What do a dog collar, half a bottle of whiskey, an old fashioned wedding dress, an iPad, a new Nalgene, a bra, a tambourine, a coffee cup and a hula hoop have in common?
These are (some of) the remnants left by their exhausted former owners after spending four days at the Born to Run Ultra Marathon Extravaganza on a beautiful private ranch in Los Olivos, CA.
I’ve just won last week’s Adventure Poll, and I won it by posting my ugly feet covered in mud and resting on top of the best thing I could have underneath it, my LUNAs.
Majestic Oak trees were scattered across the rolling hills of dry grass around us. The marine layer was burning off and the morning sun was greeting us as we finished breakfast and lounged around camp. After some frisbee, a game of whiffle ball developed quickly as more people wanted to join the fun. There were no rules or teams, or maybe the rules and teams were made up and changed for each...
I sat slumped over in a camp chair by the fire. It was dark and cold in those mountains in the wee hours of the night. I was tired, delirious, and defeated. I was at mile 68 of the Bear 100. As we neared the aid station I told Sweeney, my pacer, that I was done, that I was dropping out at this aid station. When I told him tears welled up in my eyes at the verbal admission of defeat. I was glad...
"Massasoit, it will be remembered, was the Wampanoag sachem [leader] first to visit the Pilgrims at Plymouth in 1621, and then became and continued their firm friend. The treaty of peace and mutual defence, made between him and the whites, was carefully observed for above fifty years, and was an important factor in the prosperity of the colony." History of North Brookfield, Massachusetts.