Two friends and I set out this morning on a road trip to Sioux City, IA. Sounds simple enough :), but we were en route to meet up with two other old friends and two new friends. This evening we were all able to get together to start deliberating our new grand adventure that lay before us... run 337 miles across the state of Iowa! Tomorrow morning we will be taking on this epic journey around 8:30 am. Joe, Dave, Jill, Spencer, John, Terry, and I will relay run from Sioux City, IA to Dubuque, IA. In one way or another our collective group has already ran across the state of Oregon (Hood to Coast 200 Mile Relay) and through the states of Wisconsin and Illinois (200 Mile Ragnar Relay), now we are taking on the worlds longest relay- 337 Mile Relay Iowa- and doing it with the smallest team that has ever completed this relay event (one other team ran with only seven last year, so its a tie I guess). This means that everyone will log approximatley 50 miles each (dont nit pick, I know its shy of 50 miles) over the course of the next 3 days and 2 nights. We will complete our journey Sunday afternoon. If you would like to follow Team Honey Buckets on our epic journey... please follow us by clicking on this link:
http://track.myathletelive.com/vemap.aspx?name=245295
I will try to update you as we go or give you full details when the job is done! Hope to see you all out on the roads or trails soon. Be safe and continue putting one foot in front of the other!
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Friday, May 25, 2012
Team Kalen a Success! Thank You!!
First off, my apologies for not communicating via my blog over the course of the last couple months. My life has just been crazy busy, but for good reasons.
As we tirelessly prepared for our Team Kalen Carnival for Chiari Run/Walk-A-Thon on May 19th, I could feel the tension in our committee member’s hands, heads, and hearts. We were getting great responses from donors and sponsors, had completed creating several carnival games, were finalizing details with food, drinks, etc., and we waiting the day of the event... the people, the crowd.
In my heart I knew that we were going to have a good turn out because I believed we were doing this for a great reason- an amazing child named Kalen. Because we did not have a huge number of pre-registrations and a small hiccup with the food, there were tears of tension and frustration that grew as the minutes wore by before the morning of. On Saturday morning, Kalen's Uncle Morgan, my cousin Ciji, my girlfriend Keslie, and I were going to meet a little earlier than everyone to get a couple of the big items set up, but there was one minor problem... I stayed up until after one in the morning trying to finish last minute items and I over slept! 4:45 am came and went and my little head was still sleeping on the BIG DAY! (I was 40 minutes late) Needless to say, thanks to all of our volunteers and the commitment of our committee members we were able to have everything set up and ready to go right at race time (okay, it was 7:02 am when I officially said go to the runners and walkers).
As the day progressed on I was increasingly pleased with the number of runners and walkers that were participating for the cause. When the youth races kicked off, we opened the flood gates and parents brought their families to enjoy the warm afternoon playing carnival games and jumping in the bounce house. Throughout the afternoon we continued to have families in and out of the game areas, while a select few of runners and walkers continued and/or jumped on the track to log some miles.
I thank God and the wonderful people that helped make the hourly operations of each part of the event run smoothly. There is no way that we would have been successful without all of the help that we received and the participation from the community. After helping and participating in an event like this it reminds me of how proud I am to be in such a loving, helping, and caring community. There were countless volunteer hours spent before and during the event and families taking time out of their day to stop and take part of something special.
I guess I just want to thank the following people from the bottom of my heart for their support, donations, time, and energy:
Betsy Mays and Kim Pestle- for taking the reins and helping get the ball rolling (along with a TON of other things along the way). Cassie Maine, Morgan Mays, Ciji Tyler, and Kelsie Reeve- for their countless hours of help in preparation and management the day of the event. Rod Treimer and Mary Maine- for their support, errands ran, hours of help, (the list is endless for those two). Jake and Steph Maine- not only for allowing us to do this for them (they were a little resistant at first) and all their assistance in planning and preparation, but also raising such an amazing family with an incredible and courageous son! There are also a host of others along the way and I apologize if I haven’t named you.
A special thanks again to all of our volunteers from the teenagers to the adults, we could have done it without all of you! In this list also belongs the Mays Family, the Dieckman Family, the Maine Family, the Cole Family, the Boorn Family, and the 4H kids.
A huge thanks also goes out to the following sponsors because without them we would not have been able to get this event up and running in the first place: Duffe Grain, Triple B Construction, Misman, Inc., Gerdau, The Wilton-Durant Advocate News, ACT, Ron Alpen Ford, Besty Milder Childcare Center, Oveson Refuse and Recycling, University of Iowa Pediatric Dentistry, LGS Coal Yard, Valet’s 5th Street Petro, Blooming Ideas, Price Oil and LP Gas, Chad Beatty Designs, Lor Len Candles, Community Bank, Back to Health Chiropractic, Sassy Styles Salon and Spa, Shirk Photography, Freeman Total Fitness, Serendipity Salon, Liberty Trust and Savings Bank, Integrated Rehab Center, Mays Welding, HON, Surface Resource, Terri Denkman, Sue Devries, and I know countless others that I am forgetting.
Thank you all for helping us raise nearly $10,000 dollars for the Maine Family and the Chiari Foundation! We couldn’t have done it without you! God Bless and take care until next time…
As we tirelessly prepared for our Team Kalen Carnival for Chiari Run/Walk-A-Thon on May 19th, I could feel the tension in our committee member’s hands, heads, and hearts. We were getting great responses from donors and sponsors, had completed creating several carnival games, were finalizing details with food, drinks, etc., and we waiting the day of the event... the people, the crowd.
In my heart I knew that we were going to have a good turn out because I believed we were doing this for a great reason- an amazing child named Kalen. Because we did not have a huge number of pre-registrations and a small hiccup with the food, there were tears of tension and frustration that grew as the minutes wore by before the morning of. On Saturday morning, Kalen's Uncle Morgan, my cousin Ciji, my girlfriend Keslie, and I were going to meet a little earlier than everyone to get a couple of the big items set up, but there was one minor problem... I stayed up until after one in the morning trying to finish last minute items and I over slept! 4:45 am came and went and my little head was still sleeping on the BIG DAY! (I was 40 minutes late) Needless to say, thanks to all of our volunteers and the commitment of our committee members we were able to have everything set up and ready to go right at race time (okay, it was 7:02 am when I officially said go to the runners and walkers).
As the day progressed on I was increasingly pleased with the number of runners and walkers that were participating for the cause. When the youth races kicked off, we opened the flood gates and parents brought their families to enjoy the warm afternoon playing carnival games and jumping in the bounce house. Throughout the afternoon we continued to have families in and out of the game areas, while a select few of runners and walkers continued and/or jumped on the track to log some miles.
I thank God and the wonderful people that helped make the hourly operations of each part of the event run smoothly. There is no way that we would have been successful without all of the help that we received and the participation from the community. After helping and participating in an event like this it reminds me of how proud I am to be in such a loving, helping, and caring community. There were countless volunteer hours spent before and during the event and families taking time out of their day to stop and take part of something special.
I guess I just want to thank the following people from the bottom of my heart for their support, donations, time, and energy:
Betsy Mays and Kim Pestle- for taking the reins and helping get the ball rolling (along with a TON of other things along the way). Cassie Maine, Morgan Mays, Ciji Tyler, and Kelsie Reeve- for their countless hours of help in preparation and management the day of the event. Rod Treimer and Mary Maine- for their support, errands ran, hours of help, (the list is endless for those two). Jake and Steph Maine- not only for allowing us to do this for them (they were a little resistant at first) and all their assistance in planning and preparation, but also raising such an amazing family with an incredible and courageous son! There are also a host of others along the way and I apologize if I haven’t named you.
A special thanks again to all of our volunteers from the teenagers to the adults, we could have done it without all of you! In this list also belongs the Mays Family, the Dieckman Family, the Maine Family, the Cole Family, the Boorn Family, and the 4H kids.
A huge thanks also goes out to the following sponsors because without them we would not have been able to get this event up and running in the first place: Duffe Grain, Triple B Construction, Misman, Inc., Gerdau, The Wilton-Durant Advocate News, ACT, Ron Alpen Ford, Besty Milder Childcare Center, Oveson Refuse and Recycling, University of Iowa Pediatric Dentistry, LGS Coal Yard, Valet’s 5th Street Petro, Blooming Ideas, Price Oil and LP Gas, Chad Beatty Designs, Lor Len Candles, Community Bank, Back to Health Chiropractic, Sassy Styles Salon and Spa, Shirk Photography, Freeman Total Fitness, Serendipity Salon, Liberty Trust and Savings Bank, Integrated Rehab Center, Mays Welding, HON, Surface Resource, Terri Denkman, Sue Devries, and I know countless others that I am forgetting.
Thank you all for helping us raise nearly $10,000 dollars for the Maine Family and the Chiari Foundation! We couldn’t have done it without you! God Bless and take care until next time…
Friday, February 17, 2012
Looking for Redemption
After an emotionally difficult start to the year, I was unable to make it to my first two races in January. My thoughts and prayers continue to go out to the Reddick and Joslyn families. As families and communities move forward together, it is time for me to refocus on my running goals as well.
Last year I was able to accomplish many things within in my short running career, but there were a few hiccups along the way. In February of 2011, I was able to enter an amazing 50k in Arkansas. My friend and I drove the nine hour trip to a remote Northwestern Arkansas region littered with scenic views of small mountains, valleys, rocky cliffs, and clear blue streams. I was in aw of landscape that surrounded me, and also nervous about running through the difficult terrain. I though that this was going to be my fresh start to the ultra running season after getting lost in the desert in Arizona in January (finishing, but not with a great time), but once I reached the 25+ mile of the race I had to drop out. I had one misstep through a slippery rocky section that caused me to hobble and hop the next three miles until I reached an aide station where I swallowed my pride and opted to not run the last 5+ miles of the course.
After I returned back to Iowa I learned that I had fractured my foot, which only led me to believe that I needed to train more on that type of terrain (which is hard to find in Eastern Iowa). So, like the previous two years I have set my sights high for the 2012 ultra-running season and I am looking for redemption this weekend. Kelsie and I are preparing to drive that nine hour trip to not only see that beautiful landscape, but run through the streams, along side the rocky cliffs, and over the mountains along the way. Tomorrow morning I will relive those first twenty five miles, but I will also finish last six miles of that course and I will let you know how it ends :).
You only ever grow as a human being if you're outside your comfort zone. Percy Cerutty
Last year I was able to accomplish many things within in my short running career, but there were a few hiccups along the way. In February of 2011, I was able to enter an amazing 50k in Arkansas. My friend and I drove the nine hour trip to a remote Northwestern Arkansas region littered with scenic views of small mountains, valleys, rocky cliffs, and clear blue streams. I was in aw of landscape that surrounded me, and also nervous about running through the difficult terrain. I though that this was going to be my fresh start to the ultra running season after getting lost in the desert in Arizona in January (finishing, but not with a great time), but once I reached the 25+ mile of the race I had to drop out. I had one misstep through a slippery rocky section that caused me to hobble and hop the next three miles until I reached an aide station where I swallowed my pride and opted to not run the last 5+ miles of the course.
After I returned back to Iowa I learned that I had fractured my foot, which only led me to believe that I needed to train more on that type of terrain (which is hard to find in Eastern Iowa). So, like the previous two years I have set my sights high for the 2012 ultra-running season and I am looking for redemption this weekend. Kelsie and I are preparing to drive that nine hour trip to not only see that beautiful landscape, but run through the streams, along side the rocky cliffs, and over the mountains along the way. Tomorrow morning I will relive those first twenty five miles, but I will also finish last six miles of that course and I will let you know how it ends :).
You only ever grow as a human being if you're outside your comfort zone. Percy Cerutty
Sunday, January 8, 2012
A New Year, A New Goal!
As my world has been increasingly busy with life and work, and coming off a Christmas break 10lbs heavier :), I will resort to what I know works best to relieve stress and improve my health~ RUN! I am embarking on my third year of running and continually trying to achieve goals that I have never imagined. First and foremost, I am helping Jake and Steph Maine to start an annual Run/Walk-A-Thon for their son, Kalen, and the Chiari Foundation. This event is scheduled to take place here in Wilton on May the 19th. We will be releasing more information and details of the event as our committee finalizes the details. So set the date in your calendars and stay tuned for ways in which you can help!
Second, based on our efforts for Team Kalen and Chiari Foundation I will be dedicating this running season to raising money for them. My 2012 race schedule is announced here on my blog and it includes a multitude of new challenges that I have not faced. I am participating in the Gnarly Bandit Series that is put on by the Upper Midwest Trail Runners Club, which I am now a member of. This series includes four 100 mile races and one 100k race. The end result of this series is more than just perseverance, pride, and achievement as it has cash prizes for the top finishers. I will work relentlessly to earn a top finisher spot and donate all of my earnings to Team Kalen and the Chiari Foundation.
Lastly, I am looking forward to another blessed year of running on my own two feet and experience new places across the Midwest and Central US. There are so many beautiful places that we pass unknowingly in our cars that are begging to be explored by foot. I cannot wait to meet and be mesmerized by the other talented ultra-runners in which I will encounter along the way; and to listen to their stories.
2012 is here and it’s time to get prepared for another adventure! As always, please contact me if you would like to join me for a training run, run a race together, help be a pacer, or help crew one of my runs! Hope to see you on the road or trails soon!
Second, based on our efforts for Team Kalen and Chiari Foundation I will be dedicating this running season to raising money for them. My 2012 race schedule is announced here on my blog and it includes a multitude of new challenges that I have not faced. I am participating in the Gnarly Bandit Series that is put on by the Upper Midwest Trail Runners Club, which I am now a member of. This series includes four 100 mile races and one 100k race. The end result of this series is more than just perseverance, pride, and achievement as it has cash prizes for the top finishers. I will work relentlessly to earn a top finisher spot and donate all of my earnings to Team Kalen and the Chiari Foundation.
Lastly, I am looking forward to another blessed year of running on my own two feet and experience new places across the Midwest and Central US. There are so many beautiful places that we pass unknowingly in our cars that are begging to be explored by foot. I cannot wait to meet and be mesmerized by the other talented ultra-runners in which I will encounter along the way; and to listen to their stories.
2012 is here and it’s time to get prepared for another adventure! As always, please contact me if you would like to join me for a training run, run a race together, help be a pacer, or help crew one of my runs! Hope to see you on the road or trails soon!
"If you want to become the best runner you can be, start now. Don't spend the rest of your life wondering if you can do it."
-Priscilla Welch
-Priscilla Welch
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