1,000 Miles for Chase: Aug. 30 - 8 Miles Ran, 55 Miles Sponsored; Aug 31

It was an awesome penultimate day of running on the road to 1,000. I had a nice easy 8-mile run over the Cato Corner, Rt. 16 route Fri night. This route is very hilly, but I took it at a comfortable, even pace so that I wouldn't be feeling any ill effects of the run on Sunday. Planning for Sunday's finale kept me busy until a little before 7pm last night, so I got out a little late and finished the run at dusk. I guess summer has whizzed by again--I failed to anticipate how dark it would be around 8 when I finished.

I completed miles 979-986, closing out the 50 miles sponsored by my good buddy Keith Webster. Thanks Web, I'm sorry to inform you that I actually enjoyed these miles. If you up for sponsoring me in an Ironman triathlon, that may be another story....

Amazingly, the sponsors have returned in force as I close out the 1,000 mile effort. Mike Lester, a Masuk classmate and long-time friend, sponsored 50 miles through his company, Triumph Marketing. This is an awesome way finish my journey (though Mike is probably chuckling at making me continue on to 1,050 miles). I also received a message from Carrie Kammire Greenwood--another Masuk classmate, good friend from back in the day and co-President of the Masuk Class of `83 (the president who did all the work). Carrie donated 5 miles and let me know that she has been cheering me on from down south all along. Thanks for you support Carrie!

Today is a rest day before tomorrow's finale. The weather looks a little iffy, but hopefully we'll won't have a lot of rain to deal with over the last mile. I am so excited that I don't care if I get drenched over the first 13 miles--but I don't want our Race4Chase team to cross the finish line dripping wet if we can avoid it!

I will be heading to Monroe shortly to go over some last minute plans with my family. It looks like we may have a DJ to play some music for an hour and if all goes well, I should be able to call in from my iPhone to do a video chat during the run. This will let the Race4Chase group know where I am as I approach Chalk Hill. Or we could have tech issues and everyone milling around until I show up around 12:30pm! I wish I had Carrie to help me get things buttoned down like in the old days! No matter what happens, it will be great to share the final mile with those who have supported my effort and care so much about Chase.

Logistics for tomorrow: I plan to leave Bethel High around 10:30am (maybe a few minutes earlier) and run down Rt. 302 to Monroe, reaching Camp Tepee off Rt. 59 around 11:50. I will then head to Chalk Hill hoping to arrive around 12:30. I plan to spend a minute or two at Bethel High and Camp Tepee placing Race4Chase batons (see pics below) with instructions for the finder to complete an athletic activity in honor of Chase and then pass the baton and instructions off to another person. I've also asked that the "finder" post a comment on my blog so that the effort can be shared with Steve and Becky. I chose the locations after speaking with Becky; she told me Chase started running track meets at Bethel High and played his first baseball games at Camp Tepee. Hopefully this will be a way to keep the 1,000 mile effort going a little longer, but of course that will be up to the people who find the batons.

Last item--I will have a book for all participants to sign tomorrow. In addition to listing your name, I think it would be great if you would also write down an athletic pledge (walk a mile next week, run a 5k, etc.) or if that's not your cup of tea just jot down a memory of Chase or a message to Steve and Becky. If you have any pictures or other items you'd like to include in the book that would be great too.

See you tomorrow at the 999 mark!

Today's (Fri) Line:

Date

DoW

ToD

Distance

Time

Min/Mile

Notes

Effort

Total Miles

8/30

7:00p

8.0