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

It is FINISHED!!!

I am thinking that I will follow this post in a couple days......with additional thoughts and feelings, and perhaps a picture or two if your camera is co-operating again.
I have been thinking about this day for a long time. I am numb with happiness and my mind of course is kind of boggled. It's not that I am having a blank moment,.... it's that I have so many thoughts and feelings rocketing around in my head, I can't sort them into a reasonable train of thought. There is so much I want to say, but lacking the skill with words that Uncle Norm has, I often wonder if you will be able to get anything at all out of these words. They have really after all, been written for you. Perhaps all you have to glean from it is that I love and respect you. I am proud of you. You are everything and more than I hoped you would be. You have put yourself through the fire. In a small way, mentally, I have gone with you all the way. I was with you each and every night as I knelt in prayer asking our Father in Heaven for your safety and happiness. I know that you remained safe, though you suffered many pains and injuries. I think that you may have endured much lonliness and were tried to the max. You never gave up. I hope that will be the thought you will carry with you forever more. I hope just the knowledge of who you are and what you did will carry you through the future with the deep conviction that come what may.....you will always have what it takes to do what ever you need to do.
I pray also that you will know how many people have been uplifted by your courage and determination. You have been an inspiration to me. I love you bunny.

Forgot to tell my blog how you notified me today that your journey was completed.......two words.........

the beach!!!!!

BARNEY the BUFFALO

I would have put this in the correct time line, but since you just posted it recently, I am going to just tuck it in here before the conclusion of this blog. This picture is titled Barney the Buffalo. I laughed when I saw this. It's both funny and sad at the same time to me. This majestic fellow is just strolling along the highway

as though it's perfectly natural to be following you along as you make your way through Yellowstone. I can tell you Jed, that this guy is my most favorite character that you have met along the way on this journey of yours. The sadness is that he has become a tourist attraction, and I hope, (but wonder) if those who see him look at the beautiful creature that he is or if they just think he is there for their entertainment. I like to think of him without seeing all the people gawking out their windows at him.

Still, I am glad he prevails even with all the fluff around him. Kudos Barney!

YaTaHey!

My heart bursts with pride

You my son, have done what boggles the mind.....

Hey Jed, what did you do over your summer vacation? I know you worked insane amounts of hours to save money for something really big! I know you spent literally thousands of dollars of your hard earned money to do something really big over your summer vacation. I mean heck, taking a half year off work, spending all that money,.....you must have done something really fantastic, must have had a real blast!! Did you see the sights, or travel? Did you stay in exotic places, eat exotic foods, drink exotic wines? I mean, you must have really had a time!!!

Yes, you spent a lot of money... saw some sights. Heck, roads fell out from under you as flood waters rushed in. Got to see a tornado arriving in a town while trying to stay in one piece under a bridge. Got to sleep and run for days at a time in driving rainstorms with 45-50 mph winds to slap you along the way.....had 4 star accommodations in abandoned houses and barns. Got to see lots of critters, some not so friendly as they protected their junkyard territories. Felt the full fury of mother Nature as she shoved one torrential downpour after another in your face to get you to quit and go home. Then there was the blistering heat and convection oven wind of Kansas in mid summer. It hadn't been that hot for that long without let up in many a year. Exotic wines? Does rancid water from a ditch, drunk in a moment of desperation count? I would guess that one of the most miserable highlights was the seemingly endless stretches of lonely highways in Kansas with no one to know of your pain, your thirst, to encourage you to go on when it hurt to walk anymore. I think the Kansas/Colorado border is where your ankle finally ripped apart with all the extra weight of the water that had to be carried to fend off the delerium of temperatures that melted the bottoms of your shoes.
I was happy when you again reached the mountains of Colorado that gave you relief from the wretched heat, and at least gave you beautiful scenery to look at. I marveled when I knew you were traveling through the rugged territory in Wyoming, then Montana and Idaho, and finally into Oregon. What did you do for your summer vacation? You overcame everything that was thrown at you, and you did it with honor and courage. I know you wanted to be able to pass your goal of obtaining money to benefit the Jimmy V foundation for cancer research, but you did something more for those who are battling right now.....research will take time, but you have shown those who fight the battle of a lifetime right now, that you can prevail....even when the odds are all against you..even when others say you can't. If I can do anything in my life, I hope I can tell your story so many others can know the meaning of your slogan.........."taking the I can't out of the English Language....one step at a time."

I know you have a few more days left before you reach the Pacific Ocean....5 maybe, but talking to you tonight I am so happy. You told me you would make the town of Sisters, Oregon today and would be meeting up with someone you worked with....a special girl that you have grown to care for. That was such exciting news. After a little time together, you will continue your journey to the ocean as she continues her journey along the Pacific Crest Trail. I surely wish the time you can spend together is filled with happiness and joy as you share your experiences of these past months.

I feel the fire back in your voice as you realize how close you are to that day, very soon now, when you will place your well traveled feet into the ocean surf of the Pacific, 4,268+ miles from where you began.

You are incredible Jed, a man among men.

Almost there!

I can hardly believe that you have gone so far! I haven't posted anything on this blog for a while, and it seems like you have been rocketing along. While I am piddling my days away, you are still moving, and I sense that seeing the finish line so close, you have become infused with a new fire. Before I ramble too long, I want to put in a statement that Buffy wrote to all your followers. I am going to copy/paste it here if I can:

Here's what she had to say, and I cannot think of a better way to say it......
Hi and a big thank you to all the members of Jed's group! Thanks for the generous financial contributions many of you have made but most of all for the ongoing moral support, prayers, advice and good karma! Jed is halfway through Oregon and will likely finish within 2-3 days. Many of you may already be aware but he sustained a significant ankle injury as he neared the Colorado border. We picked him up and brought him to Missouri where we were blessed to have two wonderful physicians donate their time and expertise. Due to the injury the only way he could finsih was by bicycle. He really wrestled with that and made several attempts to push past the injury but in the end realized that doing so could cause permanent problems. Not too good when you make your living climbing mountains! I personally feel that running 2,500 miles and then biking close to another 2,000 in 5 months is nothing to be ashamed of - and that all of you who donated will be blessed in your willingness to help support cures for cancer. Thank you again, all of you and we'll let you know when he crosses the FINISH LINE!

news

it was good to hear your voice tonight Jed. I was thinking about you and wondering how you were. I got the message that you had two flat tires, and a slashed sidewall. I was afraid you might be forced to walk pushing your bike and carrying your gear, and I was pretty sure that would be extremely painful and damaging to your injured ankle. When you called, I could not bring myself to ask if you had to do that. At least you were in a town, and found a bike shop where you could purchase a new tire. I saw a post on facebook that someone had suggested you get Kevlar reinforced tires, and knew that you had started out already with them. Wyoming must have been a beast on those tires. I don't know anything about these kinds of things, but I have been told those are the best tires you could have had, so it was a big deal they went on you. I guess you can only prepare so much, and then life is just a crap shoot after that. Your voice sounded very good though, so I was much heartened by that. I also checked your fundraiser page, and saw that you got a few more donations. I hope you leave the page up a while after you reach the ocean. I believe we could just keep on keeping on with it for a spell. Maybe those who couldn't before might be able to help out sometime in the future.
I will continue to keep a blog for you till you finish this journey, but perhaps I will go on now and then, and continue your story. You know Jed, it's not just about this run, but about how you live your life, and how you inspire others to do better, and to never give up.

I think it was well said........

Jed Brown.... taking the "I can't" out of the English Language...
one step at a time.

I'm proud to be your mother. I love you Jed.

on the road again

Well, it's been a while hasn't it? I sent an e-mail to those friends who routinely ask about you to update things, but I just haven't had much time to update the blog. I guess it's about time I do that. Your leg healed as much as it was going to, and I know you finally decided to go on in spite of the pain. In truth, healing really is going to take a lot longer than either of us wants, but I know that even with the tremendous heat we have endured this summer, that a sudden storm can blow in at mountain elevations in the fall, so I am glad that you are on your way. Of course, I know that you are pretty qualified to deal with adverse weather and cold. I know that many times at work, you were out in the woods for days at a time with double digit temperatures below zero. I think that is in your genes. Our people were from many generations of those who thrived in cold climates, and you fit right in with that. I also know you love the mountains. That is hard to explain to some, but I know of that love. Missouri has been strange to live in. I've been here so long now, more than anywhere else in my adult life, and yet I always get the feeling that it should be soon time to go home. When I go to Uncle Rynd's house, it feels so easy....as though I am home, yet I am not. Wonder if I will ever be at home here? Wonder where you will end up living, or will you always be a wanderer? Hard to say. For now, home is where Roger is, so that is where I will be. If there is a time when I do not have him, it's hard to say where I would go.

I imagine you as you look up at the sky and those rugged mountains, with the great pines, and wish I had been young enough to accompany you on some of your trips. It's good when you don't have to travel alone. I see these things through your eyes, and am grateful that you are able to do this thing that calls you.

I remember once Papa telling me something when we were in the woods together. I found some forget-me-nots, and wanted him to see how pretty they were. I picked one and brought it to him. He told me to look at it and find all the pretty things I could. I described to him what I saw. He then said "look at it the first time for you, then look at it again for me....and find more...."

I remember one day after he had been gone for a couple years, I was driving west on 92 hwy into Kearney. I capped a little rise, and the sky exploded in front of my eyes into the most beautiful sunset I had seen in some time. I could hear his voice saying....."look at it again for me".......

I had to pull off the road as it was hard to focus through tears, but I looked and saw such beauty,.....then I looked again and saw so so much more. I think that is a good thing Jed. It doesn't have to be for me, but when you see the beauty that I know you are seeing, look at it once for you........then look again, and find more,...... for you for someone special in your life, or just to thank God for making it all. Be grateful for the beauty and wonder of the earth.

Life Goals

This was made by the unicyclist that carried Jed's pack for a while. He also spent some time with Jed, and did this "interview" with him. Jed as you will see, has a way of being easy and making jokes about nearly everything. I got a laugh anyway Jed. 

Well, in a book you can't watch the video that goes with this blog, so here's a picture of Sky, the unicyclist that carried Jed's pack for a number of miles to give Jed a break.  Thanks kiddo!

Bunny, forgive me for taking your post to put in here. I was going to try to write about the event that brought you back home for a while to get medical treatment, but somehow, I had a really hard time wanting to write about it. I think I will be able to do it later, when a little more time has gone by. Till then I will let you tell your own story as you have done here. I love you bunny. mom
(the photo her is one of the family who helped Jed on this day)

Why do moths fly into the campfire?

Saturday at 10:55pm
Anyone who's sat around a campfire in the summer for any amount of time has undoubtedly seen moths dive bomb into the fire. Why do people do the same? You know the outcome of the moth when it comes close to the fire. You are viewing this from an outside perspective. As oil flow into the gulf is that not a huge fire that the whole of society is flying into? Something that will undoubtedly burn us all in the end. The climber that dies on the side of a mountain unable to see their deteriorating state. Surely, if they could truely see what was happening they would turn back. Last Thursday I left Bazine, Ks. heading for Ness City and beyond for the day. I knew the day before something was wrong with my ankle, but as with all the other pains on this trip I say it's ok. By mile 3 on Thursday I knew that this wasn't going to be a good day. By mile 9, I was on the verge of crying. Partly from pain and partly because I knew that this type of injury had the potential to stop me. By the time I made it 12 miles to Ness City I was done for the day. I went to the city park to camp for the night and ran across a family biking across the country. I made it down the stairs at the park and sat down on a picnic table beside them. They asked me if I was ok. I was barely able to walk down the stairs and I'm sure that the pain was written all over my face. I told them that I was Ok. This is what I've always told people. They offered to the next town that had things that could help me take better care of myself. I at first turned them down, but in the morning I knew my ankles wouldn't get me there. It was apparent even to me. My ankles had taken me from doing 30 miles daily to barely being able to walk down stairs. Fast forward to today. My ankles really haven't gotten better. It still feels like someone is stabbing my left ankle with a knife. Today I looked into buying a bike that I could finish this trail in. Not the way I want to finish in, but the way I think that my body will allow me to finish it in. A 2,000 mile down payment on a dream to have it repossessed by bad ankles. There are no regrets though. I can see what the family at the park saw. A good man with a broken body.

more critters !

Ah bunny, this is typical of you. How many turtles have you helped across the road on this trip? You've rescued many of these little guys who wouldn't have made it without getting hit by a car. They may not know their lives were spared for another day, but God sees and records the smallest of these kindnesses. Just another reason why I love and respect you.

Back to your story

I guess I will back track a little. It's been a while since I have written. Sometimes I wonder why I am writing this, and then I remember it's really for you. Somehow, I know this is more than another one of your adventures. It's

as though it could be a turning point in your life. That can be very frightening to me. I feel it, yet want this trip to be just another one of your "walk abouts". I know in a way only a mother can know that there is much more to this journey than a personal challenge...much more than raising money for a cause dear to your heart.

I posted this photo to illustrate how you

can have your Jed sense of humor no matter where you are, or under what conditions. With a title of "Showdown with a Calf" , you made light of running along this incredible lonely stretch of highway. Knowing the terrain you ran through in Kansas, with the blazing heat that we have had this summer, I can't imagine laughing about anything, though the little guy does look forlorn.

Actually I was thinking.....he saw you...he instinctively knew that you were trying to escape Kansas.....he knew what his future as a Kansas cow would be...and in that instant, he made a break for the breach in the fence, and was wordlessly standing there begging you to take him with you.......

Either that, or he just came out of the pasture to wonder (if cows do such things) what the heck some ditzy guy was doing running along in all that heat in such a hurry to go to the endless horizon.

MOO-O-O-O-O..........

Highs and Lows

This will be a short post. Much like Jed's run, I have felt both extremes of emotion the last two days. Yesterday I was at work when I heard from Jed. He had checked his posts to his charity's page, and found a five hundred dollar donation from the one and only Dick Vitale, famous ESPN basketball sports announcer. You could have peeled Jed off the sky he was so happy. I think so happy in fact, that he was able to ignore the growing pain in his ankle. It had been bothering him all day, but he had 30 miles to go and was not going to let it do him in. You have to understand that in Western Kansas, you just don't stop along the way. It could cost you plenty to stop when you only have enough water to make it to that next town. He is carrying a lot more water now, to make it through the intense heat of July in Kansas. A lot more water is a lot more weight.......
Today after 12 miles, the pain was so intense he had to stop. I got a message from him. He found a pool in town, and he was trying to cool the pain in the water. With such limited resources, he is unable to stay in a motel, so must make do with what he has. Funds must be conserved as he has a long way yet to go. I could feel the discouragement in his voice. I am going to call a few people I know and ask them to include him in their prayers, putting him on their prayer lists at church if they are able. The white hot pain in his ankle has taken yesterday's joy and pulled the rug out from under it. I hope anyone reading this post would say a prayer for Jed that this will be a temporary set back for him. He has given his all. I love you bunny. I will pray for you, and keep a prayer in my heart continually for your recovery and health.

Just thought I would post some of the beautiful accommodations you've enjoyed during your travels. Abandoned houses and barns. All the amenities!!!

Well this looks familiar. Bleeding blisters. I rather had to chuckle at the "Jedness" of the post you ran with this picture.

Blister care......1. pop it. 2. drain it. 3. duct tape it.

4. carry on.

You made light of it, but I rememeber when I danced and had these same looking blisters. No easy task to put your shoes back on after you have taken them off. That was the hardest part. It took a while after you began to adjust to the pain. Pretty sure you walked and ran through a lot of the pain, though you'll probably never really say. I know many (most really) would have just quit. You have learned when to stop for a while, and when to go on.