Day 3,423—Remembering Shawnee Hill Part V—

        The aid worker counted us and then called back on their radio to report, “Seven runners.” And then he went back into the RV to give them the update. No one spoke as we all looked at each other and waited.       

        “The race has been canceled and everyone was told to go back to Camp O. I am trying right now to see if we can get a bus to take everyone back, but everyone at Camp O is trapped because a tree fell in the road.” 

        So, everyone we knew was most likely trapped at Camp O and couldn’t get here. One of the guys that we were there with asked if it was okay if he had his people come up in two trucks to pick everyone up. The guy said that was fine if they weren’t trapped at Camp O. 

        I started getting cold and went inside the RV and sat for a moment. The aid worker was making ramen and told us about a guy who got hyperthermia not too long ago. 

        One of the guys was making a phone call with the camp Wi-Fi and got the trucks heading up. It didn’t take long for them to get there, but it quickly became obvious there wasn't enough room. First, we talked about just jumping in the bed of the truck, but it was still raining. 

        They moved stuff around and piled it into one car, leaving me and four other people to cram into the back seat of one of the trucks. I shared the middle with two people, and there was one at either end. 

        I put my face in my hands and breathed in the fabric of my gloves. I still wasn’t in the best mood. I was still asking about the other people. They said there were still two other people out. I thought back to the two guys who passed us when we were going the wrong way. 

        Of course, I suddenly had to pee, but we were all so crammed in that I couldn’t think of asking anyone to move. I kept thinking we would get back soon, but then we passed the camp and had to turn around. 

        The tree might have been still there and we would have to wait, but by then it had been almost an hour, so we figured it would be moved. When we made it back, I went to the bathroom and then found my dad. He seemed in good spirits, considering. He said he knew to wait at the camp. The lady who gave me the 100k buckle just kept saying she was so sorry. I asked her if everyone had made it back, and she said they had, so I stopped thinking about people still being lost in the rain. 

        We started driving back home early, and I was still in shock from processing what had happened. In Shawnee Hill tradition, I got an Impossible Whopper with no mayo and an order of fries with no salt for the car ride home. I’ll be back next year.