The Great Geezer Run

If you are wondering where I have been, my computer was in the hospital for surgery. That and I was on the road for five days. Parts had to be ordered and they had to make it to Greenwood. Then the parts had to be replaced on the laptop. Oh how I missed her. But that it not why you are here is it? You want to know about the Geezer. That makes two of us. I have been wanting to write about it so here we go.

I left the house at 5:40 a.m. on the morning of Thursday May 6. The darkness had not yet fully fled before the rising sun, but the birds were already up, cheering me on as soon as I stepped outside our door. I was gone before Penny even got out of bed. The temperature was 54. I wore a long sleeve shirt over my event T-shirt to give me some protection against the cold.

As I had strategized, I walked the first two miles to let my legs get solidly into that fat burning metabolism. At exactly two miles, I began to shuffle. I was on Bowie Lane at this point, and I approached a brother who was walking from the opposite direction. I suppose he had seen the article on me in the Commonwealth because when he drew close, his face erupted into a smile and he said, "You're doing it." I was doing it. After months of training, planning, and dreaming, the event had begun.

I crossed Highway 82 onto Humphrey Highway (Highway 430) and then I felt like I was on the journey. Only eight miles out one of my former students, Elizabeth Bailey, met me on the side of the road with Gatorade and a bag of Snickers. That is when I knew it was going to be a good day. 

When I got on top of the hill (no, I did not run that monster), I used the restroom at Acy's and was back on the road as quickly as I could get back outside. The traffic was heavy with gravel trucks roaring up and down 430. But I could hear those behemoths long before they arrived so I never felt threatened by them. 

I was 12.5 miles in when George and Gloria Hathcock made their first appearance. They were on their way to Greenwood for Gloria to swim at Twin Rivers. They pulled to the side of the road, dug out my bag, and dropped the tailgate. I was able to change shoes, get some Gatorade, and leave my long sleeve shirt. Within minutes I was back on the road.

I made it to Blackhawk, then across Highway 17, and onto 430 where it really leaves the civilized world. Out here a few miles, George and Gloria showed back up on their way home from the pool. They brought me lunch: a hamburger, fries, and a milk shake. I rested in the back seat of their truck until they left me to the road. 

After they had been gone a few minutes, I realized that I had left my phone in the back floorboard of their truck. Would they find it? I knew what they would do if they did. I calculated the time for them to drive to Durant and turn around. Sure enough, a white pickup topped the hill ahead of me coming my way about the time I thought they would be back. It was them.

In the meantime, a stranger had stopped and asked me if I had enough fluid. Before I could answer, he said, "I'll go get you some." He drove off and came back a few minutes later with four bottle of cold water in a plastic bag that he handed to me out his driver's window. I walked and drank one bottle. I refilled my handheld, then drank another bottle. Finally, I finished the fourth bottle and had my hands free again. I found a garbage can on the side of the road to put the empties in.

It was about this time that Sriram Nallani, the math teacher at the Greenwood Center, showed up. He brought Gatorade, some energy bars, and a smile. I was reduced to walking at this point and he got out of his car and walked with me. Then Penny showed up and my day was over. I had covered 33.66 miles, I was tired, I was sore, I was limping. We drove back to Hilltop where Penny secured supper for her dad and me. She drove me back to his house where I spent the night.

I can say with 100% honesty that I cannot remember ever having a better night's sleep. I woke up at 5:20 feeling ready to go. Then I stood up. Well, my left foot was sore and achy, but I had energy, and I wanted the road. After breakfast, Ellis drove me to the cemetery on 430 right outside of Vaiden where Penny had picked me up the afternoon before. I crawled out of the truck.

"Are you going to be able to make it?" Ellis asked.

"It doesn't look good," was all of the positivity I could muster.

He left and I began a slow, limping walk towards town. It was cold, my legs were stiff, my feet sore, and my left foot hurt. But I had energy and my leg muscles, despite their stiffness, felt like they had juice, but a glance at my GPS watched revealed that I was walking at 23 minutes per miles. Wow!

Slowly I made my way to town, and eventually to Highway 51. On my trek down 51, my foot started feeling better and eventually my pace dropped to below 20 minutes per mile. I even thought for a bit that maybe I could run. But alas, my right tibia began to pain sharply. Having had three stress fractures, I knew what was happening to me.

I began to question God. He had done so many things to give me success to this point so why could I not finish? I didn't make sense. Then the inner voice said, "Finish on a bicycle." OK, I can do that. When Gloria and George showed up to bring my lunch, Gloria could tell I had something on my mind.

"What?" she asked.

"I need a ride to Greenwood to get my bicycle. I can't continue on foot."

"That's nothing. Get in."

Once in the backseat of the truck, she began to pass food to me over her shoulder. These people are the best.

At home, I showered and took a nap. Then I got my bicycle out and ready for the next day. The following morning, Penny drove me to the southside of West where I unloaded and resumed my journey south. I made 33 miles that day, and it was fun. The Hathcocks picked me up at Sharpsburg AME church and took me back to Durant. I bathed, they fed me, and I went to bed early.

The angels called the Hathcocks dropped my off Sunday morning at Sharpsburg church, and I began to pedal towards Canton. Somewhere along the way my phone rang. It was Anthony Howard of WJTV. He wanted an interview. Eventually he found me on the southside of Canton and took me back to the square for the interview. He shots lots of footage then took me back where he found me. I even saw him twice after that. Both times he was set up on the side of the highway shooting me. Wow. 

The traffic got bad when I began to approach Madison. Penny and our daughter Andrea showed up and stopped. At this point, my butt was in critical condition. Remember, I trained to run not ride this. I was tired. My legs were shot. The traffic was dangerous and irritating. I was a right moody geezer and got a little snappy with Penny.

"I just want to make it to the sidewalks in Madison," I told them. "This is going to take a while."

"It doesn't matter," Penny reassured me.

"OK. Meet me there."

"Want us to follow you?"

"No. It will back up traffic too much."

So they drove away, and I pedaled away. Up ahead was a large hill. The last one, I thought. But when I topped it, there was another mile-long bottom and another big hill beyond that. This went on forever. I must be in Hell, I thought. I want out; I want off this bicycle. Despite lots of low gears and two badly limping legs, I had to get off and push the bicycle up a couple of those grades.

Finally the road opened up into a four lane. Not only that, but there was a suicide lane in the middle. As I approached the widened highway, I knew I was almost done and now there would be plenty of room for me and the cars. When I made it to the four lane, I rode in the gutter. Still, however, the cars crowded me. But not long after, I saw my daughter standing on the side of the road. There it is, the finish. The finish for the day at least.

The first thing I did was to apologize to both Andrea and Penny for being snappy. "You didn't do anything, Dad," Andrea graciously responded. She is sweet like that. 

We loaded the bicycle and headed out. I wanted to measure the remaining distance to the DFM and make sure Andrea and Penny knew how to get there. It was only 5.88 miles to their office. Yes, I could have done that on Day Four, but when I switched to the bicycle, I decided to keep the original schedule. They were expecting me on Monday. I would get there Monday.

We spent the rest of the day with me chauffeuring the ladies around Jackson to some of Penny's favorite stores. They shopped, I took naps in the truck. Then we tried to go to supper at Longhorn's in Madison, but the wait time was two hours. TWO HOURS!?!?!?

We went to Cracker Barrell instead. Yes, I bought candy. Then we went back to Canton where we had a room for the night. When I got into the bathtub, I was horrified. Me feet were grotesquely swollen and my legs were so big that I could barely bend enough to get into the tub. This frightened me because I had never been like this in my whole life. Never. I know swollen feet is a sign of heart failure. Out of the tub, I took my pulse. It was in the mid 50s which either meant my heart was strong or I was dying. Then I remembered that I had not cramped a single time on this trek. I was supplementing with Endurolytes (an electrolyte pill) the whole way. So I concluded that my sodium was most likely high, and I was retaining fluid. 

The next morning after one of those motel continental breakfasts, we packed up, checked out, and headed back to Madison. The plan was to arrive at the DFM around 11:00 a.m. I wanted to be as close to that as possible because I knew they would be waiting and possibly some press might be present. I calculated that I could do a slow pedal and make it in forty-five minutes so the plan was to start at 10:15 from the parking lot of the O'Reilly where we stopped the day before. We got there at 10:05. Since I am no good at standing around, I texted Irena McClain and told her I would be ten minutes early. 

On the bicycle, I found that all that climbing I did the day before was paying off because I bet I did not pedal more than thirty percent of the time from O'Reilly to the DFM. When I got to the head of the multi-use trail, I stopped and used up the ten minutes in their restroom facilities. When I approached 800 Avery Blvd, I saw Bethany Theilman on the side of the road holding a sign. Then I noticed a woman who looked a lot like my sister to my right taking pictures. Turning into the parking lot, I saw my sister-in-law, Rebecca Hodge, which meant the woman who looked like my sister was my sister, Carol. All the DFM people were there. WLBT was there. Of course Penny and Andrea were there. And George and Gloria Hathcock were there also. 

It was all really touching, and we stood around and chatted for a long time. The weather was pleasant. I was interviewed by WLBT and again by WJTV. Andrea handed Irena the envelope of cash and checks that we brought with us. I did not witness it, but Penny told me that Irena was surprised when she looked into the envelope. Online and what I had already mailed in totaled $1,900. The envelope had $3,840 which in itself is a pretty good year for my fundraising efforts. We have another envelope now that Penny and I will drop off on our way to the coast for the Mississippi Senior Olympics swim meet.

When we finally left, we-- Andrea, Penny, Carol, and Rebecca-- went to Mama Hamil's for lunch. It was good, yeah. Then we drove home. The whole thing was a nice experience. Like most of life, I learned that you have to be flexible. When my ambulating abilities failed, God helped me to see another way to finish. I also learned afresh and anew that you always need more help than you think you do. God provided that needed help in George and Gloria Hathcock. This would not have happened without them. Thank you Jesus for such a wonderful experience. And God bless all of you who prayed, gave, and helped.

For pictures see my Facebook album The Great Geezer Run.