My Story
My fiftieth birthday was spent in quarantine. Covid quarantine. Ironically, as a Nurse Practitioner working in a walk-in clinic and in a nursing home, I treated hundreds of covid patients over the previous three years but never contacted covid. So funny it would find me right before my 50th birthday. And right before both of my kids’ high school graduation ceremony. And right before my first ever 50k race. It was a Triple Whammy.
I started to get into trail running in my late 40’s after I went on an Alaskan cruise. How does a cruise, where we mostly sit, and eat, and eat more, motivate one for trail running? Well I took an excursion by helicopter to a glacier and was in awe. That beautiful scenery made me want to get in better shape to get OUT THERE MORE. The Alaskan Wilderness is WILD and it demands fitness to explore. I was a decent runner and ran my first 10K race when I was eight. But I had kept it up minimally in my 20’s and 30’s while starting my nursing career and raising children. Mostly for my sanity. For 27 years I never ran more than 5 miles at a time, three days a week, and several of those years included pushing a stroller or dragging a dog on a leash. But in my late 40’s I attended a trail running camp and ran for longer. I learned that trail running includes a lot of hiking (yay!). I expanded my miles and it felt good. Then came the long volcano runs for fun. Timberline Trail around Mountain Hood: Check. Loowit Trail around St. Helens: Check. Wonderland Trail around Rainier: Check. But I never really had the motivation to run an ultra race until my 50th birthday and I ran the Wy’east Wonder. That’s when I realized I had stepped into an amazing community.
Hence the 50-50-50 project was born. What better way is there to get to know the ultra running community and explore some of the most beautiful country in the United States? As I sit here typing, it sure feels like running 50 ultra marathons in 50 states during my 50’s might be possible. My plan is to get it done within the next five or six years. I am planning to enter races that are organized by local running communities and preferably use routes that have survived years and have stories to tell. My pacing will vary depending on how I feel and how my body holds up, and darn it…how I can juggle my work schedule to get the training in.
But I don’t want this project to be just about myself. I realize that life is fragile, and time is not infinite. If there’s any doing to be done in our lives, it’s best to get going. And In my going I will think of the people I know who have affected me positively, given me strength, or inspired me in different ways, and I will thank them. I think of people with mental illness, families touched by suicide, breast cancer, or even the wounded Veterans who have fought various wars who are no longer able to use their bodies the way they used to. These people are my daily reminders that life is challenging, and that we are at the mercy of our environment and circumstance, and that I must not take my days for granted. If this project succeeds, it will be fueled by the resilient people I’ve met as they are my inspiration.
In the meantime, my plan is to keep on running.
