Always a wonderful time when with your friends!

Traveling to South Dakota in a luxurious RV to run a 30 mile trail race and cheer on 5 of your friends as they take on their first 50-mile race is what I would call a very fun Vacation! The lean Horse ultra in South Dakota was truly a wonderful experience. I have some of the most inspirational and amazing friends that never cease inspiring me. Kathy, Rhonda, Jason, John, Gail along with a few new friends all completed their very first 50-mile trail race as they faced many challenges before the start of and during the race.

Kathy – Several months ago Kathy was training to qualify for the Boston Marathon. Kathy noticed something was not quite right with how she felt. Kathy went for a checkup and found out she needed to slow down for a time. Kathy temporarily shut down her Boston training and continued to run / walk as her body would allow and decided at the last minute to take on a new slower paced challenge this year and run 50 miles. She is amazing and finished before the cutoff. I know Kathy will take on and qualify for Boston next year when she is fully recovered.

Rhonda – Rhonda should be the new word for inspiration. Rhonda was diagnosed with Parkinson’s a few years back and decided to start running as she found it brought her joy, relief and encouragement. After Rhonda’s diagnoses and several surgeries later Rhonda has inspired 1,000’s, ran over 60 marathons and now has completed her first 50-mile race. Rhonda is truly one of the toughest and inspirational people I know as I have seen firsthand her finish races when she is physically beyond her most extreme limits and most athletes would have quit. I am looking forward to seeing and running with Rhonda at the Rocky 100 in February.  

Jason – Jason injured himself just weeks before the Lean horse 50-mile race and was forced to limit / almost stop his training. When we arrived on Race day Jason because of his injury was limited on his training and still had pain. Jason, always up for a challenge, ran the race and gave it everything he had.  His injury causing stride adjustment, leading to additional pain, dehydration, and electrolyte imbalance Jason continued to move forward and finished his first 50-mile race with plenty of time to spare. Jason experienced the wall and never gave up. I know this will be an experience that will greatly benefit Jason as he takes on many more challenges.

John – John started training, as only John trains, for the race when Jason and Gail set up the trip. I am not sure if John truly knows how strong of a runner he really is. John typically finishes in the top 3 of his age group at our local races and I expect picks up bling at many of the other events as well. I am not sure if John ran more than 13 miles during any training run leading up to Lean Horse. He only signed up for the 50-mile race just days before the race. I expect John runs more for the fun and friendships however if he has ever doubted his abilities at all perhaps John will notice he finishing first in his age group and 14 overall on his first 50-mile race.

Gail – The competitor, friend to all and always giving 100%. Going in to her first 50-Mile race Gail experienced a few injuries limiting her training with the most recent being a broken arm from a bike wreck during cross training. Gail has Boston qualified the last two years and certainly has the experience to run a great race however her limited training limiting her training mileage going into this race had her questioning her upcoming performance. Gail as only Gail can do decided to give it her all and finished top 3 female and 7^th overall in her very first 50-Mile race. This race for Gail was ran on pure grit as she had the least time to train of us all and never had the opportunity to run over 10 miles during this training cycle because of her injuries.

Friends are a wonderful blessing! I truly enjoyed the opportunity to run 30 miles on the Mickelson Trail in the Black Hills of South Dakota and then support each of you as you finished your amazing challenge of 50 miles. Each of you are an inspiration in your own way and sincerely inspire me.  I look forward too many more running and friendship experiences with each of you.

P.S I ended up finishing 1^st in my age group in the 30-mile race. The finish time was somewhat slower than I had hoped as I continue to struggle with running the first half of the longer races must faster than I should. Oh! The fun that I had made it all so worth it!!!