On Saturday, August 2nd, 2014, the beautiful girl Sarah became a part of our family.  It doesn't get any better than that.  Congratulations to the two of you.  My heart is full.  Love you both.  Mom

Happiness

Since the days of Jed's run, the beautiful girl Sarah has become a part of our lives.  On August 2nd, we will travel to the Adirondack mountains to be part of the marriage of Jed and Sarah.  I had hoped that one day he would find someone to share his life with.  Joy and wonder is so much more beautiful when shared with that one person who is more special than any other in the world.  Sarah is that girl.  I have come to a deep respect and love for her, so I will be overjoyed when I can stand and watch them tie their futures together in happiness and joy.

I guess the adventure goes on.....

How to help Jed raise money for Cancer research

Please go to the link and help if you can. Someday this horrible disease WILL BE BEATEN.

http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/jedediahbrown/bikingtoflorida

A new Adventure

In case you were thinking the adventures were over for Jed, apparently you don't know him. The adventures will never be over...At his current (and former) job working with troubled teens in the Adirondack Mountains of New York, he has become friends with many wonderful people. There's a good friend there named Teresa, or "Tree" as she is known to her hiking buddies who is currently fighting against the same disease that Jed has made his cause for some time now. At the end of the month, March 29, 2012, while Teresa is undergoing chemotherapy, he will embark again on a trip to raise money for the V Foundation for Cancer research. This trip with less disposable time, he will bike from New York to the Florida Keys in just a short twenty something days. He will have to ride hard, but hard is nothing new to Jed. He told me in a post that he has been given a strong body, and he thought he could do this....should do this, for those who have not been so blessed with health as he. Again, I will be on my knees each night on his behalf as a mother would be. I was inspired by his remembering the words "Unto whom much has been given, much is required." I have been blessed with him as a son. I have been blessed beyond my ability to imagine. God Speed my son, and God Bless. As Jed said at the end of a post he put up......"This one's for you Teresa."

After the Run

Dang Bunny, After all that mileage you still look great!!! This is a photo taken just outside Portland by a friend who was going to drop Jed off on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cascade Locks, where he will hike for a little while before ending his journey and going back to Saranac Lake. Thanks Teresa for the pictures!!!

What if

I hope I will be able to post some pictures of Jed's finish at the Pacific Ocean, but currently he is on his way to the Pacific Crest Trail, to make up a few miles. He will be in an ultra wilderness area with probably no reception for his phone, so I will have to wait on picture mail till he is in a more accessible area. I am going to let him tell you how he felt at the finish of his journey.......


What if?
by Jed Brown on Friday, September 3, 2010 at 1:42pm

So, I guess this will be the last note on this trip at least for a while as they take too long to type. When I left Kansas City for the second time, with a bike in tow, I wasn't really sure of what was going to happen with my ankle. It was still hurting badly and never having really biked any distance before, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I gave it a 50/50 shot in my head of getting better or getting much worse. Eventually my ankle felt good enough that I took the brace off and continued without it. One of the other things that I was slightly worried about, as dumb as it may seem was the fact that I hadn't ever ridden a bike before or at least since I was a kid. I left to go bike half way across the way country not knowing how to change a tire if I got a flat. When I think about that fact it does seem a bit ridiculous. Virtually anyone knew as much about biking and probably still does. The only thing I know about biking now that I didn't when I started was that I can bike 80 to a 100 miles everyday over mountains. I had the side wall on my back tire rip twice on the trip, so changing the tube would have been pointless because it would have immediately gone flat again. In these two instances I used my long tan legs to hitch about 15 miles into the closest town, which luckily in both cases had bike shops to repair the tires. Getting a bike trip started in the Rocky Mountains it turns out is a tough place to get acclimated to the abuse. The first few days were fairly rough on my legs and lungs. Biking up to over 11,000 feet by my fourth day wasn't necessarily easy. By the end of the first week I could do roughly a 100 miles if I wanted to a day. Things in general on the biking portion of the trip were much easier than the running portion and not just the physical side. I didn't have to sleep under bridges or in barns that the ground was covered in horse crap. I could actually make it to places a bit more hospitable. I was able to bike with a couple from England for a few days, where as before bikers would stop long enough to chat for a minute and take a picture with the lunatic trying to run across the country. At a KOA in Montana when I told the guy I had biked 97 miles that day he said "that's the record for here buddy." and then when I told him that I had run the first 2,000 miles he said "Geeze! 2,000 miles! Geeze! I got an award for running 500 in the military in six months. How long did it take you?" "Five months." "Geeze!" Ed was fairly impressed and I laughed at his reaction. I met a family in Montana that I hope to see again while hiking in Washington. I met my girlfriend in Sisters, Oregon over 3,600 miles into my running/biking trip and 2,000 into her hiking trip. Fairly sure that's the longest distance ever traveled for a date night. My last day of riding I was pumped to say the least. I drank a Red Bull and a 5 hour energy. I pedaled like a lunatic. I listened to the "Into the Wild" soundtrack and cried a couple of days as I rode. It wasn't the thought of the end that made me cry, but what I had put in to get to that point. When things were at their worst, I had summoned up my best and came out on top. I never gave up. I got to a mostly isolated beach near Florence, Oregon. An older guy took a picture of me standing in the water. I left the Atlantic alone, with no fanfare. I reached the Pacific alone, with no fanfare. Just a sun browned 31 year old man and a bike. I was asked a lot of "what if" questions before I left on this trip. The only "what if" I ever really cared about was "what if I never chase this dream." Everyday for months I woke up and chased it, until I accomplished it.

firstgiving.com/jedediahbrown

A girl worth running 3,600 miles for