50/50 (10 page)

Nevertheless, I did. As we covered the first few miles of the Casper Marathon on Day 9 of the Endurance 50, herds of antelope bounded through the fields and across the roadway ahead of us. After winding through the hills for several miles, the course dropped down to the Platte River and followed a path along the water for much of the way. The mountain peaks in the background were still covered in snow from a storm that had passed through the area the previous weekend. The air temperature warmed to a perfect level in the mid sixties and remained bone-dry. The air had a grassy smell that reminded me of—somewhere. At first I couldn’t place it. Then I remembered: Namibia! I had gone there a few years back on an exploratory running adventure, also sponsored by The North Face.

As with all runners, whenever I run in a new place of natural beauty, my five senses automatically contrast it with other places I’ve run. I might be running deep in the Australian outback when I happen to see a gum tree, a type of tree I often see in San Francisco’s Presidio Park, and for a brief moment I forget where I am. Then I see some type of bizarre bottlebrush tree with a kangaroo standing next to it and I remember.

Natural Splendor

If you’re looking to run a marathon in a beautiful natural environment, you can’t go wrong with these five:

  1. Valley of Fire Marathon, Overton, Nevada

  2. Deadwood Mickelson Trail Marathon, Deadwood, South Dakota

  3. St. George Marathon, St. George, Utah

  4. Triple Lakes Trail Marathon, Greensboro, North Carolina

  5. Breakers Marathon, Middleton, Rhode Island

I have been fortunate to have run in some of the most beautiful and exotic places on earth, on all seven continents. Among the very best was Patagonia, Chile. Its towering granite spires, pristine snowdrifts, brilliant turquoise lakes, and rushing rivers are forever imprinted on my mind’s eye. And my mind’s nose can recall the unique scent of Patagonia anytime. I’ll never forget how vastly removed from humanity I felt running in that truly wild environment, laughing aloud and hooting to myself at the splendor of it all.

Another place that deserves a spot on the list of the top ten most memorable locations I’ve ever run is Tavarua, a speck of an island that lies a few miles off the coast of Fiji. I went there to surf during the time when I happened to be training for my first one-hundred-mile running race. To keep in shape, I ran literally dozens of laps around that twenty-nine-acre patch of unspoiled tropical perfection. I was entertained by the sight of exotic coral reefs and frolicking dolphins, while being periodically shocked by the sight of slithering coral snakes (luckily they’re slow and docile creatures, although extremely deadly). I can still taste the pure, thick, salty air and feel the crunch of the grainy coral sand beneath my feet.

I suppose such places can be enjoyed well enough while sitting or walking, but something about them makes me want to run. It’s a primal urge that I find nearly impossible to resist. Running seems to enhance my body’s exposure to nature. It invigorates the senses. I get more air in my lungs, cover more ground, enjoy more perspectives. My concentration seems heightened. It just feels right. Every runner knows the feeling.

Day 10

September 26, 2006

Deadwood Mickelson Trail Marathon

Deadwood, South Dakota

Elevation: 5,100'

Weather: 66 degrees, dry and breezy

Time: 3:53:34

Net calories burned: 31,870

Number of runners: 1

During the long drive from Casper, Wyoming, to Deadwood, South Dakota, I decided I would try to shave in the small sink on the bus. The road was bumpy, and the bus bounced up and down as we drove. I tried to stabilize myself by wedging my legs against the cabinet below and holding my right shoulder against the wall next to the sink. I found that if I bent my knees slightly forward, I could put more pressure on them against the cabinet to help hold my body in place.

I was just getting started when we hit a big bump in the road and I sliced my chin open with the razor. The pain caused me to reel backward. Right then we turned a sharp corner in the road and the bus lurched to the side, sending my body lurching forward again. Both of my knees smacked into the cabinet with a loud thud. For a few scary moments, I thought I might have cracked my left kneecap.

I stood there with blood dripping on the counter and floor, my knees throbbing (especially the left one), and holding on to the faucet for dear life as the bus careened and bounced down the highway. My left kneecap was bruised and tender for the next several marathons.

Happily, the next day brought a special treat that took my mind off the pain. I ran the Deadwood Mickelson Trail Marathon, which, as its name suggests, takes place entirely on dirt trails in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Even better, I completed it with just one other runner, Amy Yanni (whose friends call her Amos), a fifty-three-year-old public defender from nearby Rapid City who runs a marathon almost every weekend and appreciated the splendor of our surroundings as much as I did.

I love trail running, and the tree-lined Mickelson Trail was absolutely stunning. We spotted white-tailed deer and wild turkeys as we climbed almost a thousand feet into the hills against a stiff headwind. Naturally, because we were strangers and alone together, Amos and I did a fair bit of talking, although the conversation never seemed forced. We ran long stretches in near silence, without a hint of self-consciousness, just soaking up the experience. Amos and I could relate.

She grew up in cities—Detroit and Boston—but moved to South Dakota after finishing law school in search of a slower pace and elbow room. “I don’t miss the crush of cities,” she told me.

Amos was a low-key recreational runner until she developed breast cancer in 2003. After recovering from a double mastectomy, she became a little more serious about her running—actually, a lot more serious. She completed her first marathon later that year, winning her division and qualifying for Boston. In the next three years, she ran another fifty marathons, recording a personal-best time of 3:19 and being named
MarathonGuide.com’s
Female Outstanding Runner of 2006 after posting top-three finishes in fifteen separate marathons.

Upon hearing this, I briefly considered inviting Amos to finish out the Endurance 50 with me. Possibly to carry me, if need be.

At various points along the trail, we were met by students from nearby Spearfish Middle School. They assisted Koop and Garrett with support services, and a few of them even joined in and ran alongside us for a stretch. Amos kept us moving at a brisk pace, because she had to return to work that afternoon. It was Tuesday, after all. By this time, she had sheepishly informed me that she’d signed up to run with me as a last-minute favor to race director Gerry Dunn. Apparently nobody had registered within just a few days of our scheduled arrival here, and Gerry felt it would be a personal disappointment if I had to run alone. Luckily, he knew somebody who was willing (not to mention able) to run a marathon anytime.

Trail-Running Tips

All runners know that running on trails is very different from running on the roads. Here are some tips for a smoother transition to the dirt:

• Try wearing gaiters (fabric coverings for the ankles and lower legs) to keep pebbles and twigs out of your shoes. You can find gaiters at most outdoor retail stores. You can also purchase trail-running shoes with integrated gaiters.

• Normal running shoes work fine on graded fire roads, but on technical singletrack, consider trail-specific running shoes.

• To reduce your risk of twisting an ankle on the trails, strengthen your quadriceps (the muscles on the front of your thigh). I do this by cross-training on a mountain bike.

The fourth- and fifth-grade classes from Deadwood Elementary School ran over from school for the Finish Festival. They had a million questions. Their energy and enthusiasm for the Endurance 50 blew me away. A couple of them asked whether
they
could join me for the rest of the journey. I asked one boy what his parents would think of that. He said, “My dad’s a runner. He’ll understand.”

I had a good laugh at that one, but it also gladdened my heart. Earlier, Amos and I had talked about the purpose of the Endurance 50, and I had told her that a primary mission of mine was to inspire kids to become more active.

“No Child Left
Inside
!” I said, quoting the official motto of Karno’s Kids. Amos smiled in appreciation of the line’s reference to the federal government’s “No Child Left Behind” education initiative (in which a lot of children seem to be getting left behind). A woman of liberal views, she jumped right in and took a couple of humorous jabs at the current presidential administration during our four hours together.

Although I had thought up that motto long ago, while out on a run (where I do some of my clearest thinking, actually), speaking it aloud in my current context gave me a different perspective on it. I had been thinking of the Endurance 50 mission strictly in terms of
exercise
. But as I ran along with Amos in the great American outdoors, taking a water bottle from a smiling sixth-grader at an aid station and breathing in the fresh mountain air, I fully appreciated that my mission was also to get kids—and adults, for that matter—
outside
.

“Adventure happens the moment you step out the front door,” I often tell my kids.

Step outside.

Be active.

Get back to nature. Explore wild places.

To me, and many others, these are words to live—and thrive—by.

CHAPTER 9

A Woman’s Touch

Day 11

September 27, 2006

Fargo Marathon

Fargo, North Dakota

Elevation: 891'

Weather: 55 degrees; overcast

Time: 4:16:22

Net calories burned: 35,057

Number of runners: 18

U
pon starting the Fargo Marathon
on Day 11, I quickly discovered several born comedians in our pack of eighteen runners, who had me laughing from the first mile. The biggest crackups of the bunch were a few women representing a local running club called Women High On Running. Their apparent ringleader, Ann, wore an expectant look on her face when she told me the name of her group. I chuckled, but I could tell she was hoping for more. I wouldn’t figure it out until later.

After we’d gone four or five miles, some of the runners who had no intention of going the whole way began to fall off the back of the main group. One of these runners shouted out, from a few yards behind me, “How do you get such great calves?” It was Ann.

“Let’s see,” I shouted back. “You run about five thousand miles a year, much of it on hills, do thousands of stair repeats, mountain bike on the side, and, I dunno, it just kind of happens.”

Several other Women High On Running members ran later segments of the marathon, after Ann had finished her morning jog, and still others cheered us and provided aid (including freshly baked cookies!) along the course. A bunch of them came together at the Finish Festival, one of our rowdiest yet, which took place in the parking lot of the Fargodome. I was joking with a couple of the runners when I thought I heard Koop yelling, “Whores! Whores! Let’s get a picture with the whores!”

I turned my head in the direction of these unexpected words and saw Koop, Hopps, and Garrett crowding together with Ann and several of her friends to have their photograph taken together. That’s when I figured it out: Women High On Running: WHORs.

Now I laughed as Ann had initially expected me to, and quickly joined the group for another photo. At the precise moment the shutter clicked I felt someone goose my backside. I was not able to positively identify the culprit, but I have suspicions about who it was—namely, a mischievous-looking woman who must have been in her early seventies and stood there grinning at me.

QUICK TAKE:
Because soy contains phytoestrogens (plant versions of the primary female sex hormone), soy is a popular food among health-conscious women. But it’s a nourishing food for men and women alike: high in protein, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, and low in fat. To get more soy in your diet, try using one tablespoon of soy flour and one tablespoon of water instead of an egg when cooking or baking. You can also substitute a quarter cup of mashed silken tofu for an egg in almost any recipe.

Women High On Running is a loosely organized collection of approximately twenty women who share a love for running and a laughing spirit. Their core members met while training for and participating in the 2005 Fargo Marathon. Afterward, several of them began getting together for weekend long runs. Within a short time, they were attracting new recruits and had come up with their colorful name and created a blog that enabled them to interact outside of workouts and other physical events.

Join the Club

Joining a running club is a great way for both female and male runners to enrich their running experience. Clubs boost motivation, provide group workout opportunities and sometimes even expert coaching, and offer an excellent chance to make new friends with a common interest. To find clubs in your area, ask around at your local running specialty shop or search a nationwide list of running clubs at the Road Runners Club of America Web site (
www.rrca.org/clubs
).

Long after the Endurance 50 had left Fargo, I sent an e-mail to Leah Swedberg, one of the WHORs (they seriously don’t mind—and even delight in—being called that, or I wouldn’t do it, because they’d kick my ass), and asked her about the importance of the group’s being all female. I was curious to know whether she felt it nourished its members in ways that a coed group might not.

“Most of us started running as a way to accomplish something for ourselves, to get out of the house, make our way through a life evaluation stage or get a daily break away from the kids,” Leah explained in her reply. “I think a lot of us run for reasons that other women can relate to, and because we are all women, I think it’s less intimidating for newbies. That, coupled with the fact that women tend to put more meaning behind what a group like this means, gives us strength and a bond that makes our group unique.”