Day 3,422—Remembering Shawnee Hill Part IV—

Lap 3: 75-82 miles (2 -6 am)  

         It was good that we got turned around because it put us in a bigger group, which made it a lot easier to not get lost. One guy gave me trouble for stopping to pee. They all seemed like they were in a good mood and determined to complete this race. I was happy we found them, so I could take a break navigating. With my watch blank, it seemed pointless to consider going off on my own.

         We hit a section where it is easily knee-deep, and the water is moving fast in some places. The other four guys want to hook arms and walk slowly through it. I went off by myself, but Jay and I linked arms at the end, and I am glad we did. I would have fallen in the water otherwise, but I still felt confident that I would have been fine if not soaking wet, I was ready to have to do something closer to swimming. I didn’t think a race like this could be canceled. How bad could it be?  

         When we got to the next part, I realized we were already at the section where the paths diverged. I have no idea how I got turned around before; it seems almost impossible now. I am leading now because I am getting impatient with how methodical the group is when crossing these dangerous sections. In the next part, there were rocks and some fast-moving water, but I mostly still ran and leaped across the section, The group was making sure not to fall and playing it safe. Jay and I stood and waited, not wanting to get lost, but I just kept thinking I wanted to get to higher ground now.

         When I got to the section where we had to turn around, it was insane to look at. It was easily fifty feet wide and three feet deep. I didn’t realize we were going to have to cross it first, so I just started climbing up the hill, thinking that was the only option anyway. The more I climbed up, the harder it was to keep moving up, and when I turned left, the water was still wide and moving quickly.

         I kept thinking that the trees placed throughout the water could be used to move across it, but no one else seemed interested in my idea. The group looked at me like I was crazy and told me how deep they thought the water was and how I would likely fall in, and no one would be able to jump in and go after me.

         I still wasn’t able to process this, and I said. Does anyone have a rope? If I had some rope, I could tie it around my waist and then tie it to a tree, jump in, and go after a tree. Once I made it to one tree, I tied that end to the tree, got the other end from the group on the shore, and did it again.

         One person mentioned how no one had any rope, but they also thought I was insane. I just didn’t get why we were giving up. We talked us into the fact that we weren’t giving up, just strategically going back to an aid station to see if we could run it backward. I wanted to believe that was possible, but at the same time, it seemed like we were done when we started heading back.

         We ran into another runner and convinced them to go back with us. When we got back to the aid station, they told us to wait there.  

To be continued (see more runs at virtuesruns.blogspot.com)