Crazy Hills
In my previous writing, I marveled at the hills of Illinois, and detailed to trials and triumphs of running these hills. I also described Missouri’s relative flatness in comparison to Illinois. So this may seem a little odd that I am writing almost the exact same thing about Illinois in comparison to West Virginia. But West Virginia’s hills make Illinois seem like a pancake. The elevation got higher than 1400 feet, and running up that many feet was taken in steep hills that left us gasping for air, and left our legs drained of energy. Now being a cross country runner I consider myself to be a decent conqueror of hills, and hills such as those of Illinois I can coast up with relative ease. But the hills of West Virginia had me whipped, only one thing kept me at a good pace: the downhills.

One good characteristic of these hills is that they crested and immediately changed into ridiculous downhills, steeper downhills than I have ever encountered in a cross country race. At the bottom of each downhill, an immediate steep uphill cheerily greeted you, so the intense momentum of the downhill would drive you up the hill at a decent pace. This is how Michael Gurley and I came to run the fastest 4 mile yet on this trip. We blasted the downhills, our legs flying, and then pounded up the hills, I felt like puking at that run’s conclusion, but it was probably good for me.

Scenery
Looking off the top of a West Virginia hill and seeing into a valley that is interrupted by hundreds of subsequent giant hills may be the most wondrous thing I have ever seen. To see what seems like miles of tree topped hills stretching into the sky are truly a beautiful sight. I fell in love with West Virginia’s nature.

Pennsylvania
The Mighty Hills of West Virginia were tamed at the border of Pennsylvania, the hills continued but not as severely, and the running was considerably easier in Pennsylvania. Otherwise it was not much different, not quite as good of scenery, but about the same overall.

Two Days…
Prior to writing this I was informed that we only have two more days of running. I was blown away and saddened by this news. I will miss all the states we have been through, and the experience of a life that consists of running, eating, and trying to entertain oneself in a van. But I also anticipate going home to my friends and family.

The Pacifist
The early morning stretch is the staple of the beginning of the day. It is always there, unlike my roommates ability to wake up on time (although we always do move fast once we do get up), a good full size complimentary breakfast, or a sunny morning. It is during these stretches that the team gets together and shares their aches and pains with one another. During one of my stretches though, I looked up and saw a cute cat standing in the middle of a gravel parking lot. Jacob, Kiet, and I decided to swarm and blitzkrieg the cat to see if we could catch it. Problem with all of this is that the cat kinda wanted us to. Oh, of course kitty went into the defensive stance as it saw us surrounding it, and once we were within attack range, it did the one thing it thought acceptable for the situation it was in. Kitty rolled over. And we were stunned. How brilliant of a defensive maneuver; psych out the predator by acting like you’re theirs already. This trick would have worked if we didn’t feel like having cat in the morning. But we did. So we started to pet, rub, and pick up Kit the kitty (not to be confused with Ron and Nancy Burt’s Kit–considering this Kit v2). Kit did cause us to lose our stretch time, but it was well worth it.

Uncalled For Blessing
We didn’t ask for it. Or maybe we did. We didn’t call any media. Or maybe our previous calls did it for us. It just kinda happened. Nathan and Adam had just finished their 6 mile run when a man walked up behind the two. He did all the talking, as he told them he was a reporter for the local newspaper and had heard through the grapevine about our relay coming through his part of the country. This man did what no other press organization had done outside of Kansas; he took down notes and listened to our tale of wanting to make the term genocide more mainstream to the public. Not only that, but he promised to have the story in the next day’s paper and would also contact other media outlets along the way to D.C. I don’t know his name. I do know that he drove a Ford Focus, and a nice one at that. I don’t know exactly what paper he worked for. I do know that he was sincere in promise to spread the word about us. And I know that if only more people were like him, then maybe this relay wouldn’t be necessary as the atrocities in Darfur would possibly have already been handled.

Victorian Flare
The small towns that litter the sides of U.S. 40 are those left in time. After I70 took over as the main artery in the U.S. transportion network, the old national highway began to be forgotten. And so were the citizens that lived near it. Some of the towns these people lived in died along with the highway. But towns like Greenwood, Ohio were able to weather the storm of a lack of vistors. This town today has stood the test of time, and in more ways than one. Not one building that the vans passed by on our way through the city were any way near recently built. That’s not to say they were run down buildings. Not at all. These edifices showed their victorian roots, proudly displaying their tall windows and pillars. It’s towns like these that make taking the scenic route worth it. The next time you’re thinking about traveling by car across the country, try out U.S. 40.

Text Only
For our faithful followers, you might have noticed that after the first few blogs, the pictures have been noticeably….nonexistant. Don’t worry. Collectively, over 700 photos have been taken on this trip, and they are all being held captive on Matt’s computer. The reason behind the lack of pictures correlates with the lack of time and the lack of upload speed. Matt just can’t upload the pictures to the server in the time we have at the hotel every night. Instead, the time we spend mulling around in D.C. will be dedicated somewhat to getting pictures up of every day that has transpired. Stay with us. We promise we have some good, great, and amazing shots to share with you all!

Dining Diversity
Today is the tenth day of our journey across the country. So, as luck would have it, it is also the tenth day of delicious Subway sandwiches! I can only hope that the rest of the journey brings one of 8 delicious subs (we can only choose between eight because that’s where our budget lays) every day at the crack of noon!

Hello Ohio State!
We’ve reached Columbus, OH safely today: home of the Ohio State Buckeyes! We drove through the city and through the campus a little bit and it was the epitome of a college town. Big campus, a kickin’ down town and of course…collegiate cuties.

The Central Ohio Darfur Solidarity Network
When Matthew told me we were coming to Columbus and said that we’d be meeting with a group of anti-genocide activists I was extremely excited. In my mind I envisioned a big reception with around a hundred people cheering and coming together for the cause. Matthew kind of designated me as a keynote speaker for the group so I naturally prepared a little ten minute speech for the event. I was excited.

However, to my surprise, the arrival was not quite as I had pictured it. We walked into the church where the event was being held and there were only about 16 people in the room…12 of them us.

We proceeded to grab some seats and commence the awkward silence that comes so naturally in a large group of unknowns for about ten minutes. Then I finally stood up and met a gentleman I believe named Glenn (I’m so sorry if that’s wrong). Anyway he was incredibly knowledgeable and very personable.

It gets better…promise
So as we began to eat a potluck thrown by CODSN (the groups chosen acronym), more and more people began to show up. About 22 people were sitting around eating….

And then it happened…
Like a prayer was answered from the boys who’ve been together for 2 weeks, ten girls from Columbus School for Girls walked into the meeting. It was a sight to be seen. Not the girls, but all the guys to my left and right looking across the room like they’d just been stricken blind deaf and dumb. Hilarious.

And then Adrian had the brilliant idea to mix and mingle…and so every guy proceeded to run to one of the girls and initiate conversation. Huge laughs… anyway on to the meeting.

A brilliant, insightful evening
To my great surprise and appreciation, three Darfuri refugees had come to the meeting that evening. I was so happy because I would finally get to hear some real life accounts.

Khamese and Halima
I first met Khamese when we were putting up tables for some more guests. He didn’t speak English very well at all but he was the nicest man I’ve never really spoken to. He spoke first with his beautiful wife Halima.

Khamese and Halima spent 4 years in a refugee camp in Ghana. They spoke of how the Janjaweed destroyed their village and displaced thousands of people. When they tried to flee into Chad, they were turned right back over to the Sudanese government and thrown right back into Darfur.

After this, they ran into the mountains and hid for two months with their family and friends. When they decided to go back to the village for a fresh start, within days, the Janjaweed attacked again…but in a fiercer fashion.

Halima spoke of how she was separated from her children in the raid. She had to run so fast to get away from the Janjaweed and couldn’t even turn around to find her children… Halima and her husband escaped through Nigeria and spent their time in Ghana until finding their way to the United States.

Khamese and Halima have four children. To this day, they have no idea where they are…

Salah Eldin
Salah escaped Darfur into Egypt when the problems in the region became severe. When he reached Egypt he expected to find a refugee camp. He did not. Instead he found a group of thousands of Darfurians huddled in an area. No real humanitarian aid. They acted as a herd of nomads trying to survive together. The “refugees” had no identification, therefore, did not really exist.

Salah and the others organized a protest outside the U.N. embassy in Egypt in order to receive the care and attention they desperately needed. After 100 days, the U.N. responded.
25,000 Egyptian soldiers surrounded the Darfurians and proceeded to hose them down with hot water hoses. They threw glass bottles into the crowd. Systematically harassed them physically and mentally.

Salah still has a scar from a glass bottle breaking on the top of his head.

After the riot, Salah was arrested and imprisoned for two years being tortured regularly and sometimes blindfolded for 24 hours at a time. Two years.

Salah was eventually released from prison, and with no idea of what was going on around him, he arrived in Columbus, OH 10 days ago.

Brave students…
Only a week ago, a news report came over NPR about some students from a prestigious Sudanese university. The students protested the Khartoum government for allowing the Janjaweed to administer such terror across Sudan. You’ll never guess what the government’s response was….

The students hotel rooms on the fourth floor were set ablaze and the students were tossed from the four story windows falling to the ground. The students were beaten with lead pipes and physically incapacitated.

The government has refused to give these students medical attention.

Katie Brown was one of the girls from the school that i met. I sat next to here through the presentations. I saw here eyes divert several times when something shocking was said. She even buried her head in her hands at one point.

She looked up at me and said, “I had no idea…”

It was so sad hearing her say this only because I knew that there are so many inadvertantly naive people in the world who really just don’t know. But there is a ceratin optimism to be seen in her reaction. She was so affected by the stories that it just reminds me that I believe most people hear about what is happening and know in their hearts that it is just so wrong.

The stories like these we’ve all heard in some form or another. But through word of mouth, it’s hard to imagine it actually happening.

We’ve met the faces behind these stories and let me say…it is eternally heartbreaking to imagine these sweet, dear people having to go through that.

We’re doing this for Khamese, Halima and Salah. We’re doing this for the brave students who spoke up against something that’s morally wrong. We’re doing this for the thousands, for the millions with stories like those we heard tonight. We may never be able to cure the wounds deeply engraved in these wonderful people, but together, we can make sure to help ease the pain and provide a happy ending for these horrific tales.

Up and at ‘em
The team got off to a late start today. After our day off in Indianapolis we woke up around 6:00 to get ready to go, but then went back to sleep and finally left or motel at 9:00. Although we were set back a few hours it was a welcome opportunity to get some more sleep.

The Buckeye State
Back on the road again, each of us put in more miles than we had on any day so far. Most of us ran 13 miles as we crossed from Indiana into Ohio. Unfortunately we were not able to actually run across the border due to traffic, and we had to settle for driving across.

Never Ignore the Monotony
Other than running it was a relatively uneventful day. The roads were straight and the land was flat. This did not make for very interesting running, but we enjoyed it while we could, knowing that we would soon have plenty of hills and winding roads to make it more difficult. Those of us riding in the van driven by Larry Heck passed the time in the car by watching the always entertaining, Transformers. A moment of silence was held for Jazz, who was brutally ripped in two by Megatron during combat. At lunch time we decided to go back to our routine of eating at Subway, instead of making another White Castle run.

124 Miles Later
In the evening we arrived in Dayton, Ohio, where we would stop for the night. Driving through downtown, we enjoyed the buildings and especially the massive fountains in the river. Unfortunately the fountains were shut off right after we found them, so we could only get one picture. For dinner we ate at Marion’s Pizza, which we had heard had the best pizza in the world. The team devoured a total of eight pizzas, mostly pepperoni and a few of Marion’s Super Cheese Pizza. It was quite delicious, but we were hesitant to dub it the “best pizza on in the world.” After dinner we went back to the motel and Day 9 of our quest came to a close

Reflections on the Past
Looking back at my life a year ago, I would never have believed somebody who told me “In a year, you’ll be sitting in a hotel in Indianapolis at the halfway point between Wichita, Kansas and Washington D.C.” So many things have changed between then and now that it is difficult to qualify just how this relay has changed me and my perception of the world.

First of all, I have been extremely pleased with the warmth people have shown us up to this point in our journey. In Wichita, anybody we asked would listen. Dozens upon dozens donated to our cause whatever they could give–whether it was $20 or $2,000. Slowly, but surely, the idea took flight and flew into the realm of reality. From there, people along the way offered discounts; Subways said they would give us free sandwiches sometimes and Super 8s offered us discounts on their normal prices. Unfortunately, not everything has been as easy as would be the case in an ideal world and far too many people are entirely apathetic.

The Not-So-Good
I’m disheartened by the lack of media attention. It’s not that I want to be on TV or that I enjoy seeing my name in print, but I don’t understand how people can ignore us. Perhaps the most discouraging aspect was the response we received from the Kansas City Star; it wasn’t, “we don’t have time to cover your event” or “you should have notified us earlier,” but rather, “we don’t cover events like this.” Maybe it’s vanity on my part, but I couldn’t help but wonder, “how many passionate teenagers run through your city each day trying to change the world?”

I have a hard time understanding how anybody can classify this relay so generically.

A Break From The Madness
This day in Indianapolis was a pleasant break from the normally chaotic schedule we follow. A typical day consists of a wake up call around 6 a.m., a quick breakfast in the Super 8 lobby, loading the cars around 6:30, and on the road to our starting place by 6:45. We’ll run until sometime between 12 and 2 depending on when we hit a town big enough for a Subway. We’ll spend maybe 45 minutes eating and then head off on the road again until between 6 and 8 pm. By the time we eat, it’s usually around 9:30-10, and then on a good night we might go to sleep before midnight. Now, repeat this for about 2 weeks and you can get a brief understanding of just how welcoming a little extra sleep was.

I woke up around 8:30 today because I could hardly sleep any longer. It’s a bit sad that I’ve been conditioned to that point, but I had a reason to be excited. Brief detour: the morning of the relay send-off, my laptop decided to die on me and I had no way to fix it. After a bit of research, I settled on a MacBook as a good replacement for my dead laptop and looked for a good chance to buy one. Luckily, Indianapolis had an Apple Store convenient. So, now, I’m writing this blog on my newly-purchased MacBook and doubt that novelty will ever wear off.

In addition to my exciting purchase, I would confidently speak for the rest of the team when I say it was good to be able to eat somewhere that wasn’t Subway for a change. Don’t get me wrong, Subway is delicious, but 8 days straight of the Spicy Italian on Italian herbs and cheese bread with pepper jack cheese, lettuce, and a nice smattering of ranch gets old. For some reason, I never thought of mixing that up.

Adventures at Trader Joe’s
Having lived in SoCal for several years, my parents loved the specialty grocery store called Trader Joe’s. They had already figured out that Indianapolis was the only place with one along our course, so they figured we had to stop. Nobody was opposed and we quickly found our odd little foods, candies, beverages, and other organic delights at the store. As we were checking out, the sunny Indianapolis sky took a drastic change for the worse.

In a matter of 5 minutes, the bright blue sky changed to a near pitch black and the sun rays pouring from the sky turned into torrential rain. I watched in dismay as a small whirlpool formed in our parking lot and quickly pulled out my trusty new laptop to search for a wifi network and check the weather. We sat there for 20 minutes in the car hoping to wait out the storm. Fortunately, it died down enough for us to make out escape back to the hotel, but we lost all chances of playing some Frisbee or swimming that one glorious rest night. I didn’t waste too much time in self-pity and took to introducing myself to my Mac. Everybody else generally went crazy and enjoyed their remaining few hours in their own ways. I was content, and I’m pretty sure everybody else was too.

Ironically, having the day of rest didn’t change our sleeping schedule at all. Everybody is dozing off right now as I finish this entry. It’s past midnight. Not too surprising really.

Forwards and Onwards!
With only about a week left of this amazing journey, I feel like I have to thank some people who have made it possible for us to get this far. First of all, there are the numerous people that believed in us enough to take a risk in supporting us. Second of all, there are the people who donated or helped us in some other way even though they weren’t sure if we could follow through with our end. Both of those groups were essential to our success thus far. Whether or not they thought we could pull this off, they still put some faith in our ability and, most importantly, proved to us that there are those who are not apathetic.

I would love to keep this list short, but I know I can’t:
To Darham Rogers - the coach that was crazy enough to agree to come along for the ride;
To my eight fellow runners - the guys that were crazy enough to believe this could happen;
To Mrs. Kellerby, Mrs. Fry, Mr. Davis, and Mr. Marshall - the teachers that constantly asked for updates, bought t-shirts, and offered their words of wisdom when times were troubling;
To John Bagwell, the Genocide Intervention Network, and STAND - the wonderful organization that took a risk on a bunch of high schoolers trying to change the world;
To Julie VanMater - the designer of our website and tshirts;
To Davis-Moore Auto-Groups - the company that made our trip financially possible;
To Jim at Kalamazoo Sports Wear - the great guy that prints our t-shirts for us and ships them;
To Senator Betts and Lisa Reiss - both of you have been inspirational to us all and have helped us with aspects of this trip that we couldn’t approach alone;
To Kim Thi Tran - our representative in STAND that played an instrumental role in supporting us;
To my parents who never thought this would happen;
To the hundreds who donated, bought t-shirts, or both;
To everybody at East who believed in us;
To everybody else who helped us;
And to everybody following us right now along our journey:

Thank you.

Before and including lunchtime
I say this because, unless others have something to blog about on this, I don’t think I can recall anything out of the ordinary, just the usual morning, eat, pack, pack van, go run. At lunchtime, Adrian said the Doc, Darham Rogers, had a plan for next year during Track and Field. So I , of course, wanted to find out what this “elaborate” plan was, but he wouldn’t share and now I’m anxious to find out what it is. I have to wait until track season to find out, and right now that seems a long ways away, but I’ll probably forget about it anyway.

Rain, rain, go away
There has been a lot of flooding lately in this area, between Champaign and Indianapolis that is. We got lucky enough to go down a road that ended up being flooded. So we had to find another route and actually ended up on the road we were originally supposed to be on. After that, we exited the great home state of Illinois and entered Indiana, which according to the state borderline sign is the boyhood home of Abraham Lincoln. We are going to be staying at Indianapolis.

Coincidence or just a sign?
We also saw the same guy twice. He was on a bike going down the road that was flooded, by the state border. Then by some freakish coincidence, we saw him again our new route, by the state border.

Weird signs
We went by some weird signs today, no different from any other day. There was one that had something like “Haunted Doll House” written on it. Another one said, “Do not pick up hitchhikers,” we saw the penitentiary, or as the sign said, “Correctional Facility” a little later. There were a lot of signs saying, “watch for ice on bridges” which Michael and I agreed were unnecessary and shouldn’t be put up when there isn’t very likely that there will be ice (ie. Summer).

Bikers
Two bikers rode alongside Jacob and Kiet while they were running. According to Jacob, they were on a journey as well, to Oregon. It’s kind of neat having someone join some of us on a run for a while.

Aaron Gurley’s cell
Aaron got his phone back at the hotel in Indianapolis. We had a contest to see how many text messages he missed. Kiet guessed 25, exactly the amount of missed messages.

Dinner adventure
Because of the time zone, we got to Indianapolis late, and didn’t get around to going out for dinner till around the time a lot places closed. At first, we decided to go to Popeyes’, but they closed early due to “safety.” Next, we tried Taco Bell, which was closed as well. Last, Adam recalled a 24-hour sign on a White Castle, just next to Taco Bell, and it was open.

White Castle
Jacob and Michael shared a Crave Crate, 30 burgers, and Chris and Aaron had the same as well. Adrian had 20 burgers and four fries. Adam and Kiet each got 10 burgers and one fries. Matt and I shared 10 burgers and 2 fries; we weren’t too hungry. Total that made 114 burgers, Matt’s dad had 4; it was an amazing sight. Chris, Aaron, Michael, and Jacob flew through the first like 7-8 burgers, then, they started slowing way down. The only people to finish was everyone but those who got the crave crates. Afterwards, we made castles with our empty boxes.

Never Ignore, Never Forget Come Back from White Castle
If getting to White Castle was hard, then coming back was terribly difficult. We had to turn around at least 3 times. We eventually got a hold of the Hotel, but we found the road before they could tell us the directions. Overall it took us probably 30 minutes. According to the other van, Doc was pissed.

Michael Gurley’s insanity
He is obsessed with Laura Shaninsky!

Rain Delay
Well holy cow, I have a few minutes to sit down in my hotel room in Champaign Illinois to think about the last 6 days.  

We ran into some nasty weather conditions in Springfield this morning and have basically been forced to take an impromptu day off.  The rain started early this morning and continued until about noon.  We began the day thinking that we could run through the rain.  But as we approached the capital building of the state of Illinois, a rain storm kicked in and forced us to seek shelter under a high rise apartment building.  While the storm passed we waited for a television crew from Springfield to come and shoot some pictures of us while running. They never showed.  

While checking the radar, we discovered that the line of storms covered almost our entire course that we were planning on running that day.  So we decided to take in some of the sites in downtown Springfield and then drive ahead to Champaign.  While sitting in my hotel room I decided to write out some of my thoughts. 

Why go?
Before I left and even during the trip, I have had several colleagues, friends, family members, and complete strangers ask me why I am going on this trip.  The asked me why I am willing to give up part of my precious summer vacation, to drive across the country at 8 mph behind or in front of some runners.  The answer I gave was the same as was advertised on TV and in newspapers, “to bring awareness to genocide etc.”   But the truth was up until about a week ago, I didn’t want to go.  

What changed?
My frustrations were continuing up until the day we left. I kept telling myself that this is for the kids.  I am helping them grow as young men.  But then that selfish part of me kept asking, “What’s in it for me?”  

The answer to that question came to me while I was listening to a book on tape that I brought on the trip to read/listen to while driving.  The book is called American Creation: Triumphs and Tragedies at the Founding of the Republic by Joseph Ellis (I already disclosed that I was a giant history nerd.)  I came to a chapter in the book on George Washington’s winter at Valley Forge.  For those of you who don’t know about that winter in 1777-78 in which the Continental Army was forced to settle in Valley Forge, a small but densely populated region in Southeastern Pennsylvania. Here’s the readers digest version

Valley Forge
It was agreed in warfare at that time that two opposing armies did not fight during the winter.  Therefore Washington and the Continental Army settled down for a long winter with poor shelters; food and medical supplies; as well as poor clothing and equipment.  Many soldiers froze and starved to death or where stricken with disease while in Valley Forge.  Many others deserted the army because of the conditions.  

General George Washington pleaded with the area farmers to assist him but, the farmers could not afford to.  You see, the value of the Colonial currency had dropped and inflation was rising in the colonies.  The British Army that had occupied nearby Philadelphia was able to pay the farmers in the British Pound Sterling which was actually worth something.  So many farmers in order to survive were selling their crops to the British, instead of helping the Colonials. 

Many of these farmers were ardent patriots believing in what the Continental Army was doing.  But they were forced by their economic situation to support the British Army. So it became important for the Continentals to inspire the people of the colonies to be willing to sacrifice on behalf of the cause of independence. The Revolutionary War was not just a war fought on the battlefield, perhaps the most important aspect of the war was the fight for the hearts and minds of the people.  

Therefore the Continental Army was forced to endure the conditions all winter.  However, this had two results:

First, the soldiers who stayed in Valley Forge or joined that winter developed a close bond with themselves and their commander.  They became the leading force after the war for America to be a unified republic rather than a loosely governed confederation.

Second, the images of these soldiers braving the elements in Valley Forge helped sway people to sacrifice for the new nation.  If these soldiers could make this sacrifice then ordinary citizens could too.

GET ON WITH IT!!!
SO, the point of this whole history lesson is that I see both of the results of the winter at Valley Forge happening here.  

First, a close bond is being built between the participants.  There are certain jokes and memories that only they will be able to share with each other.  And as the coach, sitting back and watching, I am witnessing something great.  Each of these guys is growing because of this experience.  They are finding things out about themselves as they brave these conditions: new city every night, high temperatures and humidity, and being in a small minivan for 3 straight weeks.  Also I am getting to know and respect each of these young men in different ways.  Which I believe is the most important aspect of the teacher’s job.  Not test scores, but relationships.  I had some great teachers and coaches during my career and one of the reasons that I became a teacher was to try and be that for someone else.

Second, people are taking notice.  It may seem like they are not because of certain media outlets not responding to the press releases and the phone calls that the guys have been making.  But when people see us in our shirts or watch us while running, they are seeing our example.  Genocide is not something that just goes on over seas.  It is not something that we should allow to go on simply because it doesn’t affect us directly.  Every time a driver honks, a customer in a Subway at lunchtime asks about our shirts, or a person is lead to our website or reads our blogs, their perception of this issue changes.  I should know.  I am one of the converts.  So if you are reading this, spread the word.  Tell someone about the website.  Get more people to notice and get involved.  I will leave you with this quote from the late Senator Robert F Kennedy.

“All of us might wish at times that we lived in a more tranquil world, but we don’t. And if our times are difficult and perplexing, so are they challenging and filled with opportunity.”

We have finally seen the end of Missouri. Not long into today’s run we came upon Louisiana, Missouri. Louisiana was a little town built on the top of a huge hill, it also ran smack into the Mississippi River.

City Names
One thing I noticed about towns in Missouri and Illinois is that a lot of them are named after other existing cities, states, or countries. We have come across Paris, New London, Jacksonville, Florence, Winchester, Louisiana, Detroit, New Hartford, etc. Of course Kansas has it share of those also, Minneapolis, Detroit, Manhattan, etc.

The previous observation is a product of the fact that we have hit hardly any cities or towns in the past few days with a population over 50,000. In fact on several occasions our very presence has increased the population of a town by 10% or more. However, I am glad that we are running through such small towns because larger cities are harder to navigate through and more hazardous.

Hills
While running through Missouri one thing that kept bugging me was the lack of significant hills. Everyone had always told me that Kansas was flat, but it was much hillier than Missouri, and I like hills. Illinois is a different story; so far most of this state has been windy roads that go up and down hills, over and over. Sometimes it even seems like miles and miles of up-hills or downhills that go on indefinitely. I am writing this after running four miles up a hill, my legs may never feel the sweet sting of flying down the hill they worked so hard to climb for four miles, and that is a cruel injustice. I love running the hills, and while Missouri seemed like a long arduous trudge through boring flat roads or small hills, Illinois has been awesome.

There is one downside to hills. Back in the flint hills of Kansas every runner’s quadriceps were ravished day in and day out. I would get out the car hoping that my quads wouldn’t burst forth from my legs during my next leg, and I would spend all of my extra time in the van with a massage-roller trying to squeeze the pain of my flesh. Quite oppositely the one upside to Missouri has been that my legs are virtually sore free for the last two days, in fact they have been feeling better every day. I cannot decide whether to contribute the considerable lack of soreness to lack of hills in Missouri, or my getting used to the constant torture that I am giving to the muscles in my legs. In the morning I will know for sure which of those two is correct.

Wildlife
Another advantage of Illinois is the scenery, Missouri wasn’t bad, but in comparison to Illinois it was rather drab, in short Illinois is beautiful. The spaces in between are more wild and natural in Illinois. On one hand you have the towns, farms, and other signs of man, and then there is the forests and fields. Missouri’s forests and fields were somewhat restricted and often trimmed, Illinois’s are wild and untainted, the grasses sway in the wind so that when you look upon them from a high vantage point it they seem to make a living swaying body, and trees are everywhere.

My final point of comparison is road kill. In the show me state, road kill abounded. In one day I counted some 12-15 dead turtles on the side of the road, many dead birds (including meadowlarks!), a couple decapitated raccoons, some flattened opossums, and innumerable unidentifiable carcasses. It was ridiculous. In Illinois I have only seen a few dead miscellaneous animals, in fact we found a gargantuan box turtle alive, it was the largest box turtle I have ever seen.

Many of you are probably wondering why I was counting road kill, and that is an excellent question, but you have to have something to do while you are running.

The Team
Everyone is doing fine physically, but most of are going a little insane, for example, I just about spelled the word “fine” with a “ph” instead of an “f”. Right now we are listening to trip’s anthem “Handlebars” by the band “Flobots”. We have invented thousands of reincarnations this song by inserting our own words into its simple melody. The first time I listened to Handlebars I had much disdain for its style and sound, but the Sirius radio station “AltNation” insists on playing it at least 10 times a day and I am starting to enjoy it, go figure.

Insanity through repetition seems to be a theme on this trip. Today we were in Subway (we eat at Subway every day for lunch), and we were looking at an advertisement for the upcoming Steve Carrell “Get Smart,” it is the same advertisement that they have in every Subway, Chris Parker, Aaron Gurley, and I started analyzing the indications of Photoshop present in poster.

However none have been injured, and we are all in decent spirits, I would say we are holding up better than I expected to be at this point.

After a long day filled with sweat, Gatorade, border crossings, and Kanye West, the day draws to a successful close

Some old friends…
We stayed the night in the beautiful home or Ron and Nancy Burt. Ron is an old friend of Larry Heck’s from college and couldn’t have been more excited to help us. He and his wife were incredible hosts. They provided us with showers, dinner, beds for the evening and breakfast before the big day. It’s people like this that always reminds me that people are decent at the core of it. So a big thank you goes out to Ron and Nancy Burt!

A big thanks also goes out to their cat Kit ( no, not Kiet the runner) for making all of us feel welcome. To read more about Kit, please read Chris Parker’s account of Day 3 at:

More media attention
We were excited to see our article appear in LJ world: the most popular newspaper in Lawrence. The picture of us was just as fantastic as the article by Alex Parker (not to be confused with Chris like Matt keeps doing). We also had a fantastic radio interview this morning when Chris Parker spoke with the folks from KFDI during the morning rush hour! They plan on calling us back the next two days so listen sometime around 8 am to 101.3 FM to hear an update on the relay!

Kansas..not as flat as you’d think…
We began our day around 8 a.m. today and ran some 6 mile legs this morning. And boy could they be any longer!? I seemed to cash in on the law of averages today and had mostly flat runs to counteract my 3.5 mile uphill trek yesterday.

But poor Adam Heil, Chirs Paker and Nathan Alexander. For at least two miles each, they had to run some of the steepest climbs in the Flint Hills. The hills that make you throw your hands up and pretend you’re on a roller coaster when you drive down them (which we like to do in the car). Luckily they took it like champs and just finished with a couple smiles and a plea for some Gatorade.

The first border crossing
We are in Carrollton, Missouri right now and we just made our first border crossing earlier today from Kansas to Missouri. Despite our attempts to garner some support from the press in Kansas City, we had no luck, but we’ll keep fighting for attention!

Thank you all for your support and doing your part on the ground at home! Remember to tell everyone you know to go to the website and donate to our cause today. You can be the difference. Please stand with us!

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