18 miles for a cure

To be totally honest, I am in awe of folks who run and finish a marathon. I feel like I just got dumped in a kayak and swam multiple class IV rapids next to my boat. I'm wrecked. Train wrecked.

Last night was the Relay for Life here in Missoula. I was on a team with my old co-workers from the Parks and Recreation Department. It took place at a local high school track, and Scott and I were on site to set up our tents at 4.30PM. We had the usual goodies, and the event has numerous snack offerings over the course of the event. Popsicles, icees, peanut M&Ms, rice crispy bars, and twizlers made up the menu for the first hour or so. That was a mistake. I don't usually have a sweet tooth quite like that, but all factors combined it made for good groceries. A plate of pad Thai from Thai Spicy covered what in hindsight appears to have been the dessert. Yum.


Between the hours of 6.30PM and 8AM this morning, I covered a distance of 18 miles, walking and running. I kept my eyes open the whole night to the delight of a moon that rose over Mount Sentinal in the east in early morning under a thin veil of cloud cover. It was, for lack of a better word (which probably does exist, but with waking up moments ago at 7PM, I can't think of one) it was magical.

Word is that the event, not including the silent auction, raised over $100,000 for the fight against cancer. Having never been involved with this event before, it seems like a great turnout. 67 teams participated and the energy all night was phenomenal.


One component that stands out of the whole night is the luminary display and I have trouble putting my emotions and thoughts into any perspective. I was told going into it that this was really powerful, but how can you prepare for it? You can't. White paper bags decorated with names, pictures, drawings, dates, and quotes of those who have battled cancer lined the inside and out of the track. At around 10PM all the bags were lit, including the ones lined up in the word "HOPE" on the bleachers, and the stadium lights were shut down. It remained this way, except for one set of lights, for the rest of the night. Wow.

Our purpose was great and while the vibe was mixed at times, we were celebrating the survivors. Along the way I had a good time hanging out with friends, lounging at times, eating, throwing a disc in the open grass, and walking. Lots of walking. Walking enought to round the track 72 times.

This years theme was Hawaiian. I can assure you that this coconut was fantastic. And it worked awesome as a coco bra after the juice was sucked out and some of the flesh was consumed. After the hand saw split it up the middle and then a few drill holes and some bust measuring, Scott was tying me and I was tying him. We had a lot of compliments.

To add to the overnight track laps, I ran in a Missoula Parks and Rec 5k race at 9.30AM the same morning (unrelated to the Relay for Life).

Final tally: 21 miles covered in 15 hours, followed by a wierd pattern of sleep, confusion, and a sore right ankle.