She looked at me a little incredulously and asked “Why, why would you do this?”. I fumbled a little for an answer as she stared me down, and in front of all of our other guests, she repeated her question. “Really…Why? Just tell me!” I could tell she wasn’t angry, I mean, she had no reason to be, I think she just wanted to understand. I swallowed, steeled my resolve to answer truthfully (always the best plan), looked directly into my friend’s eye, and answered as best I could in the moment with everyone else looking on – “Because I enjoy the process! At age 63, I still enjoy the challenge of rounding my body into shape, and then going out to these long – distance races and seeing if my training and race day plan can somehow get me to the finish line.” I’ve got yet another Ultra on the horizon this year. In some 3 weeks, I will attempt to ‘run my age’ at the Tahoe Rim Trail 100k race, or let’s face it, walk a lot and run a little. My friend was trying to figure out if I’d lost my mind or not. I was trying to assure her of my sanity, although one could arguably make a case otherwise.
I thought my training started back in February and March, with some good uphill treadmill workouts while I was on a job site in Wisconsin. It wasn’t until stopping by the 40th annual Ultimate Runner that I realized that my training began some 30 years prior. I had not attended a track club function in a few years, and have been absent from the gala known as the Ultimate Runner for several years. Walking across the Hanes Park Bridge to the track beyond was like pulling out an old dog-eared paperback, one full of characters and adventure that I had missed for all these years, and was suddenly absorbed in reading yet again.
There was Stoneman and Joan (who threw the best porch parties back in the day), Robert Hill, Jeff Norris (always with the stories on our runs, usually the same stories, but still), Bob and Sue Rowe (a good Georgia Tech man that Bob), Jim Wade, Er and Kathy Ralston, Bill Walker (who taught me the ‘Walker Workout’ on my 40th birthday), Scott Arnold, Perry Macheras (who could run a six-minute-mile while reciting the achievements of all the other runners in the group – the rest of us gasping for air), Helen Gelley, Julie Smith (well, she has a new last name now of course, but that’s who she was when we were running), Jonathan Burdette and Shona Simpson, Curtis Swisher, Bill Gibbs (never could seem to beat him in a race), David Shannon, Kyle Armentrout (it took me about five years to figure out if he was Kyle or Brant), David Leonard, John Brazil, Bobbi Hackman (who once suggested I should try running with this group called the Twin City Track Club….I was 32 then), and literally dozens of other folks who I have shared at least a mile or two with over the years. And of course, there was the Sandman who was part of the pack of Rude Boyz I hung with, for better or worse, during my early running years. I hugged, talked, and laughed for a solid hour or so, swapping stories with everyone there.
Finally, an approaching storm signaled that the social time was coming to an end, so my wife Sheryl and I slipped out quickly to beat the rain as the announcer informed everyone there was to be a pause in the action until the storm passed. As we drove home, the rain beating on the windshield, I realized that I had ‘broken running bread’ with all of those mentioned above, and so many more that were not in attendance that afternoon. These folks, this running community, has been a huge part of my life over the last 30 years, and I am thankful to all of them for helping me on my life-journey, even if we didn’t realize it was happening at the time. “Why, why would you do this?!” A fair question about putting this ‘not so spring-chicken body’ through the rigors of a long-distance event. After stopping by the Ultimate Runner, and seeing all of those folks who influenced me, I could add to my first answer. My response might be:
“The mind remembers the good times, the camaraderie, the laughter, and the tears. The body remembers the feel of a full stride and besting last week’s time. The soul remembers the peaceful feeling of letting the mind go free if only for a short while. The spirit remembers commingling with my fellow runners, part of the hive. I remember all of these things, and hope to not only remember, but keep these things alive within me. That’s Why!” Or, I could sum it all up a little more simply, and say “I blame the Track Club!” (and I’d be smiling when I said it!).