Onward, ever onward . . .
As new crew chief of the son-father ultramarathon duo “Tad and His Dad,” I guess it’s fitting that one my all-time favorite movie scenes is from Forrest Gump, when he goes out for a run and then keeps going–for 3 years, 2 months, 14 days, and 16 hours. In that time he runs 15,248 miles, crossing the United States 5 times before deciding he’d had enough.
Thankfully, Tad and His Dad will “only” run the High Hope Endurance 200K for 55 hours max over the course of 3 days.
To say that I’m proud of them would be an understatement, like saying Andrea Bocelli is kinda a good singer. Or that dark chocolate is kinda yummy. Or that my ESL friends are kinda smart.
Heck no! Andrea Bocelli has the voice of an angel, dark chocolate is my manna, and my ESL friends are Einsteins.
Right now, my soul feels like a helium balloon, floating with hope and inflated with admiration, astonishment, and love to near bursting. Is it my idea of “fun” to smell like a pubescent boy wearing days’ old gym clothes or to sleep like a mangy dog in the back of my car? Heck no! But would I trade this experience, this time, with Tad and His Dad for anything in the world? Heck no!
One year from now, my boy will graduate from high school and move on to run his next big life race. For now, my job is to fill his water bottles, cheer him fanatically, and stay as close to him on this adventure as he’ll let me. One day I won’t be able to keep up, but today–this glorious, chigger infested today–I will.
I’m hopeful that the next update I post is a picture of manchild and BT taking another nap during the heat of the day.
Getting them to rest will take some convincing because they feel the clock is chasing them. (P.S. 5/25/26 update: They refused to rest until the race was over. So much my influence as a crew chief.)
Photo credits: Thank you, fellow runners Kari Kelley and Sarah Jones for capturing these great photos of Tad and His Dad.