Family

Thanksgiving Saturday

Published November 23, 2019

No Pocahontas, no John Smith. Pilgrims failed to stick the landing. Travelling to Japan, Thanksgiving Thursday. Flying o’er the vast Pacific. No Wobble Gobble fun run; this year my 7 Continent FINISH.

So… canned cranberry come early. Thanksgiving Saturday. Sunshine, snow on the ground 🙂

Super thankful. Still feasting at Ash & Tom’s Westminster home. Double the cat count (extra fosters), grandpup Marty sported his holiday bandana. Purchased our first smoked turkey.

Tryptophan snooze. Bad Hallmark movie (holiday tradition), ‘The Mistletoe Secret’. No real secret…Kellie Pickler’s Appalachia accent still subtitle worthy. LOL> Film set in Utah, yet none of her TV family speak Dollywood. Wins the contest/finds love/saves the town & ALL catch the Christmas spirit. LOVE LOVED.

FAMILY DREAMS HEALTH FOOD COLORADO HOME my FAITH

List of what I’m most thankful.

And snow. Better get on board, ‘cause it just keeps coming. TWO FEET forecast on Tuesday ❄️

Happy Thanksgiving y’all. Live, laugh BIG, eat BIGGER 🦃 ❤️

: Happy Holidays 🐧

: deviled eggs EVERY holiday

: smoked BIRD 🦃

: Michaela’s Connecticut spread

: sweet potato casserole & homemade pumpkin pie

: Holiday Ro 🍁

: grandpup & Douggie

: Hallmark tradition, no SECRET

: SQUIRREL patrol

: Friendsgiving Sunday 🦀

Est. 1959, Happy Birthday Stephen! 🎁 🎂🎈

: New Hampshire celebration

: even Ro remembered

: birthday share with Hawaii 😊

: Ash & Tom

: Boston Creme Pie (his fave)

Posted in Family, Rowan O'Roark | Tagged birthdays, holidays | Leave a comment

Tunnel Hill 50

Published November 9, 2019

FINALLY!

After 2 fails, FIFTY miles. Belt bucket reward. Finally, a real ultrarunner.

Previous history, lessons learned. Never summer, never at night. High elevation & rugged trail, those stay at Bighorn. Tunnel Hill conditions: FLAT towpath, low 40’s. Crewed. And Sis. Mile 1, Mile 51. Registered 10 days ago. Wonder Twin powers, ACTIVATE!

Friday touchdown. Sis’ hometown, St Louis. Hertz rental. Sis’ digs 10am. Quick errand at the university. Cap-n-gown pickup. Masters degree complete. Family of overachievers. Well done Sis!

Hour lunch with niece, nephew…and Stephen. (Delta flight from New Hampshire, just landed.) Double-stuff’d the family SUV. Luggage rack, food, headlamps & lawn chairs. Next stop: Vienna. 6pm packet deadline. Tunnel Hill, Illinois. Me, Sis, Paul & Stephen. Hawaii crew reunion 🌺

Hilo-to-Volcano, Sis’ only 50K. NEW Garmin territory, the BIG badge: 50 MILES.

Early Saturday start, pre-dawn & dark. Notta lotta talk. SHOWTIME. Put up or shut up. Beanie, gloves, hydration pack. Double-layered & shorts. No wind/rain. Nervous. Pretty much perfect.

Sis & I opted for the Early Start. 7am with the 100 milers. Bunched beginning. Sunrise 🌄

Lotta folks on a single-track trail. 3 miles of walk/jog/quick bursts ’round the chatters. Place where USA elites set the world ‘trail’ record. Still, it’s a 100 miles. All these folks around me. WOW!

Two separate out-n-backs. Bowtie design. We’d see Vienna twice, end of each marathon. Run a marathon, walk a marathon. Day strategy: Maintain a 17-minute walk pace & we finish in 12 hours.

Mile 14. Sis’ run pal Nathan joined our crew. Introduced to the BEST LONG-DISTANCE food fuel EVER – Flamin’ Hot Nacho Cheese DORITOS. In real life – no, no I couldn’t. Mile 26. Mile 40. Mile 47. FOOD of the GODS! Steady, even pace. All focus on Vienna – first marathon DONE. New shoes, new layers. Stretch out the legs, back. Upbeat words. Snacks. Encouragement.

Surprisingly quiet in Vienna – not OUR CREW. Y-M-C-A. Best of the 1970’s BLARING on a portable BOSE. Dance PARTY. Shoe change, two dry shirts and… DORITOS! Yeh, yeh 20 minutes lost. Same buckle, first-place, one-hundredth place. All part of the plan. I’ve NEVER FINISHED 50. Mind refresh, body stretch’d/longer. Go, go, go! BEST CREW EVER! See y’all in 10 miles!

Second half. Step, step, step. Forward movement. Counting Aid Stations, not miles. Section where our Possum Holler past was retold/relieved again. Appears neither of us were fans of the family outhouse. Bee swarms, butt-cold Decembers (literally). LOL>

Costume change at 36. Daylight goes fast this side of solstice. Pants, headlamp, Captain America jacket. Two mile out-n-back, crew again at 40. Mentally, crossing the LAST out-n-back timing mat. YES! Everything seems doable. Impossible, possible. FORTY miles. Longest EVER, EVER.

Next longest? 7-mile stretch to our final Aid Station. Dark. Pitch-black dark. Notta lotta runners. Notta lotta chatter. Sharp headlamp flicks into the woods – Sis’ stories about eyes glaring back, all too real. Hands cold. Eyes forward. Quiet determined focus.

Walker. Gender disguised, cloaked in winter gear. Pained face/broken body. Look away.

If ever you owe a sibling a Simon Pearce crystal bowl… this is it.

Counting out miles remaining (47/crew station Aid). Tough stretch. Sis’ watch now dead, mine still plugging along. Mile 47. Mile 48. Just one-mile difference; realization today’s 50 was just an estimate. Porta-potty stop, in tandem. Hips tight, brain drain. It was a long 8 miles in the dark.

BEST CREW EVER? Paul & Stephen hiked in. Mile 48 on, going back WITH us. New stories, new material. Sibling 50-mile FINISH. 100% this is going to happen.

Bright lights, Christmas lit, muted sounds. Could feel our FINISH a mile out.

12:47:20. Not your normal pacer, nor your average Sis. TWO belt buckles. Ran/walked/slogged together, the ENTIRE 50 mile course. New PR – for BOTH of us. 2019 forever memory ❤️