New Years Midnight Run - Humbled Beginnings & a Triumph of the Soul | 01.01.2021 |

High Bridge - Barstow - Half Moon - Carson - Water - Third Ward - Putnam - UWEC - Grand

*note - italic text was written after the initial post

I took a deep breath in and my watch turned from 23:59:59 to 0:00:00. I held it for a moment, then exhaled 2020 in a cloud of cold air vapor. Explosions of fireworks in the near distance, an empty, partially lit bike trail along the west bank of the Chippewa River. A misty haze filled the air. These were the first moments of a new year. I felt myself moving through space and time, eyes adjusting, watching the unfolding, explosions from all directions lighting up the sky, transcendental. I passed a small group of runners and wished them a Happy New Year.

To give a little background to this moment, I spent the majority of 2020 either in my apartment or out running. This was quarantimes, remember? 

I had been furloughed since late March; the same time I started running again (also growing this dang beard). I had taken a year and a half off due to a bought of Lyme disease in the summer of 2018, but decided that a state-wide lockdown at the start of a global pandemic was as good a time as any to begin running again. 

I had been running for 9 months and was coming off a two-week Holiday break. This would not only be the first run of a new year but it would also be my first run in two weeks. I wanted to ring in the new year but wasn’t about to go to the bars and expose myself to so many people, ya know what I'm sayin?

My friend and all around super star Carli Palmer mentioned that she had a tradition of running 13.1 miles every new years day. 

I thought that was awesome. 

11:49pm on December 31st, 2020 - little do I know

It came together a few hours before midnight. I threw on my jorts, feel-good flannel, light up vest and this is what happened next - 

I floated the first mile up the river trail to High Bridge. I literally felt weightless. This is what running is all about to me. Nature, freedom, creation, pushing the limits of what is possible and creating a completely pure and unique experience. A merging of inner and outer reality - making magic! My legs were happy to be out again after 12 days off. 12 days of reflection, relaxation and several carb-heavy holiday meals.

Speaking of food, since this run came together so suddenly (I rarely ever ran at night), I had forgotten about the two-week old curry I had eaten earlier in the day. Ohhh but my body didn’t. I run in the mornings, so my system is always relatively empty. But not tonight! So 2020 decided to make one last stand in the depths of my digestive system and shortly after mile two, yes two, I knew that curry wasn't going anywhere, or was it?... I better figure it out.

I kept going. My light up vest must have had old batteries in it because the vibrant blue I started with turned into a deep ominous flashing red, indicating a low battery. It was a fitting tone. I turned it off and the world around me got darker.  I fought the sensation that a bomb had literally gone off inside of me. The pace slowed, the curry seemed to have concentrated into a mass in my intestines. It heaved and hoed every step I took, threatening ejection in both directions. *ca-chunk* *ca-chunk* *ca-chunk* 

This was miserable. Where was the magic? The floating? The joy and inspiration I had just felt a few miles back? I'll tell you where it was - it was burning up inside my bowels. Yep! I knew this was going to be a significant experience no matter how it turned out. 

I ran down into Phoenix Park, zigged zagged through the Barstow district, surprisingly empty, across the Madison St. bridge, along Half Moon lake and on into Carson Park. My whole body was burning. It got dark but my eyes adjusted.

Funny to note here that Carson Park was also the location of my earliest race memory, the Buckshot Run circa 1992 with my Dad (and Mom who took the photo).

This was the first test of 2021. How am I going to handle this? How am I going to handle an active force trying to tear me apart from the inside out. I was committed to the full distance. Committed to the vision. Committed to myself. How was I going to run 7 more miles while actively managing the delicate balance of my body’s own raging digestion, knowing I could just lose control and vomit or shit myself at any moment. 

The more I thought about it, the funnier it got. I laughed out loud. That was the spark I needed.

I made it out of Carson, rounded the river trail and came up Water street. I pulled my gaiter over my face as I ran up the middle - *ope* around the squad cars, keeping watch on the few still open bars, entrances packed with people… Uff-da

This was still well before the vaccine had become widely available and remember, I was a hermit for most of 2020.

I remember being judgmental and a little freaked out at the time. I hadn’t seen so many people packed together since the pandemic started. This was at a time that there had been 9,295 confirmed cases in Eau Claire county. With a population of 105,000, that's nearly 10%?! What the fuuuuuck

I was in China in late January of 2020 and seeing first hand how they handled the pandemic then, informed much of my perspective and approach going into 2020. So needless to say, the bars were the last place you would find me.

I made it through to the Third Ward and onto Putnam trail. The sounds of the city faded away and the quiet dark of a cold mid-winter night pervaded. 3 miles left. Lungs were burning. The rest of the pain had dulled into the background. 

I heard my feet crunching on the hard snow, my gait stayed consistent and pushing forward. Begin again. My breath and heart rate were labored but steady. Flawed and exhausted, but still going. I looked up and saw the moon over head. One foot in front of the other.

I passed through an empty Eau Claire campus, catching my stride. It felt like I had been from heaven and into hell and now was floating in the space between them both. I crossed the campus foot bridge and up First, took a left onto Lake and finished coming up on Grand Avenue. I stopped to breathe in the night air. A triumph of the soul. And my bowels, for sure.

This was straight up my first moment of 2021. It was so significant that I wrote all this immediately afterwards. In hindsight, it kicked off this whole project.

I’m so grateful to be able to do this running thing. My only true goal is to be able to do this for as long as I can. So here’s to new beginnings! Tonight reminded me of how there is strength in perseverance, to listen to my body and never take the gifts I am given for granted. Also, don’t eat that leftover curry man.

& for the record, leftover curry might be one of my favorite things, just not if it’s 2 dang weeks old. 

Happy New Year, All! Have a beautiful and safe 2021 🥳