First off, if you're still reading all this... THANK YOU! I tried to get down into text as much as I could remember over my seven days on the trail; it is impossible to capture exactly how I felt, what was going through my head; what I learned about myself... Anyhow thanks for reading.
Now that the Pinhoti Trail Adventure Run has been put to bed so to speak, I ask myself, “What next?” Right now I honestly don’t have a clue. I do know that this whole experience really opened my eyes to my potential to be a pretty decent multi-day trail runner. I was surprised that my body held up as well as it did. Three Hundred Thirty Five miles in less than six and a half days would take its toll on anybody and about all I have to complain about is some tendinitis in my left ankle and some poison ivy rashes and bug bites. Averaging almost 53 miles a day on rough terrain, battling poison ivy, ticks and spider webs and frequent navigational issues (i.e. unmarked or poorly marked trail) in the hot and humid South is no easy feat. I definitely could not have done it without my able crew. Thank you very much to my crew chief Josh Kennedy. His knowledge of the Alabama Pinhoti trail system and recon approach to the unfamiliar Georgia sections proved to be a huge asset in ensuring frequent aid access. I still don’t know how was able to find me out there off some of these small, random seeming back roads! Wow! Josh worked tirelessly from even before the journey began, planning, exploring, etc… all to ensure everything would go off with minimal hitches.
Equally important are all my good friends who sacrificed work and their precious time to make the long trip out to find Eric and me and to either spend some time on the trail with us, or to lend support in other ways. THANK YOU! This list includes (in order of appearance) Mathew Kennedy, John Nevels, Kathy Youngren, Blake Thompson, Sara Tei, David Riddle, Eric Fritz, Scott Brockmeier, Liz Walker, DeWayne Satterfield, Dink Taylor, Laura Charette, and Joey Butler. I also want to express my gratitude to everybody who sent me their well wishes and positive vibes on Facebook throughout my journey. Special thanks to Fleet Feet Huntsville, especially Dink & Suzanne Taylor who provided the volunteer t-shirts and my race team sponsorship that helped provide my road running shoes; Nike Free 5.0 and Nike Lunaracer. I've also got to thank my Wasatch Speed Goat Mountain Racing Team sponsors who helped to furnish quite a bit of my electrolyte drinks in the form of First Endurance E.F.S. and NUUN and some of my trail shoes; La Sportiva Fireblades.Special thanks to Laura Charette who had a custom Pinhoti Trail Adventure Run buckle made for me! I’ll definitely cherish it! THANK YOU!
Last, but not least, special thanks to Eric Charette who truly was the catalyst that finally brought this dream of mine to life! Thank you very much Eric!
