We’ve all had those moments. Where we hear about something
or we see something, and immediately we think, “I want that.”
Well, that happened to me several years ago. I was waiting
for the start of a local trail run. While huddling in the Greenbush Fire
Station, where the event starts and finishes, the race director announced that
one individual had earned a “500 Mile Blanket”. This runner had run a
cumulative total of 500 miles of this particular event, over multiple years,
and at that exact moment, I said, “I
want that.”
The Glacial Trail Run is the local trail race, put on by the
Badgerland Striders Running Club. There is a bigger, more popular trail run
every Spring, called the Ice Age Trail 50, and this event, traditionally held
the 2nd Sunday of October, here in the Northern Kettles, is a
smaller, more rugged ‘sister’ of that event.
When I first heard about it, I had just discovered trail running, and
did not even realize that it had existed, let alone so close to home, until
stumbling upon it in an old running forum in the mid-2000’s. The fact it was on the local Ice Age Trail
right near us, and was in October, had me interested immediately.
2014 was my first attempt at the 50 Mile run, and I ended up
winning it, and was lucky enough to run across the finish line with Edwin and
Estelle. This year I took on the 50
Miler again, and while the weather was a bit less ‘photogenic’, we were able to
recreate that finishing photo, with Emerin along as well! And I even managed to have the same bib
number for both years!
So, how about that blanket?
Well, as I was running the event last Sunday, I was doing math in my
head. It’s probably not a good idea to
try arithmetic while running for over 8 hours, but once I finished running and
calculated out the numbers…I still have at least 2 more years of Glacial Trail
Runs to complete before I earn that 50 Mile Blanket. Goals are important—both short term and long
term—and I will get that Blanket…the process has been 15 years in the making!
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