He looks awfully familiar, but with the din of the room, I miss his name and where he works, but we quickly got onto the topic of running with our dogs. Two hours fly past and only halfway through does it hit me like a ton of bricks who he is.
John has run all the major ultra marathons in America. Badwater 135 (miles) though Death Valley.
Leadville 100 at 14,000 ft elevation.
Not only did he run in the impossible Barkley, but he was in the documentary movie that I have now watched at least 5 times. Most years, no one even finishes, it is that grueling. Over 130 miles through the woods, trails a luxury. You run by compass, day and night, for 60 hours or until you collapse or get irretrievably lost.
Running this race was my most important goal for me for years. I lived and breathed for running.
Vacations were to run, mountains my drug.
Training day in, day out, for years, me and Cole averaged over 90 miles a week. Tens of thousands of miles with the Colemeister. Best decade of my life screeched to a crawl when Cole was diagnosed with cancer and my cardiologist told me marathon running would kill me. Giving it up was worse than death. Seems like a lifetime ago.
Until you meet the man who owned the running store that organized eclectic short trail races in your town.
Going through my trophy shelf, I find my big Dog Running trophies and marvel at how small the world is and how fortunate I am to get to share time with inspirational people.
Dean Karnazes presented me with an award for a trail marathon in 2013. The Marathon Man whose book inspired me to do ultras:
Life gives you what you need, then if you're really lucky, She puts amazing people in your path when you're lacking courage, vision, determination, passion, or all of the above.
Driving home, I didn't see the road, it was me and Cole in Hovenweep, NM, running like nothing else in the world mattered but where we put our feet.
I got to spend 2 hours with a legend tonight. God, life is good.
