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!