the vol stater was sitting on a curb in front of a gas station in a small rural town.
on day 2 she had gotten extreme chafing
so she stopped at a store that had only mens boxer briefs underwear.
she needed something so she bought them
cut the liner out of her shorts and went on with mens underwear hanging out the leg.
.
later she fell
skinning up her leg and receiving a black eye.
.
on day 3 she developed blisters that left her limping
.
on day 4 the sun burnt her to a crisp
.
on day 5 a dog bit the unskinned leg.
.
and now, on the morning of day 6
she sat on a curb in front of a gas station
dirty, haggard, hair matted, bruised and bloodied….
.
weeping.
.
a kindly woman came over to comfort her;
“its all right honey, things will get better”
.
the vol stater realized what she looked like;
a homeless woman who had been beaten up,
and tried to explain;
“no, its not like that…. i am running a 300 mile race”
.
add mental illness to beaten up and homeless.
the woman gave our vol stater some money.
.
.
during a journey run the days have names.
the day i fell and got a black eye.
the day i got on the bypass by mistake and spent the entire day circling the city back to where i started.
the day the dog bit me.
the day i took my shoe off to remove a pebble and accidentally dropped it into the creek.
the day it was 109 degrees
the day i threw my wallet in the trash and put an empty food wrapper in my pack…
.
all you want is a day with no special name.
but it seems like something happens every day.
.
and sometimes it goes like this;
“i felt disappointed in my performance.
so many things went wrong….
.
but while i was crossing the blue bridge
i thought about how i had overcome so many difficulties
how i had solved so many problems,
and i realized that i had run a great race,
i just didnt record a good time…
.
and i felt like a badass!”
.
.
the 68 runners still on the road are starting day 7.
they have been living like stray dogs for nearly a week.
that ferry ride last thursday was a lifetime ago.
they are different now.
.
everyone began this with such high hopes.
but as the morning sun begins its routine of frying them alive
all they hope for is a day with no name.
Categories: Vols2024