Got to peace out of Bozeman and head over to Broadus. John-Hanson and I decided that when discussing population sizes of host cities, we would only refer to them in terms of Austin, NV. Broadus was approximately 2 Austins. On day 17, I was partnered with Mason Atkins and dedicated my miles to Carol Machado (John-Hanson’s mother) and to Ang.

Let me talk a bit about Mason. Mason is from Oxford, Mississippi, and he SOUNDS like it! Major Southern accent, which has made it pretty funny to watch as he interacts with the locals of Montana. He gets the “you’re not from around here, are you?” quite often! Mason went to Auburn and was a star of the drum line there, which is cool as hell. He also blew me away one night by talking about his own mental health. I think that his ability to lead by example and make himself vulnerable allowed the rest of the 4K men to feel comfortable talking about their own mental health. Oh, and he’s one of the team trainers. Pretty cool freakin’ dude.

We ran by one dude’s house and cattle ranch (I guess), only to have his TWO dogs come out to greet us! The man came and retrieved his runaways and told us he recognized us from the news, and that he appreciated what we were doing.

The day was really interesting. Mason and I talked a lot about his Native American heritage, because we ran through two different Indian Reservations. I had never been on a reservation before. We talked to a woman about what we were doing and she told us about her son who killed himself at 28. She explained that suicide is an epidemic nationally, but it’s even worse (somehow) on reservations. As if Native Americans haven’t been through enough! Which brings me to my point: when you read this, think about the land you’re standing on. Odds are, our ancestors did unspeakable things to pry this land away from its rightful owners. Seeing as there’s no chance this country will ever pay reparations under current management, the least we can do is be cognizant of how this country was built. I know it’s 4th of July SZN, but the hard truth is that the foundation of this country was made of dead slaves and dead Native Americans. Just something to reflect upon.

I was featured on the news on the way into Billings, by the way! The guy asked us all who wanted to be interviewed and when no one said anything, I was like “yeah sure I’ll do it!”

John-Hanson and I felt like seeing the locals so we went to a local bar, where we actually got recognized from the news by a patron, who purchased us a drink! I love these small, Austin-like towns. Overall my review on Broadus is pretty positive. 4/5 stars.

Definitely sad to leave Yellowstone, but it was a good day of running through BEAUTIFUL Montana with Aspen. I had the daily dedication and I dedicated our team’s miles to Griffin, a good friend of Hannah Loiselle’s brother who had passed away a day or two prior after a bout with brain cancer. It meant a lot to me to have Griffin written on so many of my teammates’ calves.

The running was great but otherwise unremarkable. Aspen and I crushed it, can’t really say much more than that! I guess one noteworthy thing was that I kept getting brutal nosebleeds on the run. This concerned a lot of people but anyone who knows me knows that this happens all the time. Most importantly: Montana is SO beautiful!

Bozeman was a really cool, but weird, town. It’s like, sort of up and coming but also sort of in the middle of nowhere? It strikes a strange balance, that’s for sure. A few of us went to Bozeman Running Company to ask for donations after our success at Pocatello. The owner wasn’t very friendly or receptive to our requests, unfortunately! I mean, I get it, we’re asking for free stuff. That being said, I expected a little more, I don’t know, enthusiasm about what we’re doing from someone who, in theory, would be an anchor of the local running community. If she had said no, but been a bit more excited about a group of young people running ACROSS THE USA… I think I would have been cool with it.

Anyway, bottom line is that Bozeman is a cool but strange place. Schoch out.

Wow, sorry everybody! I’ve gotten so busy the past week that I’ve for sure been slacking on the blog. Day 14 we had a rest day in West Yellowstone, MT, and it was incredible. One group woke up at 4:30 to go the park and the sane group left at 8:30ish to get into the park at 9:15. We hiked up Mt. Washburn by Dunraven Pass. It was pretty incredible.

One thing that I have to say about Yellowstone is that is absolutely life changing. Seeing the mountains, the grassy fields, the wildlife… it’s life changing. It puts you in awe of the world we get to live in, and gives you a greater appreciation for the delicate balance of life. If you think about what we are actively doing to the world, as humans, by fundamentally changing the climate, then it deeply disturbs you that, in our lifetimes, places like Yellowstone could very well disappear, or at least be transformed beyond recognition. Places like Yellowstone are treasures that not only merit preservation, but necessitate it. Think sustainability in your daily lives AND when you vote in November. That’s my rant for the day.

We heard a lot about how much snow they’ve gotten out here and how unseasonable the winter was, but there’s nothing like actually seeing it. We weren’t sure that we’d be able to make the summit with all the snow and our lack of gear, but we made it! The summit was about 3000m up, so it was some serious elevation and I could definitely feel it.

After we descended Mt. Washburn, we went down to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and took in some splendid views of the falls. This took up pretty much the whole day, so when we got back to West Yellowstone and I paced Ryan for a workout I definitely felt exhausted. He ran really well, especially considering the nearly 7,000 feet of elevation. By the time night fell we were all pretty exhausted, but ready to get up and run to Bozeman, MT the following morning.