Day 35 - Into South Dakota

October 1987
My good friend Rich "Chuck" Bingham talks me into running the Marine Corps Marathon with him. I remember we hit the 15 mile mark right at two hours, but since neither of us had run past the ten mile mark previously it is not a surprise that we both bonked. I believe my official race time was 4:02 (pre-champion chip). Since I felt absolutely awful after finishing I am virtually positive I said "never again" to this marathon thing while trying to recover in the grass after completing the race.

Summer 1993
My good friend Frank Dembia talks me into running the January 1994 San Diego Marathon. A long time had passed since October 1987 and it was time for me to "beat" the marathon. Frank and I executed a good training plan for the race, except that we didn't taper. Well, Frank ran an excellent marathon that January day, but I hit the wall at mile 14 - a long way from the finish line. No surprise I felt absolutely terrible after finishing the marathon (in a very disappointing time of 4:22) but 30 minutes after finishing when the stomach had somewhat returned to normal I couldn't wait until the next marathon. I became a running addict that January day eighteen years ago. It doesn't seem likely that the Run Across America on Trail would exist without Frank talking me into running that second marathon which is why I tell the story. Frank just left us last night after running and crewing for us these past five days as we worked through the reroute due to the Montana fires. It was a lot of fun with him here, and we look forward to seeing him at the finish in Delaware! Thanks Frank!!!

Jennifer and I ran into South Dakota today on US-16 crewed by Heidi, Mike Melton, and crew dog Daphne in the Roadrunner. A 36 mile day today so that we could visit Mount Rushmore (a must see by the way) went fairly quickly with the 2067 feet of climb slowing us a bit. Just like yesterday, Jennifer picked up the pace about mile 28 and all I could do was try to keep her in sight as we ran down the road to the finish point for the day. Back in the fantastic Black Hills again - life doesn't get much better than this. Put the Black Hills on your to do list if you have yet to visit.

My parents Carl and Pat and son Zach arrived shortly before we finished today so we are back to having two crew vehicles after having just one vehicle (the Roadrunner) today.
Newcastle, WY to Custer, SD 36.56 miles
Jennifer  7:21:46
Mike       7:25:51