LIVING BEYOND IMPOSSIBLE

“I was running alone on my 40th day, enjoying the medium-hot summer day that graced my face and limbs with a mild breeze now and then. The picturesque scenery around me took me back to a back road in Vermont. I felt good, and I was running at a snail’s pace with little pain on my mind.

“Contemplating the beauty of our country, I glanced to my left. There, in a pasture drenched in a lush green grazed a dozen deer. To my right, another pasture spread out, surrounded by a wooden fence.

“I thought that I might scare the herd and that they would run across the road in front of me or even over me to get to the other side, stopped me. Suddenly, the herd did bolt from the pasture, crossing the road right in front of me. Standing motionless, I watched as they bounded gracefully over the New England style fence; that is, all but one. A fawn left behind was trying to get under, over or through the wood barrier but was unable to.

“Meantime, Chris had returned and was watching this activity from his vantage point a couple hundred feet down the road. He had been waiting for me to catch up so he could provide me with ice for my “complaints” and nourishment. He assayed the situation and then crept toward the distressed little animal, while I remained motionless, curious about the soap opera that was about to take place.

“I knew that a fawn’s mother will teach its offspring to either freeze in dangerous situations or lay down on the ground. I saw the fawn stiffen as Chris approached.  When he could, Chris put his arms under the fawn, cradled it gently and placed the creature on the other side of the wooden fence. With Mom and fawn united my world was right again. To think that my son had done that … Oh my goodness!”

To which he added, later, in retrospect:

“To this day, I really believe The Run was worth it. I changed not only my life but also tens of thousands, if not millions, of other lives by running what was ‘impossible’ to run.”