This was a daunting task for me.
I thought I could do it, but running a relay event from the pentagon in Washington D.C. all the way to ground zero at the 9/11 memorial in Manhattan is kinda crazy.
But I like crazy things. And that’s what life is all about… collecting experiences and making the most of it.
Gratitude
Before I tell you what the event was I want to start with how cool it was to even be there in the first place.
This was the first ever team run from the pentagon to ground zero for 9/11. The odds if us being a part of it was slim in the first place. Two people from one small run club in Alexandria VA had a crazy idea and put it all together. The only way we knew about it was because A person on that run club knew A guy that works with my dad and it came up in passing at work. We had 24 hours to let them know we would do it before the spots would go to others.
I was nervous but absolutely ecstatic that we could be a part of it.
What was this event?
Basically, 2 guys from the D.C. area decided that they wanted to host an event that starts with a reading of all the names of people who died at the Pentagon during the 9/11 attacks and then relay run an American flag all the way up to the world trade center on the days leading up to 9/11. It was an audacious goal, and I love audacious goals.
We couldn’t pass on the opportunity. Very few people were allowed in and we were super fortunate to have a friend of a friend that was more connected, who helped pull us along!
Day 0
Now, it all started Saturday with a long ride down to the DC area from Albany New York. I was more excited than finding a $2 bill under my pillow as a kid… thanks tooth fairy! We quickly met some of the people from the area, as well as the other travelers from Los Angeles, Idaho, Chicago and of course our small group from upstate NY.
Saturday was filled with new faces, a fundraising 5k run, late night pizza and crashing on a strangers couch.
Sleep was hard to come by that night, because we stayed out with the running group thanking the local sponsors and bar hopping. I’m not much of a drinker, but some people certainly were… and we had a lot of ground to cover the next day. I had a feeling this would bite some of them in the butt, but I couldn’t judge. They were having the time of their lives.
Day 1
Bloodshot eyes hit the light a little too early on Sunday. I thanked myself for stretching before bed, but I wished we could have gone to bed sooner.
But we had to get to the Pentagon parking lot for the ceremony. We did a reading of all the American victims from that Pentagon plane crash and did our first leg of the event together. All 60 of us ran to the Lincoln Memorial with a motorcycle escort from a small group of local veterans.
It was really cool to see 60 people all carrying American flags together as we made our way to the iconic fountain featured in the best movie ever (Forrest Gump).
A quick photo op and then the first group of 4 hit the road.
And we were off. We didn’t have our first run until around 1:00 that day. We walked around the monuments and saw the White House as well as all the memorials we could get to.
I remember, editing videos for work (GFW days), watching our CBS special hit the news, Fake monks selling bracelets, trying to list and sell items on facebook marketplace, and taking it all in that day.
Our first run was a crushing 8.5 miles through the hills of maryland.
It was hot and it was steep. But I wouldn’t have it any other way. I felt like I was a part of something special and I wanted to help raise as much money and awareness as possible.
I don’t remember much from that first day after that. We cheered on the rest of the people and waited for our next run at 11:30. This was epic and I made this video about the first day which has clips from our night time run.
The final runners of the day ended around 3:00 AM. Overall the group ran about 110 miles that day. I hit the pillow so hard that night, excited to do it all again the next day.
Day 2 – 4
Breakfast at 8:00 was crazy to me because some of the people that were out until 3:00 AM were up before me, and I was tired! Others were out at a bar until late as well and they were all high on their own supply I guess!
I didn’t know if it was idiocy or absolute supreme capacity. Maybe a little of both 😉
Monday and Tuesday were full of running. By this point, we were well acquainted with some of the other runners and we spent time either running from one stop to the next, driving ahead to cheer on the current runners or editing videos for work.
I remember eating at a small pizzeria in the middle of nowhere Pennsylvania and having some of the best food ever. Running through Amish country was a pleasure and It was some of the most beautiful scenery I’ve ever run through. Open fields as far as the eye could see all the way to the New Jersey border.
When we got to the river that separated PA and NJ we met an incredible young man that told us about his experience with 9/11 and losing his dad recently. It was a really powerful moment that stands out to me.
Some of the coolest moments were running on back roads, getting honks of support as we carried the American flag with us the entire way. I was shocked by the patriotism and I was really proud to be doing what we did!
My last official run in New Jersey was an incredible police escort through the city right before getting to the bridge to go to Staten Island, New York. I felt like a mini celebrity the whole time. It was a site to be seen.
Wednesday was a little bit of a letdown personally. I was getting frustrated by circumstances I was not in control of and I was just working on using that as a test of resilience for myself. I give myself a B- because it took a couple hours to get over.
Someday these mini frustrations will take moments to get through and I’ll move on quickly.
We took the Staten Island Ferry to Manhattan and ran to a park near the One World trade center. Had a mini ceremony of our own and said our goodbyes to everybody we had met.
Thank you Ono and Eric for putting this all together. We will be back next year!
Training wise and performance went well:
- Each day I ran between 15 and 20 miles.
- It was all very aerobic so 9:30 to 10 minute pace
- I wouldn’t have been able to do it if we didn’t get that pace.
- It is cool to see that the adaptation will be there in the coming years. Just imagine running at 7:30 pace extremely aerobic??? Someday soon.
Lessons coming out of it
- I am much more capable of recovering and moving forward than I would have thought previously.
- Figuring out how to remain healthy when we are in these situations can be tricky. It felt like everywhere we looked it was pizza and beer. I don’t drink, but the poor nutrition can start to add up I think.
- Ultra preps are going to be amazing someday, I need a nice ultra backpack though. There were a lot of people wearing mini running vests and it looked like a smart idea.
- not carrying water for some of those runs left me dehydrated.
- Doing stuff like this is what I want my life to be about. I want stories like this. I want to meet people doing events like this. And I want to become experienced in things just like this.
Overall, super grateful to be a part of this incredible event. A lot can be learned by pushing your body to new limits. I firmly believe it.
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