For our last night at Sparks UMC I decided to sleep outside in an enclosed courtyard. The guy from the church told us that the sprinklers would be off because it was Thursday. Around 1:15 AM we found out that he was a LIAR and I was absolutely soaked, along with all my gear. There’s video of me walking in soaking wet but my mom would be disappointed in me if I posted a video with such foul language on my blog.

Thankfully all of my stuff dried out by 5AM wake-up and all’s well that ends well. We did a lot more running on Route 50—the Loneliest Highway in America—and there’s not a whole lot to say about that. I ran with Emily, Jackie, and Evan. It was a solid group. Our first leg was really uphill and after that it was pretty much pancake flat. On the last leg, Evan and I paced Jackie and Emily to a ~8:00 mile after they asked us to.

How could we not stop for a picture with THE historic Middlegate

Speaking of pacing, this is a great, natural transition to one of the first things we did after arriving in Austin, NV (population 192!!). Evan, Luke, Rob, and I all paced Ryan for a 1 mile time trial. I’m going to write a separate post on Project: Return shortly, because I have a lot of thoughts on the matter. The short version for today is that Ryan was diagnosed with cancer in high school shortly after running his 1 mile PR, 5:30, and that he wants to run close to 5:30 again now that he’s a few years removed from treatment. This part of Ryan’s story really resonated with me, after I was sick with Crohn’s Disease in high school it felt so good to beat my pre-Crohn’s times. So I told Ryan that by the time we get to Boston he would run a fast mile and, thus, Project: Return was born. I’ll go more into detail about everything later but Ryan ran a 6:17 mile after a 10 mile day, on a windy dirt track, at ~6,500 ft of elevation. Definitely a great starting point for the summer!

Ryan after his 6:17

After dinner a large group of us decided that we needed to decompress and see what life was like in such a small Nevada town. What better way to do that than by visiting the local bar? It was called the Owl Club and it was a TIME! I tried a few local beers and they were great. My favorite was called the Icthyosaur IPA and it had one of the coolest labels I’ve ever seen. The Icthyosaur was an ancient fish/dinosaur and the label was a full-skeleton fossil of an Icthyosaur. We played some pool, sang some bad karaokee, pet the BEAUTIFUL dog that came in, and mingled with locals. I think we probably saw the entire town in the bar. Unfortunately, the shirt I wore still smells like cigs because the bar allows smokers, despite not being part of a theatrical production.

After going back to Austin HS (home of the Broncos and the Fillies!), we looked up and couldn’t believe the stars. I’ve never seen so many stars! I always think we can see a lot when Cait and I go camping in the Poconos but holy cow, this was something else. Once we determined there were no sprinklers, I convinced a group of 4 or 5 to sleep outside under the stars, even though it got down to like 35 degrees. My bag is rated for 15 degrees so no worries! Woke up with the beautiful sunrise and I was ready for another day.

***

On day 7 we were traveling from Austin to Ely, NV. It’s pronounced « eelie, » not « Eli. » Seems wrong to me but ok. Day 7 was our first day running over 10 miles (11) and it felt… basically the same. I ran with Luke all day, Rob hopped in for our first leg which was by far the hardest. Our first mile was entirely uphill and I think we wound up at like 7200 ft of elevation. The air felt incredibly thin. We met this guy named Dan from Denver who was driving cross country and camping out along the way, just him and his German Shepherd. So wholesome. Dan was really cool and he told us that his father, Anthony, had died of cancer, so some of us will dedicate miles to Anthony. Our second mile of this leg was downhill and thus, much more fun!

The rest of my miles with Luke were pretty uneventful. We talked a lot about running, life, and roller coasters. We got moving throughout the day, our last 3 mile leg averaged 7:00 per mile and that was pretty fun.

The excitement of the day was actually my need to use the bathroom on the side of the road. This may come as a surprise to some but on the loneliest highway, in the high desert, there aren’t many places to, uh, GO. I was looking around for some cover and I found this one rock that perfectly hid my squatting body. The picture speaks for itself!

When we arrived at St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church in Ely, we were greeted by a friendly congregation and a magnificent spread. Burgers, brats, portabellos, salad, desert, every kind of juice. This congregation went HARD! Everyone was so kind. I met an older woman who was a cancer survivor who used to teach the history of the English language at UNLV and she was pretty impressed that I knew what and when the Battle of Hastings was. Thanks, Mr. Connelly! Anyway she was really interesting and now owns 11 tortoises of 4 different species. Learned a lot about tortoises and it was fascinating.

I really can’t say enough about the good people of Ely, NV. They’ve been hosting 4K teams for something like 10 years now and it was pretty clear that what we’re doing really matters to them. Overall, a pretty good experience in Ely. It got down to 31 degrees at night! Glad I opted to stay inside… this morning we’re crossing another state line as we’re off to Delta, UT. Schoch out!

Woke up nice and early at Word of Life in Burney. Hosts there went above and beyond, opening up their donation-only coffee shop (named Wholey Ground) for us with a full spread for breakfast. These ladies absolutely crushed it and it was a great way to start the day since we had a 100 mile drive to Van 2’s start point.

Started out running by Honey Lake around 8:30ish. Ran with Tyler B, Abby, and Regi and we did 3 miles rather than 2 for our first two runs while the heat was manageable. We were out of CA pretty quickly and into Nevada! Comment how YOU pronounce “Nevada” below! There was a spirited discussion.

Miles in Nevada were beauuutiful but the elevation (nearly 6,000 feet) made things feel tough. We arrived at our host, Sparks United Methodist, around 2:30. À la Chris Regan I “rewarded” myself with a cold shower after a hard days work.

We wrapped up the day with a long meeting about our reasons for doing 4K. I’m not putting my whole shtick on that. I miss Angela. That’s why I’m running. I got the opportunity to think back to one of my original connections to the cancer community, volunteering at MSKCC as a patient escort (Hey Ariel Sánchez and Mike Flood!). That experience has really stuck with me more than I’ve realized. I think all of our stories from last night deserve to stay on 4K out of respect for everyone’s privacy. The meeting ran so late that we had to postpone the rest til Monday night. Every individual with whom I’m doing this crazy thing has such an incredible story. I’m proud to be part of this group of people; I feel like I’ve learned so much from them already.

***

Today we got to sleep in all the way to 7:45. Hollaaaa!!! After breakfast we drove over to the Ronald McDonald House of Reno. I was part of the cookie-baking team because, as Sam Miller’s dad astutely pointed out at my bake sale at the Hopkins-Loyola meet, I have a lot to learn about baking cookies! When I’m in Cleveland perhaps I can redeem myself, Mr. Miller!

An employee at the house told us how her brother was awarded an Ulman scholarship by one of the 4K ride teams year ago, and that he tried to see every 4K team that came through Reno. He couldn’t be there because he was at work on the Pediatric Cancer floor of the hospital next door. I asked her if he was allowed to see visitors at work and she called him up and we sent a smaller contingent over to the hospital to meet him. He’s become another in the long line of strangers who we’ve turned into friends, into meaningful connections.

After service the rest of the day is ours. We got lunch at Chuy’s in Reno, the premiere destination for Mexican in the city. The trip’s leg leader, Justin, somehow had a personal connection to the restaurant and they made us food for free. This connection went all the way to the top because the Mayor of Reno, Hillary Schieve, came out to meet us! A delightful and welcoming mayor, I’d love to revisit the city some day.

After lunch we drove an hour to Tahoe, which was dope. One of my goals for 4K is to swim in every body of water that is safe to swim in, so, that’s one down. Water was cold but refreshing. Would’ve been nicer with less wind.

It’s getting late and we have an early wake-up tomorrow for our journey to Austin, NV, where it is supposed to be 60 degrees. Sounds dope. Staci Blank, rest assured that the local laundromat has been visited! Schoch out.

Alright, Day 3 was VERY eventful for Van 2. We drove out of Red Bluff and started running into Lassen Volcanic National Park, only to realize that we were NOT supposed to be running in the park because the roads were so narrow and winding. We then had to backtrack out of the park over the miles we had already run. When we all had gotten about half of our miles for the day in, we decided it was time to take the long drive through Lassen and finish our miles on the other side of the park. Imagine our surprise when the ranger told us (after we paid the $30 fee :/) that the road was covered with 10-12 feet of snow and we wouldn’t be able to get through the park! Also I found the biggest pinecone ever and named him Van 2 (the actual van is named Van 2 Jr.).

My partner for the day was Caroline “the Boss” Watson (photo below)! Caroline is a Boston resident, so she’s basically Homeward Bound.

Having already paid we figured we should see some sights of the park. Mt. Lassen was, at one point, an active volcano. My best estimate for the last eruption is some time in the last ~160 years since the development of photography because there are photos of the eruption that SOME lucky donors will see on postcards in the next few days! Anyway, the volcano has been dormant for a long time but could definitely become active again in the near future. There are a bunch of crazy bubbling mud/sulfur pits that are caused by magma heating ground water and creating Hydrogen Sulfide. Basically, pits of boiling sulfuric acid are created. I’ll refer my readers to Thomas Howard, soon-to-be Ph.D for the chemistry behind this process. I read the sign in the park about the reaction that creates them but I already forget. Anyway, no one cares.

At the Sulfur pits we met a woman named Kay who is a breast cancer survivor. We talked to her a bit about who we are and what we’re doing this summer and she was so moved. She told us about her experience with breast cancer and how her sister and other family members had battled or were currently battling cancer. She seemed genuinely moved when we told her that we would dedicate some miles to her and her family. Before 4K I wasn’t really sure of the impact we’d actually have on cancer survivors or people affected by cancer. I definitely believed in what we were doing but… I don’t know, I wasn’t sure if people would *care*, you know?

Nevertheless, I think the most impactful part of the journey for me thus far has been meeting the random people like Kay, or Jackie from the bar in Red Bluff, who are so moved by what we’re doing. We might not be able to solve everyone’s problems, but I think that our 4,000 mile journey can really help people know that we care about them, that they’re not alone in this world.

Back to Day 3! So we had to drive a roundabout way to our host, Word of Life Assembly in Burney, CA. It took about 2 hours and Van 1, aka “Black Stallion,” beat us there, ending Van 2 Jr.’s reign of dominance. Most of us had to finish our miles at the host, for me that meant running 5 miles. Managed to close my last half mile at 6:00 pace so, yeah, the kid’s still got it. Word of Life made us an incredible taco bar for dinner, had hot showers, and is just generally the real MVP. They also host PCT thru-hikers—looking at you Brad!

It’s time to RUN so I’m signing off, thanks to everyone for reading! Day 4 is off to a hot start thus far!

We stayed at Church of Glad Tidings in Yuba City, CA for our first stop after SF. I kind of talked about Day 1 already, so I’ll skip over that (it was mostly uneventful besides Van 2 being the best van). Below are some pics from Day 1 that didn’t make the first post!

Ok, so, Day 2. I was partnered with Regi, a homie from Hagerstown, MD. We ran through (some of) the desert of Eastern California. That’s pretty much all there is to say! It was (mostly) flat and absurdly hot, getting up to 105° by our last leg. We felt every single degree, haha.

We arrived at Red Bluff Presbyterian Church where we were taken care of by a lovely woman named Jackie. She made us a huge, communal salad with pretty much anything you would want to add in to it. Before dinner a bunch of us went over to the (free!) local pool. There was a group of tough looking ~11 year olds on the diving boards and one of them claimed he could do a DOUBLE backflip. We obviously didn’t believe him so we challenged him to prove it and holy cow, this unathletic-looking kid made us eat crow. Kid should be a gymnast.

After dinner, John-Hanson and I went to a local watering hole, Tips of Red Bluff, for some libations. We met a bunch of people there and told them about 4K, which they were all really into. John-Hanson and I wound up dedicating our Day 3 miles to some of their loved ones. Seamless transition to Day 3!

(Bonus content below for my classmates from Colombat’s Strangers in a Strange Land class)

Le général Suter! @ Dr. Colombat. If you don’t know who John Sutter is…. google is your friend.

Ok so hopefully I’ll be posting close to daily from here on out. What’s up everyone? I’m typing this on my phone, LIVE from Van 2! Next stop Boston (lol). Our actual next stop is Yuba City, CA.

Wake-up came at 5 AM today. We packed up the vans and drove over to Crissy Field near the Golden Gate, arrived there ~6 AM. It was cold as hell there! Windy, cloudy, kinda drizzly. Ate breakfast on the beach and had our little ceremony and then we were off and running at 7:25, according to my Garmin. We all ran our first 3 miles over the Golden Gate bridge, which was really cool. Then, since we’re Van 2, we’re running the second half of the miles today, so we just drive to the halfway point and start running from there.

So, that’s where I am now. In the van. En route to the halfway point. The send off ceremony thing was fun! Lauren (aka Lemon) and I took some pictures together for Ang since we’re both dedicating our miles today to Ang.

On the other side of the golden gate we said our goodbyes to team Baltimore (have fun dipping your toes in the harbor lol). Jay, Lauren, and I took pictures for Hannah, one of our FAVORITE humans ever (hi Han).

I think this is all for now, I should probably get off my phone and be social with the rest of Van 2! I’ll post later about my disdain for the Oakland Coliseum, which I visited last night.