Sheila Sims Iding
I’ve seen a lot of races. I’ve been around a lot of runners. I’ve seen runners pushed to the brink. I’ve seen runners bleed. Runners fall. Runners collapse. But I never saw a race like I witnessed today. It was a witness of true grit. It was a witness of runners running with heart. Not just Team Iding. All the runners I watched today.
I saw runners trying to cope with the elements of a February Day. They had spandex and gloves and face masks and spandex over spandex…gloves over gloves and hats over face masks.
I saw runners with grips on their shoes and snow shoes on their shoes and snow on their shoes.
I saw runners deflated by a triple loop course. Do you know how hard it is to pass a finish line once during a race? On a good weather day? But to have to run through the finish line 3 times and only have one time count works on the psyche of the best runners.
I saw runners cross that finish line to end round one and end their race.
One was an elite woman runner who said the race and the course conditions were “f#*king stupid”.
One was a marathon runner who was going to run the whole marathon (not just the half) and she left after the first round. She wasn’t even going to run the half. She was done with this race and heading home to run more miles to complete her training for the day. That's a runner's heart.
One of those runners who stopped was Pat Iding. Pat Iding who has never quit a race in his life. Pat Iding, proud marathon runner, was done after one round of this race. He feared injury. His fears were real…very real. But the wound of quitting was its own sort of injury for Pat. But it shouldn’t be.
I saw runners come in for round two and they didn’t want to head back out for round 3…but many of them did.
I saw Adam head out for round three with jacket half wet from sweat and ice in his hair from that same sweat.
I saw Joey struggle through the race with more cramps than he had from any marathon run.
I saw a runner fall 100 yards from the turnaround at the finish from cramps. And I saw the people going to help him fall because even walking the course was treacherous.
I saw runners struggle with the loose snow and the ruts and the ice so badly it took away their normal stride…and threatened to take away their heart.
I saw a woman stop after round two and take off her shoe and sock in the freezing cold so her husband could put a bandaid on her bleeding ankle…and then did the same for the other ankle. Then she headed out for her final 4.5 miles.
I saw friends cheering on a runner and when others were grabbing Gatorade and water, they gave him a couple of swigs of vodka each time. Not a bad idea today.
I saw runners whose hours of training were wiped out with one grueling course.
I saw the winning runner finish with snowshoes and a time a whole 30 minutes slower than a half-marathon winner would have finished. 30 minutes is a day when measured by an elite runner's time.
And when the race was over I saw Pat humbly pass the “finisher medals” table for the first time ever.
I saw Joey, a strong, proud athlete run strong and proud. And finish strong and proud. And the finishers medal was his.
I saw Adam, an elite runner who knew one mile in, this could be his worst time ever…and his strongest fight ever. He took home a finishers medal and 6th place overall.
And then that same elite runner came home and played a whole hockey game. Talk about fight and determination.
Joey wanted to use his Christmas money to challenge himself so he signed up for this race. And Pat and Adam made it a Team Iding event. They knew what they signed up for. They knew the race would be cold. They knew there would be snow. They didn't know the race officials wouldn't clear the trail. They didn't know the snow wouldn't pack to form some sort of solid surface. They didn't know when they lined up it would be the toughest race they ever lined up to run.
Tonight Team Iding will end the day sore and beat up. Ankles are sore from the uneven surface. Achilles ache from the ruts. Toes are bruised and blistered. Tomorrow morning backs, knees and calves may join the aching party. But it won’t matter what hurts and how much. Because today, in the most brutal conditions, with some of their worst times ever, they didn’t run with their back or their feet or even their legs. Today…Team Iding…and all those runners…they ran with their heart...a runner's heart.