Days 12 and 13 - Into Idaho

Day 12 started with transition. The super duo of Marty and Corky said goodbye and headed east back to the quad cities. The Run would have been tremendously challenged if Marty and Corky had not been here to take care of the runners this past week. GREAT THANKS to Marty and Corky - and we look forward to seeing you two again as we run east! On the other hand, we welcomed Justin's brother Adam to the Run.
After a mile and a half on dirt and asphalt road we transitioned to a very nice gravel road. Just like that the scenery also changed as everywhere we looked there were acres and acres of wheat fields. It was a beautiful sight. Someone stated our views were similar to one of those spectacular Microsoft screen savers. The first twelve miles of this short day flew by with the continuous picture post card views and great weather (a little on the cold side and a nice tail wind). Justin was less than a mile ahead of Jennifer and myself as we transitioned back to the John Wayne Trail for 13 and a half of the remaining 21 miles for the day. Thankfully not all of the old trestles were removed as we crossed a large one just south of Rosalia which allowed for fine viewing of the surrounding area. All in all a good day which would have been better if there weren't so many rocks on this portion of the trail.
Run times reported previously.

Day 13 started with Karen leaving us to head back to Illinois. Besides being a great friend, Karen has been an amazing member of the Run Team. The Run is much better off than we would have been if Karen hadn't been here. GREAT THANKS Karen - we look forward to seeing you again in Illinois!
Two final miles on the John Wayne Trail (which included another trestle crossing - very nice) followed by six miles of rural gravel road through - you guessed it - more acres of wheat and two miles of asphalt road and we were in our second state - The Gem State - Idaho. Jennifer and I were running a similar pace and we arrived at the Idaho sign at the same time. Appropriate pictures were taken by Heidi. The high of passing into another state kept us running strongly for a few miles before the heat finally hit. Yes, after 12 days of cold and cool weather the Run finally found some warm weather. Today was day one for starting a stage in just a t-shirt.
Mile 22 found us turning onto the 72 mile paved Trail of the Coeur d' Alenes which is one of the most outstanding rail trails in the country. One of the highlights of the trail is the 1921 bridge that passes over Coeur d' Alenes Lake which we ran over at mile 31 today. I will harken back to the 1980s and simply state, "Awesome, Dude."
Fairbanks, WA to Harrison, ID 37.63 miles:
Justin      6:20:55
Mike      7:36:54
Jennifer 7:46:44