Support Pikes Peak Suicide Prevention to Honor Max

Day 4, Angela and I were joined by Darci. From that point on, through mental, emotional, and clothing malfunctions that caused slight fractures, our small but mighty team might separate briefly but always came back together to carry each other through the hills and valleys (literally, that run into Jasper and the last climb up the mountain, are you kidding me??). Tears were commonplace and flowed unfettered from everyone as we all battled our demons and peeled away the layers of who we were to reveal a glimpse of who we want to be. But there was also a copious amount of spontaneous laughter and joy, beauty found under the stars amid the fireflies, the amazing echoes or birds, bullfrogs, and many a creature who caused the woods of Tennessee to come alive at night. There were our requisite naps in front of closed dollar generals, park benches, driveways, fire station and community center porches, and the always appreciated road angel stations to provide a reset. The road angels deserve so much more gratitude than I can attempt to put into words. This journey run is unsupported and unaided, but since it has been occurring on the same route for over 20 years, the community support is nothing short of incredible and feels at times miraculous. From the large angel station tents put up in yards like the Nutt House, The Baileys, Serenity Hill, and Bobby Brown, to the coolers along the side of a desolate road or the little girl whose mom pulls over on the highway on the way home from her birthday party to give us popsicles, to Misty whose daughters saw that three women were travelling this road together and insisted their mom come out to help us with snacks and water and a morale boost. The smoothie truck, the construction worker just coming home from work, the couple who can’t wait to get off work so they can drive back and forth along the road all night seeing who they can help, the free cup of coffee from the gas station, the police woman driving around her town with energy drinks. So many examples of the generosity and selflessness of strangers going out of their way, sacrificing their time and money to help and encourage people they have never met to achieve something they couldn’t always understand. They literally saved us time and again and intertwined each individual journey runner into the communities they passed through. Then there was Darci and Angela. Having companionship through this made it turn from a self-focused and admittedly selfish journey run into lifelong friendships forged by mutual pain, joy, sadness, and perseverance amid much laughter and tears. When I reflect, their companionship is the single most impactful aspect that invokes overwhelming gratitude.  The race director Laz says this race is about ordinary people doing extraordinary things, but after 7.5 days on the road with them, I think there is nothing ordinary about the people on this journey. Each one of them, from the pastor to the addict, are truly extraordinary in that they made a decision to show up, come what may, step off the ferry, feel all the pain and joy and break themselves open to persevere through an entire lifetime condensed into a single week. I feel blessed to have had the privilege to walk beside them on this journey that forever changed us all. BTW, I am never doing this again. Vol State Finisher #572 : 7 Days – 13 Hours-48 Minutes-9 Seconds