Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Once the nipple chafing starts, it's a vicious circle

Batman ran 80 miles on Saturday. Let me say that again: 80 MILES. And he ran it in less than 19 hours. NINETEEN HOURS OF RUNNING. I get bored after about five minutes; he ran longer than I'm awake each day.

The race was the Rocky Raccoon, a local ultra marathon. His goal was 100 miles in 24 hours. When he got to mile 80, his feet were blistered, his legs were in terrible pain, and he was shaking from the cold and exertion. He decided to stop, and although he wondered the next day if he'd made the right choice, seeing the open oozing blisters on his feet under the bandages helped convince him he'd stopped at just the right time. (I'm not posting the photo; you're welcome.)



I took the girls and two of their friends to the park to cheer him on, and one of his friends came out with his three kids. GrandBob stayed with Batman the entire time, bringing him water and supplies and acting as his biggest cheerleader. We are all so proud of him, not only for pushing his limits but also for raising nearly $2,000 for Charity:Water. The hope that money will bring to people in need of clean water is well worth every step he took on that 80-mile journey.

3 comments:

Greg Brooks said...

Congratulations to him. He is a very determined individual.

Does that poster say "Rum Rich Run," indicating that if Rich runs, he'll get rum?

Anonymous said...

Several at church last night told me they'd read of his run and were so impressed at what he was doing. We're really proud of him.
Baba

~Erin said...

What an inspiration! I can't imagine doing anything for 18 hours straight...except being awake...but like you said, some days even that is a stretch. Congratulations!!!