Although it’s been said, many times, many ways...Merry….oh, sorry I was really getting into it. What I meant to finish with was, “all good things come to an end”. It’s fun but at the same time, not fun when this happens. You enjoy the moment and excitement that surrounds that particular event but deep down you wish it would never end.
I will get to experience this personally next week down in Detroit Lakes, MN.
Almost eight years ago (hard to believe it’s been that long already) a friend of mine and many lost his life serving the United States of America with the Minnesota National Guard. He was only 20 years old at the time, just missing his 21st birthday by only twenty-nine days. On December 2nd, 2006, Corey Rystad from my hometown Red Lake Falls, MN was killed in action (KIA) over in Iraq. One of thousands who have lost their lives not only in the Iraq war, but from years past.
Finishing the Wicked Half Marathon in Salem, Massachusetts
back in 2011
War, cancer and several other horrible things affect our lives all the time. Everyone has been affected by the two I mentioned, but others such as ALS which you are hearing more and more about each day with the Ice Bucket Challenge, are subject to less promotion - until now of course.
I honestly never had the drive or the desire to run a half or full marathon until the passing of my friend. Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy getting outside and breathing in the fresh air with a nice leisurely run, jog or walk, especially with my wife, but before it never occurred to me that running such a long distance of just over thirteen or twenty-six miles would be such a flattering accomplishment. More like stupidity at it’s finest the way I saw it before.
Things do change though, and life changes in ways you never thought possible when your mind isn’t opened up to all of the possibilities that such life throws at you, both good and bad.
Upon my friend’s passing, I decided it was time to do something more as my sister had asked me to give it a try the previous spring. I did mention to her that I’d only give it a shot if there was a good reason to - which to me at the time, never imagined anything could change my mind. Well, there was, and it brought me to a level that didn’t deem to exist before 2006. I surely wasn’t pushing myself to do better; more like just coasting and following along with others who were doing the same or more than I was.
When your life gets impacted by something, sometimes your mind gets twisted into doing a full “180” and you start to realize some things. You begin to focus on what’s important in life. You begin to notice that you’re not the only one going through rough times and that the best way to fight through it is to do something for others. I was taught that way and extremely glad that was the case because when you help someone out, or just simply be there for them when they need someone the most, you really do feel good about it. You feel accomplished.
With that, back in 2007 I set out to accomplish something - to run a memorial race in my friend Corey’s name, with a little added incentive. Knowing that there is more sacrifice than any of us can really fathom compared to a military family, the decision to not only run, but carry something that my friend and so many others fought for and defended made the run seem to go better. Tougher in the aspect that yes, you limit yourself from movement in one arm when you bring a four foot pole that straps a three by five foot American flag to it while trying to get to a finish line that is thirteen or twenty-six miles away - but the reason for doing so is what makes it mean the most.
I have done this in six different states and finished fifty-nine events while toting the red, white & blue in honor and memory of my friend and his brothers and sisters in arms. Come Saturday, September 6th - in the place that I finished my first entire half marathon with Old Glory, in the cold and the rain, having to stop in a porta-potty at mile marker eleven because both of my arms and both of my legs started to cramp up to the point that I didn’t think the finish line would become a believable goal, yet somehow after warming them up, steam filling the tiny little potty room I was in and trying to tell myself there was only two more miles to go, I had to get there, even if it comes to crawling - I’m going to finish one more half marathon which will be numbero sixty-o (just sixty) with the flag that represents the country so many fight for, or in my friend’s case, fought for and made the ultimate sacrifice.
Upon my friend’s passing, I decided it was time to do something more as my sister had asked me to give it a try the previous spring. I did mention to her that I’d only give it a shot if there was a good reason to - which to me at the time, never imagined anything could change my mind. Well, there was, and it brought me to a level that didn’t deem to exist before 2006. I surely wasn’t pushing myself to do better; more like just coasting and following along with others who were doing the same or more than I was.
When your life gets impacted by something, sometimes your mind gets twisted into doing a full “180” and you start to realize some things. You begin to focus on what’s important in life. You begin to notice that you’re not the only one going through rough times and that the best way to fight through it is to do something for others. I was taught that way and extremely glad that was the case because when you help someone out, or just simply be there for them when they need someone the most, you really do feel good about it. You feel accomplished.
With that, back in 2007 I set out to accomplish something - to run a memorial race in my friend Corey’s name, with a little added incentive. Knowing that there is more sacrifice than any of us can really fathom compared to a military family, the decision to not only run, but carry something that my friend and so many others fought for and defended made the run seem to go better. Tougher in the aspect that yes, you limit yourself from movement in one arm when you bring a four foot pole that straps a three by five foot American flag to it while trying to get to a finish line that is thirteen or twenty-six miles away - but the reason for doing so is what makes it mean the most.
I have done this in six different states and finished fifty-nine events while toting the red, white & blue in honor and memory of my friend and his brothers and sisters in arms. Come Saturday, September 6th - in the place that I finished my first entire half marathon with Old Glory, in the cold and the rain, having to stop in a porta-potty at mile marker eleven because both of my arms and both of my legs started to cramp up to the point that I didn’t think the finish line would become a believable goal, yet somehow after warming them up, steam filling the tiny little potty room I was in and trying to tell myself there was only two more miles to go, I had to get there, even if it comes to crawling - I’m going to finish one more half marathon which will be numbero sixty-o (just sixty) with the flag that represents the country so many fight for, or in my friend’s case, fought for and made the ultimate sacrifice.
I say it will be the last, but who knows. Maybe I’ll Brett Favre it and show up again at some random race, flag in hand, ready to rock and-a roll.
This last one is going to have more meaning to me than ever before. My first half marathon as a married man.
With Sara (my girlfriend at the time, now wife) following
the 2013 Dick Beardsley Half Marathon Relay
My wife Sara and I did the half marathon relay last year at this same location, the Dick Beardsley Run in Detroit Lakes, MN. That was a few weeks before I had asked her to marry me.
We both have running that is something we enjoy...most of the time. Training sometimes sucks, but who really likes to train anyway? It’s part of the deal though, I guess.
Back in the spring, after my annual check up post-mononucleosis that knocked me down for quite a while back in the spring/summer of 2013, my doctor told me I should stay away from long runs for the remainder of the year. In a way I used it as excuse - to let myself go from getting back on the training and running path. Sara saw through that and brought up some good points I wasn’t really thinking at the time. It was almost like my mind closed the door back up like it had been before it turned around with a total “180” to realize that I should do something more. This time, it turned the other way; all I was thinking was how it could be tragic if I attempt to even step foot on a road again and give this crazy running thing another chance.
I had listened to my doctor and took her advice through the entire suffering of mono - which at the age of 30 is absolutely awful. If you’ve had mononucleosis before, you know what it’s like. If not, it’s hard to even explain. All I know is that of the twelve symptoms people with mono can end up with, some may get half, maybe seven or so of the symptoms. The majority only suffer from a few of them. I was the one so fortunate to get eleven of the twelve - the one symptom I didn’t get to endure was jaundice - the least painful. I remember part of the conversation Ms. Doc and I had when I first started going in. She had asked me if I drink alcohol in excess. I told her, “Well, it depends on who I’m with…” The look on her face made it known that she was pissed and didn’t want to joke around, snapping back with “What’s THAT supposed to mean?”
I stopped the pun quickly and told her I rarely do. The explanation she gave me was my the enzyme levels for my liver were over six times the amount that they see in a raging alcoholic. In simple terms, I’m lucky my liver didn’t fail. I was threatened to be hospitalized if I decided to head back to work which was against Ms. Doc’s rules. I’m glad she was as stern as she was though. If I would have gone off on my own journey which I tend to do with things sometimes (because I’m invincible, you know…), I’m not sure how my body would have reacted. Probably about as well, most likely worse than it was at the time. If you want to know how it looked at that time, ask my wife. I’m hoping I didn’t scare her too much, but if so, I had no control over it and would never do that on purpose to someone I care about so much. I didn’t know it (obviously) but my brain was getting less oxygen due to the enzyme levels leaking out like that, which made it extremely tough to focus, at times, to the point that standing up became the toughest task I would try to accomplish all day.
I stopped the pun quickly and told her I rarely do. The explanation she gave me was my the enzyme levels for my liver were over six times the amount that they see in a raging alcoholic. In simple terms, I’m lucky my liver didn’t fail. I was threatened to be hospitalized if I decided to head back to work which was against Ms. Doc’s rules. I’m glad she was as stern as she was though. If I would have gone off on my own journey which I tend to do with things sometimes (because I’m invincible, you know…), I’m not sure how my body would have reacted. Probably about as well, most likely worse than it was at the time. If you want to know how it looked at that time, ask my wife. I’m hoping I didn’t scare her too much, but if so, I had no control over it and would never do that on purpose to someone I care about so much. I didn’t know it (obviously) but my brain was getting less oxygen due to the enzyme levels leaking out like that, which made it extremely tough to focus, at times, to the point that standing up became the toughest task I would try to accomplish all day.
Ms. Doc was amazed at my progress in a months’ time
I like to call it “from near death to more breath”
With all that being said, I’m fine now and feel ready to give it a shot by running one more half marathon.
Those days have passed and it’s time to get one more big run in! The best part is, I will be running it with my best friend - my wife Sara right by my side the entire way through. That was one thing I had hoped for in all my years of running events; to find someone who I could share this with, every step of the way.
We’ve been training in the mornings, running around Fosston, dodging cones and pot holes and what ever else is happening with the construction zone which consumes half the town right now, but we’re getting it done. Like Sara says, “We’ll just wing it!” It truly is the best way to go into a race! No worries, no goals, just get out and run. Doesn’t matter how fast, just move forward, one step at a time.
The more I thought about it after having a conversation with Sara about running back in the spring, the more I analyzed my past and how this all came about. I noticed that running was something I do enjoy overall, but never had a real love for it. It was something I could do on my own, to make myself better and to do something for others by running in memory of our fallen soldiers. If I wasn’t impacted the way I had been eight years ago, I really don’t think my sister would have been able to break my mindset of never wanting to do a half or full marathon in my life. Ok I take that back, she’s pretty good at getting little brother to do what she thinks would be good for him, but it’s still a mystery and always will be.
I’m very glad I changed that decision though, which shouldn’t have had to be the way it was with such unfortunate circumstances, but that is life. You lose some good people as you go and you really have no control over that.
I do have control over my decisions though and I am glad I will get this opportunity to run one final “Freedom Run” with my beautiful wife right next to me.
I do have control over my decisions though and I am glad I will get this opportunity to run one final “Freedom Run” with my beautiful wife right next to me.
Sara and I with the legend himself, Mr. Dick Beardsley
prior to his running event in 2013
So come check it out if you get a chance - one final time we’ll have Old Glory flying high on a race path in the area...unless of course someone else picks up a pole, straps on a flag and gets out there to honor those who have done so much for us. I would really like to see that.
Just remember that no matter what happens in life, you can always adjust to make things better. Enjoy every minute of your time on this earth - it passes you by way too quickly. And if we’re lucky, we’ll be passing you at the Dick Beardsley Half Marathon on Saturday September 6th!
We’ll see you at the finish line.
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