Across the Years 48 Hour Run
Fellow Fort Collins Running Club member Alene Nitzky will be running in a 48-hour race around a 500-meter track in Arizona starting today. She ran in the Boulder 100 a couple of months ago, and not only was ahead of me the entire time and ended up running farther, but was doing so with a smile on her face every time I saw her! I will be cheering for her from afar (about 1,000 miles away) over the internet, and so can you. The message below tells how. She also describes a little bit the spiritual aspects of running for so long. Good luck, Alene!
I am running my first multi-day race on December 30, 2007 through January 1st, 2008, the 48 hour event at Across the Years 24, 48, and 72 hour run in Litchfield Park, Arizona. It’s a timed event on a certified 500 meter course and I am running it for mental and physical preparation to run across Death Valley next summer. My goal is 135 miles, the same distance I’ll run next summer.
The race has a website, http://www.acrosstheyears.com and it is possible to send messages to runners on the track. If you go to the website, look for the link to send a message to runners- the link will only be posted during the event itself- and click on it. There will be some sort of drop-down menu where you can click on a runner’s name and send a message. The race organizers print these messages and hand-deliver them to the runners as they go by during all hours of the day and night.
The messages I’ve received in the past have been a great source of motivation and add another dimension to the event, knowing that you have spectators watching from anywhere in the world. There is a webcam where you might catch a glimpse of the runners going by, and a results board that is updated approximately every hour throughout the whole event where you can keep track of runners’ progress.
Across the Years is a special race, for several years I have been involved with the event as a runner or volunteer, and was co-race director during the 2003-2004 event. The race organizers, volunteers and runners are like family to me.
People often ask me what I think about while I’m running around in circles. The website has some information about multiday running and FAQs for the curious. For me, I have my year’s list of challenges and meditations to work on and I always feel like I’m unwinding like a ball of string as I do countless laps around the course. I let go of all the worries of the year before and go into the new year with a clear mind. The physical part of running along with any pain disappears as it gets lost in the whole mental, spiritual, emotional and social experience of the event.
Here are your instructions:
1. Anytime between the hours of 9 am December 30th and 9 am January 1st, please go to the website and send me a message.
2. Have some champagne, eggnog, beer, or your beverage of choice.
3. Repeat steps 1-3.
Have a safe, fun, and healthy New Years holiday and run some miles at the resolution run for me!
See you in January!
Alene
Update 1/2/08: Holy endurance! Alene ran 149 miles! That is even super far for a car. Congrats, Alene!