Ville to Ville: 2019 -
Ville To Ville: 2019: Already Signed up for 2020
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| Mom and Sister: BOSSES |
I started this blog two years ago to document my marathon training for the 2018 Flying Pig - and any educational thoughts or stories I had
while doing said training I was going to write down. If you go
looking for theses posts you will find nothing. Nada. Zip, zilch - zero. They do not exist because I never actually wrote any. I had every intention - I even started one. I deleted it. I eventually went on to answer the age old question - "can Aaron run for over 5 hours straight?" The answer, is a resounding yes. Also - I totally got a sniper picture of myself with my sister and mom finishing the race. Awesome and . . . *shudder.* It was fun!
I don’t delete posts any more – instead spend a little time tidying them up before I just let them
hang out there in Internet, hoping they either get better
with age or find an audience that can appreciate the need to write and tell a
few stories here and there - no morals or reason really - just talkin' with ma' fingers. This may be a disjointed post - but Ill do my best to give a little context, share a few pictures and basically drone on about how great running is.
75 miles of trails and hills and open roads - officially a "Brewery" run, sponsored by Highland, and Quest among others - you can read about the whole race itself on the website at your leisure. I want to spend the majority of of this post talking about the running family because that is what matters. It's the same thing in the classroom actually - relationships are at the heart of any opportunity for learning or fun. The people you run with, the stories you build together, a friend once described the post relay run feeling as a "Van shaped hole in the heart" - it's not a let down, or feeling of malaise as much as its a "cant wait to do it again" feel. Even now, about a week later I'm still thinking I need to be in a van, on my way to the next exchange. So - I left about 9:30 am and took off for the Carolina's - the drive down (and back) was beautiful – no pictures of this, but I had a great conversation, good music, and just got to reflect and think about about the end of the semester, friends, family and - everything in between.
We are already signed up for net year – 2020 will be fun and we ARE accepting applications for drivers!
We are already signed up for net year – 2020 will be fun and we ARE accepting applications for drivers!
Run for Fun
Running relay races is one of those great joys you can find in life - running with other people? In a van? Sometimes overnight? Sign me up! I started out running sometime
around 2002 ... if I can recall - peer pressure from my friend and teaching colleague Doug. I mentioned he was losing his hair. He mentioned he could run further than me and was in better shape at his age. He was not wrong, and not one to be defeated, I started running too. At that point it was block-to-block. Run a block, walk a block-
repeat- as long as I could go without collapsing in a exercise induced coma of shallow breathing and very twinkly star vision - the kind makes you feel like you are in the movie Tron, or looking at the targeting system for the Millennium Falcon. All around Lindenwald, Ohio I jogged- and eventually I built myself up to
a Fathers Day Five K at Coney Island in Cincinnati. I remember very little of the actual run, aside from being passed at the end by what seemed to be a 98 year old walker - and then running past my
friends waiting for me because I did not recognize them in my heat stroke
delirium– calling for water and bagels as I wandered around - I kept it up and I’ve been running since. Its one of those things that brings joy.
We (should) all find that thing that helps us
relax as teachers – or even humans, but I'll just speak for teaching here- educators have to have a release – there has to be
a something we do that lets us recharge – find solace – be at one with nature –
whatever you want to call it - we have too unwind in positive ways. It shouldn't be destructive, but maybe more life affirming and constructive. Something given, something built - something positive that generates joy, instead of stripping away other aspects of yourself for fleeting moments of euphoria that never really last. Running
does that for me, I can think, be outside, and dammit its just fun- and sometimes you do yoga the next morning while you wait for breakfast at the best locally sourced restaurant in Lexington.
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| Waiting for Doodles, Lexington to open |
Running trails – running roads – its all relaxing, just run,
any pace, any distance it don't matter – the people that come out to support races, the people
that organize the races – it's just happy! Running with
others too - again life should be shared in so many ways. I can do the solo thing, I keep a go bag ready in the car with running shorts, shirts and socks - tennis shoes always ready to roll (you never know when you drive past a new park or trail that needs to be investigated) - but
having a conversation while you run?
Priceless. If I have to do all
the talking? That’s fine, I have
stories.
I’m not a competitive runner, it's just fun to run – jog – or move at a slightly faster pace than walking. Propel yourself forward in some manner that causes a release of energy. If I survive a trail run with out any blood – that’s a good race. If I fall (like I did one night run in December – tripping in the snow and finding my way back to the trail I should have been on anyway?)- that’s a GREAT race.
I’m not a competitive runner, it's just fun to run – jog – or move at a slightly faster pace than walking. Propel yourself forward in some manner that causes a release of energy. If I survive a trail run with out any blood – that’s a good race. If I fall (like I did one night run in December – tripping in the snow and finding my way back to the trail I should have been on anyway?)- that’s a GREAT race.
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| Doug and I. He is not pleased, but this is a great picture. |
You have to unwind as a teacher - you have to have that
time, because school will eat you alive if you don’t- all of the variables that influence the classroom: students, you, the content –
parents, standards, administration, testing - if you let it, you
will feel demoralized, develop a lack of agency and you might succumb to one of two roads –
give in and become static in your approach, or run for the hills. But what matters are
the students developing citizenship - and we have to model good citizenship as well, and I think that involves keeping sight of what matters. Keeping the humanity in the classroom and in ourselves.
Doug Ficker was good about that – he got me into running and it’s the
best thing that ever could have happened.
He also ran all five of my marathons with me –
having a good partner helps.
But this post is about Ville to Ville and I can share other stories
at other times - probably should. I might. If your lucky.
So. We ran from NC to
SC. And we had a nice time. Maybe Ill just give a brief summation that focuses more on the people, than the running - because again at the end of the day its the friendships that make the time and run worthwhile.
Party Packet Pick Up
My race swag was waiting at Highland Brewing Company, but I
was early enough to Asheville that I had time to visit a few other local breweries
before I needed to get our stuff – something my friend Brian (*the* favorite
bartender at Boswell's in Cincinnati) says is the “hip middle aged male
thing to do” these days. Whatever. I'll
take it and live it, because I enjoy it. Hi-Wire was first, so I snagged a flight and wandered over to the open window area so I could enjoy the
outside and inside at the same time (no I will NOT make up my mind, MOTHER), having some
polite conversations about Halloween costumes, sharing baby pictures, and meeting fellow
travelers in the area with all intention of doing some writing – but THEN I saw a Cincinnati Bearcats shirt and I mean, how could I not engage? A loud
GO BEARCATS and within 5 minutes we were chatting about Cincinnati, our shared
German Catholic heritage, and I was learning all about Freudenfest. We exchanged good
stories, I bought them some stickers, and I was off to Wicked Weed on their
suggestion. We also shared another connection - he had an current intern, who also worked with another friend of mine in Portsmouth. Triangulating people, places and experiences really provides for a robust experience.
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| Politely Powerful People |
Making my way out to the patio at Wicked Weed I ran into my
first friends again! This time, I took
more time to strike up a deeper conversation and found they too were in education
– he worked IT and she was a literacy specialist, thinking about maybe begin an adjunct at a college
– he’s encouraging it. I did too, but she was also considering going back into the classroom full time. Something about teaching that I have looked at - where is the advancement? Aside from yearly cost of living raises, or maybe becoming department head - there seem to be a lack of options in the buildings, at least where I had worked, for advancing. Advancement often means going into administration - but . . . no. No thank you. Anyway, I also learned about a cool book for transforming your classroom, which I
shared with a few teachers I know.
There is nothing quite like visiting a new place, making friends and just
learning about who they are, and what they do- stories live at the base of our interactions, common themes emerge and we weave our storylines together in some pretty cool ways. I took off from Wicked Weed and
visited one more brewery before I headed to Highland Brewing to pick up my race
materials and then head down to Trevor’s house for dinner, - sleep -and then the race itself.
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| Hair, check. Glasses, check. Handsome smile - check. |
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| MOLLIE and MIRANDA |
Chris Basham. Go to Scrubs on Hulu – find the Episode called My Musical. Fast forward to the song Guy Love. Never mind, just watch the video below – this is us. He is always ready with a hug and so am I (I mean who isn't?) Another friend from Bloomington I met because of running, I had the absolute pleasure of attending his wedding last year. His suit was. . . wool? I think? Made by people at a Renaissance fair – or made in an authentic way by someone but the wedding was quality. Instead of flowers, the little kids tossed down real leaves, and as she walked up the aisle she kicked her feet through the leaves as if she was on a trail somewhere in the woods – I know what you are thinking. Why didn’t I think of that. Right? Chris also wore his sandals.
He always wears sandals. He runs in them, and in fact, his sandal broke while we were at Swamp Rabbit waiting for Ashly to come powering in, but by the next exchange he had already fixed it with the plastic leftovers from an Ice Pop - he is MacGyver, or a member of the A-Team.
Josh and Ashly. Super fast. Super
awesome. Super Fun! Brand new relay running friends and if I didn't say it already - super fast. They live in a tiny house! They are hilarious! It's interesting how some people just fit into a group dynamic- there is a personality or a collection of traits that just seem to be the right puzzle piece and they were a perfect fit. Good natured, happy - and I *think* I have convinced them to visit me in Portsmouth – and then to come with me to Cincinnati for a weekend escape this summer. I have always been amazed and joyful at how easy it is to get along with most runners that you meet - its not about winning, its not about competing, it is you and the road and. I might be romanticizing that a bit. There seems to be something about runners who participate in relays especially. Happy. Polite. Funny – adjectives I would use to describe them – she made time to weave flowers into her hair - and their smiles were everywhere. I am already looking forward to next year, and they have (hopefully) joined the Bourbon Chase family as well.
Kevin DeLapp - The philosophizer. The fencer - the most amazing thing is he trained almost exclusively on a treadmill for this race - and he wore all brand new clothing too. He made it look so easy - he was quick like a bunny, and kept the van in deep thought about topics like deja vu and refrigerated Original Better Bars. His last leg he was joined by an angel who carried him in on wings of virtue. Or so he said. Or I may be making that up, but he can correct me if he wants. :) Kevin also ran the Bourbon Chase with us once. He is responsible for finding Josh and Ashly and filling out our team AND he helped get every ones information together. Look at that guy in the picture - he's ready to run - intense, focused - loose and ready. Race Reflections
The race itself I chronicled on Instagram with a few photo collages - and I would never even chance capturing the experience in a written form, the stories have to be shared verbally, so feel free to ask. I can share a little about my own legs though.
The Hiker
My first leg - seen here to the left - was beautiful. Leaving at 7 am from Highland Brewing, through the woods and then along some slightly rolling hills to the
base of a (large) hill (mountain!) and then straight up before a pleasantly polite
trail run and a few more road miles to the end. I was fortunate to meet a few runners on the trial –
pass us! No, no - I like this pace - nice and easy. Neither of them knew it was a trail leg
– one of them was running their first race post giving birth – they were not
unhappy, but were ready for the trail part to be done. They passed me, I passed them, I caught
one at the end but it was a good back and forth before running the rest of the way in to the end. No reason to compete - our team always has one goal, or maybe a bunch: Laugh. Smile.
Enjoy. Meet people, make friends
– share stories. Be at every exchange. High Fives. Hugs. We run for the
camaraderie. I even met someone else from Portsmouth, Ohio. She recognized my Shawnee State University sweatshirt. People are everywhere. 
Tali-Ho!
The second leg was short. Mercifully short. Delightfully short. Thought, the last few miles were alllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll uphill and AMAZING - I ran by some beautiful flowering trees - and I was coated in enough pollen that I am still shaking it out of my ears (and my sinuses, damn you nature) - the most exciting part of this leg was the end - when I got to hand off to Chris again. I just picked him up and kept going. I think there may be video. . . Ill look.
The Day
It was a beautiful day – the sun kept peeking out from behind the clouds - it would heat up, become unbearably humid and then in an instant it was cool again, it almost felt like a fever breaking each time- the temperature fluctuating 10 degrees up and down every thirty minutes. It was dry however, until the rain came crashing down on Chris, but it was only about a half hour of hard rain, which was coupled with lightning and caused a delay. Chris came rolling into the checkpoint, and upon asking him about his wet run - he said his only real worry was “what if I see a cat in a bag on the side of the road? What will I do? Could I rescue it?” His decision was he would stop, pick the cat up, and inform the next runner to tell the people at the exchange that runner from team 155 was walking with a cat. Yeah. He’s THAT guy. And his beard is powerful.
I try and take pictures at the exchanges, while at the same time trying to remind myself to be present and not worry about capturing every moment – there is an unmitigated excitement at a good exchange - cheering for the runners coming and going – on
the Bourbon Chase this is a lot of fun at 1:30 or 3 in the morning – but here
on the Ville to Ville it was always daylight and the exchanges were very well attended.
Gettin' Jiggy Wit' It
The race end was a good time, and we all remarked (well those
who had run it last year) that the race overall was much smoother and better
organized – no hiccups aside from lightning and this year the food trucks did
not run out of food and there were more options – even a tent for decorating
umbrellas! Kids get to have all the damn
fun. Automatic Tacos. You need it. The end of the race is always fun - a little party with some cover music and food trucks and a beer as well. The tacos went down easy, and the brussels sprouts and giant potato fries were better than anything else. Maybe I was just hungry. The best food truck experience I ever had was at Hood to Coast, the mother of all relay races in Oregon. It was a grilled cheese food truck, and I had the Grilled Cheesus. It was a cheeseburger, with American cheese, and the "buns" were grilled cheese sandwiches with - four different types of cheese? And different bread? Be still my heart. . . but not too long please keep beating because I need to find that food truck again. Where was I? Right. Running.
Ive barely scratched the surface, but I think I am going to ask each runner for a reflection and then put it up in a blog in a few days - why have one view when you can have six? I'll also toss up a post of exchange GIF's.
Ive barely scratched the surface, but I think I am going to ask each runner for a reflection and then put it up in a blog in a few days - why have one view when you can have six? I'll also toss up a post of exchange GIF's.
tl;dr Running is
boss, so go do it. Or not. Find your own thing. Be happy. Eat food truck food. Get outside.
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