Yesterday I joined five fabulous teammates for the 50.8-mile Rainier to Ruston Relay, a fun run benefitting the Foothills Trail Coalition, beginning near the Carbon River entrance to Mt. Rainier NP and ending at the Commencement Bay waterfront in Tacoma. Our team of current and former CHSers was formed in the last six weeks, so we weren't able to train together, but we worked out pre-race logistics by e-mail and Facebook. When we met up yesterday for the drive to the starting line, it was a little like a carpool on a CHS hike -- some of us knew each other from way back when, and others were just meeting for the first time.
At one point, Shep quoted Tom Hanks' wonderful line in "A League of Their Own" -- "Are you cyring? There's no crying in baseball! THERE'S NO CRYING IN BASEBALL!" We were presented with some tough running conditions yesterday, with off-and-on rain and a 20-degree temperature swing. It was my longest running distance in a day, and my right ankle was screaming at me. Shep's six-mile first leg was a slog along muddy trail, and his feet were starting to blister. We got Susan through her second leg by promising a donut at the next exchange. Kevin's lungs are probably still full of fumes from his second leg through the Fife-Tacoma industrial area. We had a few driving navigation errors. So we had plenty of reasons to "cry". But we gutted it out as a team, with lots of high-fives and back-slaps and words of encouragement throughout the day.
As your hikes get longer and the temperatures rise, think about your fellow hikers as being part of a team for the day. Lean on each other for support to get through tough trail and weather conditions, and "cry" to your fellow hikers if you're having a rough time. Sometimes a little commiseration does the trick!
