The Loneliest Highway to Ely. This meant that there were over three hundred miles of road with only one town in between Sparks and Ely. Austin may have been small and desolate, but I am sure it served its purpose well to travelers in the movement West. Today though, with the development of modern transportation, Austin was not the bustling town it must have been.
As we left Austin, the climb became steeper. Ely was at the same elevation as Austin, but we had to get over a few higher sections first. At this point in the trip, we had been at a higher elevation than most of us were used to since our time in Lassen National Forest on Day Three. But it takes longer than a few days for your physiology to adapt to the lower levels of oxygen. A few of us would wake up and blow dark, dried, blood from our noses. I continued to do this for the next few days until we ran to lower elevation. It felt like we were running a 7.30 pace per mile when in reality we were only going at a 9.30. This was an exhausting day.
I remember thinking to myself that I couldn’t imagine what Shane Finn had done and the amount of elevation that he had climbed. Shane Finn is an endurance athlete and professor for Sacred Heart University. In the springtime, he combined his biking and running athleticism to fundraise across the country by himself. Shane Finn was fundraising for Spina Bifida Hydrocephalus Ireland, a charity in his home country of Ireland, and to honor of his cousin Mary. What is more impressive is that Shane and his crew pulled this off in just thirty-six days. They also raised a massive amount of money for the cause. Sacred Heart was able to connect Shane and I in the Spring. I was fortunate to share about twelve of his miles with him as we ran in solidarity for both our causes. Shane was an inspiration and remains an inspiration today. As he was finishing up his journey across the country, I was able to chew his ear before I left for my journey across the country. This morning, as blood came out of my nose, I remember Shane explaining how he would wake up with blood on the roof of his mouth. It was something he had warned me about and had experienced at the higher elevations in the Rocky Mountains. I knew something similar could happen to me, but still surprised me the first time it did. I was especially surprised because we were only at about six and a half thousand feet in elevation, nothing compared to the Rockies. Major props to you Shane.
As the day progressed and we continued running on the road that Shane had biked a few months previously, I was only more impressed. Shortly after the Loneliest Highway, Shane’s route would take him and his crew through some higher elevation that was a more direct route across the country. Our route would take us more northward to avoid the elevation and to take us through different communities.
My running partner Krystan was great to talk with as we ran the first few miles together. Soon, we reached more hills that Evan and I wanted to push ourselves up. Mason, who was Evan’s partner switched with me so that Evan and I could give these hills a go. It was a blast pushing each other at elevations we were nowhere near used to and seeing how fast we could go. As both of us were from the East coast, we had never seen hills like this at all. I remember finally getting to the top of one summit called Pancake Summit, after climbing for three consecutive miles. The feeling was exhilarating, and I’d give anything to go back to that moment and climb it again. Another climb later in the day brought us past the 6,517 foot elevation of Pancake Summit and to another summit that was just over 7,600 feet. Once we got to these higher mountain tops, we would sometimes run off the road to a higher outcropping. From there, you could see for miles and miles. We were lucky to have clear skies and a beautiful day.
By the end of the day, we each had run about eleven miles each and had finally reached Ely. Nevada was a beautiful state, with landscapes that I had never seen before and I would love to visit again sometime. But we sure were happy to reach our host and find civilization again.
The host tonight was a church that was built in the early 1900s and had been hosting 4K for Cancer teams for the past three years. The community was experienced at handling a large group of sweaty, hungry runners and it showed. This year alone they were hosting three teams who were traveling across the country. I don’t like to compare places, especially when hosts are kind enough to provide everything that they do. The church community in Ely though was amazing. Knowing we were coming from Austin and hadn’t had proper food in a few days, they loaded us up with a feast for dinner and even provided breakfast the following morning. We were suddenly in an entirely opposite situation than last night. Rather than looking for food to share, we were worried we had too much to eat before it spoiled. The amount of food we received was unimaginable and we were so appreciative of their generosity. We even had warm showers tonight which we all received at the local swimming center. For the past few days, our showers had been ice cold in communal shower rooms. I was so happy to be able to relax in the warmth and be in my own shower stall. I was beginning to appreciate the little things.
As the night came to a close, we had a community dinner with everyone at the church and some locals in Reno. It was pot-luck style with everyone bringing huge portions of food, drinks, and dessert. Everyone was able to get a second, or even a third helping if they wanted. During community dinners, we typically sat intermingled so that it wasn’t the team on one side and the host on the other like an eighth-grade dance. Soon a microphone came out after we were all done eating. The pastor asked us all to share a little information about ourselves. Passing around the microphone allowed not just those whom we had been talking with to hear our stories, but also allowed everyone present in the room to hear us as well. Although awkward at first, passing the microphone around really helped the church to get to know the team and everything that we stood for. Some of my teammates were visibly nervous and uncomfortable to share this with the community and in this method, but it slowly dissipated as more people shared. Looking back, I think it was an important moment for the team where we realized the impact our stories could have on those who listened.
I was one of those people who was apprehensive to share. Explaining my story to the team a few nights previously in Sparks during our “Why” meeting had me nervous. But tonight, was different. This was a group of people with whom we had just met moments before and whom I would most likely never see again. I was nervous as I didn’t ever do this before I started fundraising for the 4K for Cancer. At various times leading up to the start of 4K, I had gotten somewhat used to it. Still, it was extremely new to me. I thought of what I wanted to say, but when the microphone came to me, I forgot everything I had planned. This ended up working out fantastic though. I spoke from the heart and said what was needed. I briefly shared my past, then my experience with Laurie, and how that drove me to run across the country. It felt invigorating that I got it out naturally rather than in a scripted method. I was becoming more comfortable with the idea of talking about this aspect of my life.
As the dinner came to a close, I found myself in a deep conversation with the pastor about faith. We talked about when we have questioned our faith in God and what we have done about it. I admitted that I was in a phase of my life where I had lost my faith. The pastor was an extremely compassionate and loving person who I enjoyed talking with. When the conversation led away from faith, God, and our questions about it, we talked about his experience with cancer. The pastor had survived cancer three times and his wife was a survivor as well. He explained how because of the government testing facility that we had passed yesterday while on the Loneliest Highway (B-17 Naval Range), the locals all had histories of specific cancers. The ratios of these cancers to the population size of Ely was disproportionate to every other area of the country. It was related to the testing of the atomic bombs and other nuclear weapons that the country has tested since the early 1950s. The B-17 Naval Range is part of a larger system called the Fallon Range Training Complex, which is located in this part of Nevada. The entire restricted area has over 6,500,000 acres of land, but locals just outside of this restricted area still experience the effects of the testing. No wonder this host was so incredible, they truly did have a unique perspective and connection to the cancer community.
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