Sharing Miles With Diane During her MST Endurance Run across North Carolina

Grinnin' in the rain: early on day 4: on route to Mitchell...

Diane Van Deren is running 1000 miles in 21 days. As a “local”, I have been privileged with being one of her “guide runners” and companions during several segments of her Western North Carolina traverse of the Mountains to the Sea Trail.

Because I have this responsibility Monday – Friday called a JOB, I have only been able to assist these last two weekends. Diane has run/trekked over 400 miles since May 10, 2012. Happy me has shared a little over 100 miles with her over the course of 4 very different days.

Because work and gardening and my enthusiasm for Diane’s quest is all at a peak, there is little time for blog writing (yet believe me, if there was, I’d have plenty to share as usual)! 

Diane and I at Sleepy Gap on her day 3 of the ADVENTURE

Our first day together, 5/12 we traveled from the Pisgah Inn to the Folk Art Center (31ish miles).  A sunny day to start with, fog and drizzle moved in late afternoon, making the smells of generous amounts of lighter fluid and banjo music seeping up to the trail from a low lying cabin that much for poetic!

On 5/13, Diane and crew had hoped for 48 miles, going up and over Mt Mitchell, the highest peak east of the Mississippi. The day was slow going for she and I:  socked in fog, drizzle and pouring rain at 45 degrees, wind (yes, even with fog), sparsely marked trail and a multitude of slippery wet rocks and predictions of an overnight temperature of 36 degrees caused Diane’s support staff to make the decision to call her off the trail 9 miles from the summit of Mt. Mitchell, giving us 25 or 26 miles for that day. A great decision I thought as I knew Diane had slept for less than 11 hours in the past 3 nights with 170ish miles of rugged traveling to boot.

I wasn’t sure I’d see her again, as my “trail guide” commitment expired that Sunday night. Yet I did make it clear to Diane and her team, if they would have me, I’d assist with trail companioning, laundry, and logistics, whatever…

I was surprised (kind of) by my sudden enthusiasm for being a part of this expedition. Yes, I love that Diane is supporting our longest, most awesome trail in North Carolina and that she and The North Face and GreatOutdoor Provision Company are drawing lots of attention and likely $$ support for the trail. I love it that Diane is a 52-year-old tough, funny, genuine athlete who is high profile and will draw people to her. I expected to respect her athleticism (which I do), yet I didn’t expect to like her so much! It’s just that I didn’t think of her as a person, rather only as an ultra runner until our emails and phone conversations a week prior to the start of her expedition.

As I quickly discovered, Diane is a person of influence and she made me laugh, think, consider and this of this story I'd first heard years ago rewritten in the North Carolina Outward Bound School Readings Book. I couldn't remember the exact wording, yet after a little internet digging found this story whose message partially explains my experience of being with DVD:

Elizabeth Mauske told a story about an unusual and sweet friendship between her mother and an old native Indian woman from Central America. The Indian woman would visit their home often. With each visit, she would give her mother some partridge eggs and berries as a gift. The lovely colorful clothing and coin necklaces the woman wore fascinated Elizabeth. She noticed her copper bracelets as they softly jingled on her arm.

The Indian woman only spoke Araucanian and her mother only spoke Spanish. Their conversation was minimal, but they would sit at the table, drinking tea and eating cake together with a smile and a laugh. They seemed to enjoy one another's company.

Elizabeth noticed each time the Indian woman would rise to leave that she would say the exact same words. With great curiosity, Elizabeth and her sisters memorized the phrase and quickly found someone who could translate Araucanian for them. When she found out what the Indian woman had said, she was greatly touched and said it was "the nicest compliment ever uttered." The Indian woman would rise from the table with a smile and say: "I shall come again, for I like myself when I'm near you." 

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/757261

I like myself when I am near her. Wow! Thank you Diane for your vigor, enthusiasm for life and genuine humanness!

I was thrilled when Amy Hamm, one of Diane’s superheroish support crew emailed me and invited me to join Friday after work (the 15 mile portion closest to my home) and Sunday’s miles (a guide runner lost to a last minute work trip to Europe, I happily agreed to jump back in).

On Friday evening, I joined Diane, Jill and Glenn, as they were 26 miles into their day. We went 15 together, finishing at 10:45pm. Those 3 were so giddy and tired and goofy, (very earned after an over 40 mile day on this trail) I was relieved Amy or Joel would drive them back to their hotel. I simply jumped into my Echo and was home eating soup in 30 minutes! This evening was a great reminder of how close to work and home the MST is! I really like to drive up there after work (10-15 minutes depending on which part), run 1 hour-ish along the trail, then jump on the Blue Ridge Parkway and be back to my car in 45 minutes more.

A BRIEF COMMENT ON SATURDAY'S EXPERIENCE  before hitting the MST again on Sunday:

Saturday was spent running to and back, running event/cheering/taking photos at a local 5k fitness celebration, gardening, cleaning house, working on “school stuff” for a few hours. The following few photos document this day:

Our local celebration of fitness!

Eventual allover winner, Dan McAuley warming up pre-5km

Enjoying post-race yummies...

Me and women's champion...( her name is on the tip of my tongue, yet I can't remember-yikes...oldness setting in for me?

I was off to bed by 11pm to rise again to be on the road at 4am in order to meet Diane’s Team at 5:30am just outside the gates of Stone Mountain State Park.

This was a planned 40-mile day, her first day of MST “route”, rather than trail. After some conversation and reflection, Diane decided to cut it back to 30 miles. We called it a DNH day (a “do no harm day”: her feet were beat up, not getting worse, yet need time off feet and to begin to heal from the rigors of the mountains. With “feet”, covering 50 miles a day on non-technical stuff, especially with the assistance of a great support staff would be reasonable. Yet, to get “there” healing will be necessary. With pleasure I companioned Diane, Todd and Abram 30 miles along rural roads in Yadkin and Surry County, NC. I can rightly say we had fun together tromping along telling stories, singing, counting church signs (there must have been 100 on this day’s route)!

D and A toasting the chill of some awesomeness from an on-route Dairy Queen. Yum!

After 45 degrees and rain for many days in the mountains, no wonder DQ was awesome!

Diane's 1st MST side walk...easier on blistered feet than muddy boulders!

Abram, me, Di, Kate and Todd on Sunday morning

I left Team Diane last night around 6pm to make my way back up to the mountains to get ready for my workweek.

I have tweaked my schedule a bit and will offer my assistance for the whole of next weekend if needed when Team Diane will be in the Raleigh/east of Raleigh area.

My dorsal fin is surprisingly very content to be hibernating as I pursue this quest of support for Diane’s run. It’s a great mental break for me and I hope a helpful to Diane and her Team. Go Diane! North Carolina is cheering for you!

Next up for me? Possibly some more "trail guiding" sometime during this coming Memorial Day Weekend? Otherwise I plan to register for Black Mountain Monster 24. I had really hoped to travel to MN for FANS 24 the same weekend, yet the pocketbook reality set in and I am "state bound" for the next bit.