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May
17, 2004
Focus
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Morfe
friends of TREK. Mona Vespa and
Nancy Lieberman, of the Spirti of St
Louis Marathon join Dave McGillivray,
Mike Thompson and Josh Nemzer the
first leg of day 17.
See more photos in our gallery |
Plymouth,
Indiana - Today
was the first day we went to work.
It wasn?t the challenge of the distance
? 150 miles ? we?ve done that a dozen
times. It
wasn?t the climactic conditions ?
temperatures ranged between 63 and 85 ˚
under mostly sunny skies.
There were no 5,000 ft. climbs; there
were no rattlesnakes, no buffalo, and no
tumbleweeds crossing our path.
It was simply a grind.
The smiles typically worn at the
completion of each run were replaced by grim
determination to get it done.
The
team has adopted its own handshake to greet the
finishing runner ? an extended arm, fist to
fist, then a high five.
We?re not sure how it started but it
seemed to be the right move, especially today.
We needed to tough it out, and we needed
the help of the entire team to find our way to
our ultimate destination, Plymouth, Illinois.
Under
somewhat overcast skies that threatened possible
showers, group 1 departed Ottawa.
Dave McGillivray and Josh Nemzer shared
the first 6 miles with our friends from the
Spirit of St. Louis Marathon, Nancy Leiberman
and Mona Vespa.
Though mostly up a long grade, the rural
secondary road made for a pleasant run.
In the meantime, group 2 drove ahead up
the half way point 75 miles ahead. They had the opportunity to preview what would become a far
less scenic day for group 1 and group 2 as well.
Once
past the outskirts of Ottawa, our old friend,
Rte. 6E, began to show a less attractive side.
Towns became cities, straight-aways
became a confusing series of turns, and our
country road became a busy thoroughfare with
miles of construction complicating the safe
execution of our runs.
Though the route was well planned, there
was no way to know that the widening of Rte 6
would not only complicate passage, but would
also result in detours that would challenge our
ability to think on the run.
Perhaps on Day 5 we would have been
better at it, but 16 days of running has dulled
our senses just enough to result in a few wrong
turns.
Group
2 started their adventure ?in the city?.
There were no beautiful vistas.
There were factories, bars, industrial
complexes, and housing developments.
The traffic was no longer the occasional
eighteen wheeler.
Now it was the constant buzz of sedans,
Mustangs, SUV?s, pick-ups, and mini vans.
We weren?t in the mountains of Colorado
any more!
The
cities we passed provided their own unique
challenges no less daunting than climbing the
Cameron Pass so many days before.
Passing a construction site, Hap Farber,
was engulfed in a mini dust storm. His support
crew reports that he looked like Lawrence of
Arabia as he emerged from the swirling sands.
Paul McGovern called one of his team
mates on a cell phone belonging to a local
police officer.
?Help! I?m lost?, he reported.
?I think I made a wrong turn, come find
me.? Fortunately,
he was simply on the other side of a train
overpass and couldn?t see his support crew.
And so it went all day.
Each
mishap, small and easily corrected, wore on the
team. The
delays they created concerned us all the more
because we knew that we were going through a
time zone change ? the loss of an hour.
With so many chores to complete at the
end of the day, every extra moment is all the
more precious.
When we finally arrived at our hotel, the
good news we learned is that there is a strange
little section of Indiana that is on Eastern
Time, and the rest is on Central time. Apparently we lost and gained an hour in the same run! Go
figure.
The
bad news is that our accommodations were, once
again, ?modest?.
I guess at $36/night, one cannot expect
much. The
greater difficulty, however, is that we found
ourselves without a high speed internet
connection for the second night in a row.
It?s interesting how our criteria for
accommodations have changed. There was a time when having a pool, a hot tub, and a gym was
important. Now the first question is, ?Do you
have high speed internet access??
Updating the web site, catching up with
emails, and Hap?s grant proposal are all
dependent on internet service.
The
fifteen team members are tired this evening.
The strain of the day added to the
cumulative effects of too little sleep and too
much to do in too few hours will require that we
work as efficiently as possible.
Several of you have used the analogy of
our 25 days of running to the Boston Marathon.
Well, the analogy has been amazingly
accurate. We?ve
passed the girls of Wellesley, and now we have
turned the corner to Heartbreak Hill.
It?s time to put our heads down, grit
our teeth, focus, and get it done.
We will rely on each other for support,
we think about the kid?s of our charities for
inspiration, and we rely on our friends and
relatives back home to cheer us on.
It won?t be that long before we come to
the finish line down the actual Boston Marathon
course on May 25th. We hope to see
many of you there!
8 more days.
PS
If there are any ideas, comments or
questions about the journal, send me a note:
Tom
@TREKUSA.org
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