Roy Rogers said it best in a
song: ‘Happy Trails to You. Until we Meet Again.’ Of course, back then Roy was
talking to a grade schooler who believed that colorful cowboy really meant it
and he’d be back on television next Saturday morning. Nowadays, the happy
trails metaphor reminds me of the many roadways; blacktop, dirt, asphalt,
gravel and rock that carried my tired body over many miles toward some distance
goal.
I’ve been a
runner all my life, or more correctly, was a runner for over 48 years before
age and endurance brought that noble quest to an end. During that time, I ran a
number of sanctioned races, marathons, trail runs and long-distance ventures chasing
those elusive goals of staying healthy and feeding my soul.
My one goal or
obsession during those many years was always to run the Western States 100, the
premier one hundred mile run in Central California. I have no idea why. It
seemed to fit a pattern of seemingly romantic (picturesque) romps around the
world I had envisioned in my head.
It was probably
on par with other fantasies like traveling around the world on a tramp steamer,
retracing the old Route 66 highway from Chicago to the West Coast and crossing
the country on my bicycle. All of them lofty aspirations that crashed on the
shores of reality early in my life.
While working
in Maryland in the mid-seventies, I did try to run the JFK 50-miler. It’s still
around today and is as challenging now as it was years ago. Their web site
describes the course this way:
‘The first 5.5 miles
(starting on road surface and joining the Appalachian Trail at 2.5 miles) gains
1,172 feet in elevation. The course from 2.5 to 15.5 miles is on the
Appalachian Trail (except for two miles of paved road between 3.5 and 5.5
miles). This section of the AT is very rocky in sections as it rolls across the
mountain ridge. At approximately 14.5 miles the course drops over 1,000 feet in
a series of steep “switchbacks” that then crosses under Rt. 340 and connects
with the C&O Canal towpath. The “Canal” section of the JFK 50 Mile is 26.3
miles (from 15.5-41.8 miles) of almost totally flat unpaved dirt/gravel surface
that is free of all automotive vehicle traffic. The JFK 50 Mile route leaves
the C&O Canal towpath at Dam #4 and proceeds to follow gently rolling paved
country roads the last 8.4 miles to the finish. The Boonsboro start is at an
elevation of 570 feet. The Williamsport finish is at 452 feet above sea level.’
I had never run
fifty miles before but felt my daily runs at a local high school track would
put me in good shape to cover the distance. What a mistake.
It was a wonderful
leisurely run at first, climbing the rugged hills and dancing down the
rock-sown slopes on the other side. Then, gradually, time on the trail and a
steady 30-degree rain began to wear me down.
I had grabbed a
plastic garbage bag for protection (that’s all we had back in the early 70’s).
When I began to sweat profusely, I took off the plastic wrapping and promptly
began to get hypothermia. In the end, I
only completed 22 miles before hypothermia, crippling chills, and nausea
brought me to a standstill.
There is nothing
so liberating, so freeing as trail running. Reading books about the experience
was a poor but readily available substitute.
During that
time, I began devouring books about running long distances. It became a bit of
an obsession with me. Unfortunately, I never did attempt the Western States or
any other ultra-distance runs. Life moved on and I continued my weekly runs,
now much calmer at four to five miles a day. Finally, after running for some 48
years, I began to confine my running to a tread mill at home or LA Fitness.
A few years
back, I thought I might try to return to trail running by jogging the hills and
dales of Lebanon Hills Regional Park nearby.
Unfortunately, my
first attempt at jogging on an incline proved to be my last. My knees wouldn’t
let me do it. And I wasn’t about to risk surgery on my knees just to prove a
point. So now, I still get to re-read my running books, watch my running videos
and fantasize about hitting the trail once again. While it’s never going to
happen, I still have my memories to fuel those grand illusions of races not won
and happy trails yet to conquer.
