Run Overview

The Idea
Ever since I was 17 years old I dreamed of running across Utah. I vividly remember the night the thought first entered my mind. It was late spring and I was up well past bed time as I listened to my father telling me stories of Richard Jones rowing solo across the Atlantic. I was fascinated by the adventure that Jones had created for himself and I wanted so badly to conjure up one of my own.

At the time taking on an ocean was hardly feasible, so I began searching for something that would be. I got on the internet and looked up stories of people similar to Jones. Some of the most fascinating were runners that had covered long distances like the United States and the Sahara desert. This is when it hit me. I wanted to run across Utah.

For weeks the thought of running across Utah never left my mind and I even started training. I ran at night to avoid the heat of the day and all I could think of while I ran under the light of street lamps were the adventures I would have running across the state. I told very few people about my plan, only family and a few close friends. It was still such a distant adventure and I learned early on that there were plenty of people that wanted to tell me there was little chance of me ever doing it.

On one particular occasion I had a pretty heated conversation with someone that told me that running 340 miles would be nearly impossible because of the effects it would have on my body. I became very angry and said that I would in fact run across Utah. I ran faster than usual that night. Adrenaline from anger fueled my muscles as I completed 12 miles. On the last mile I saw my father's Toyota Supra drive past me on the road. He had been there for the argument and I'm not entirely sure why he came to check on me, but I felt his love for me and I knew he was concerned. After that night I felt I was supported by my father more than anyone.

Running Background

In seventh grade P.E. class I was forced to run a mile. There were no stipulations as to how fast it had to be completed, but everyone was required to finish. I was definitely not in good shape at the time but I had been taught by my father to never give up so I ran as hard as I could for the entire mile. When I was done, the teacher told me I had finished in 11 minutes and 42 seconds. Although I had run the entire time I was one of the last ones to finish and I felt as though I wanted to cease to exist. I despised running and never wanted to feel that way again.

Ironically avoiding running and becoming an Eagle Scout (which I had as a goal) is impossible. To become an Eagle Scout, one must earn the physical fitness merit badge.

One requirement for this badge includes frequently timing yourself as you run a mile. To do this, my father would take my brother and I to the high school track and use his stopwatch as we ran four laps. One time we had eaten a lot of pizza right before he took us to the track. I remember feeling really sick as I rounded the final lap, but fortunately I wasn't as sick as my brother who ended up losing all his pizza in a big plastic garbage bin. These mile tests were only part of the requirements for physical fitness

In addition to timing my mile to help improve my time, I was required to follow a fitness plan for the next several weeks. One part of this plan included running for thirty minutes three times a week. The first time I ran for thirty minutes I felt like I was going to die. I felt like this for the next few weeks as I dreaded every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday after school when I would go for what I thought of as the run of death. I kept wondering to myself who in the world would ever free willingly sentence themselves to such torture. How could such a thing ever be enjoyable?

Luckily running did become more enjoyable. On one occasion, while running with one of my good friends (a track and cross country athlete), I received the compliment that I was a good runner and that I should join the track and cross country team. I remember telling him that I would never do that because I actually hated running, but in the back of my mind I listened and contemplated the growth I had made from that first mile in seventh grade. At that moment I realized that running had gone from being a weakness to a strength. It was this strength that inspired me to make plans to run across Utah.

My original plans for running across the state were formed and pushed back. I was going to serve a mission for my church in Berlin Germany and I needed some money to get ready for it. I took a summer job doing construction and then left for two years to serve a mission.
After returning from my mission my summers were filled with work, internships, school, and even getting married. Although I was able to curb my appetite for running across Utah by participating in marathons, always on the back of my mind was the adventure that I had always wanted to take. It wasn't until the end of April 2011 that I was sure I could find time to train for and make my run.

Now here I am less than 24 hours away from the start of my adventure. Thoughts of Richard Jones flash through my head reminding me of the night when inception of my adventurous idea took place. For lack of better words I'm excited. I've wanted this for a long time and with the support of my wife and parents it's finally going to happen.