Joy in Support

The Cascade Crest 100 is one of those endurance runs that I hadn’t heard about until last summer. Eric was telling me about it because the section he stewards on the PCT is teeny-weeny part of the 100 miles people SIGN-UP to run . (Who does this stuff voluntarily?!)

Moving the tree to the other side of the trail.

We went up the other day to clear out about five trees from the trail to “make it easier” on the participants. (I sort of figure if you sign-up to run 100 miles, in a day, in the mountains, fallen trees are the least of your obstacles, but this isn't my gig.) Eric removed a whole ass tree and flopped its root ball from one side of the trail to the other (I took video and made sure nothing turned him into flat Stanley). He cut out logs 8 feet overhead (I don’t think giants are running the course, but what do I know?) and we pushed tree sections down mountain slopes with gratifying crashes. (I worked the cramp out of my mid-section as my muscle reminded me that they are not accustom so this kind of labor. . .I reminded my mid-section that it was the hubby lugging the chainsaw up and down the trail, and we would be OK with our little butt push).

But here’s the deal, as we were clearing logs that day people came through with signs to mark the course, and they came through the following day to remove all evidence of the race. And in a weird twist of fate, our neighbor was powering 2.5 gallons of water up another part of the course to supply a waystation for the runners.

How many other people were up and down this ONE HUNDRED MILE course to make it work?

This isn’t for profit. This won’t give someone political power. These are just human beings supporting other human beings to do hard things, because we believe in bucket lists, pushing our limits, and doing ridiculous stunts. (Heck, I was just doing it to be with my man, nothing that grand, but relationship building matters to me.)

It simply reminded me to not give up on humanity. We do more than it looks at times.

#JoyAsResistance