Started today at Mt. Hood Community College (MHCC) in Gresham. Nearly all of the community college presidents were in attendance as we have our Summer retreat the first week of August every year. It just so happens that this year it was scheduled to be in MHCC’s district and it lined up perfectly for when I arrived. MHCC went all out and gave each of us custom running bibs with the number 1966, the year they opened. Then all of us ran down into the quad where we had speeches and an appeal to donate to the run.
I was joined on my run by MHCC Board Member, Andrew Speer, as well as a student and a faculty member as we started the run toward Hood River. The student and faculty member ran about 2 miles before turning around and Andrew ran the entire route with me today. Once we got through Corbett and Springdale the run was along the Historic Columbia Gorge Hwy. We ran by the Vista House and several waterfalls making for a beautiful day on the run. Early on we were cheered on by two women from Texas and Louisiana who were in Oregon to run a marathon. They were taken aback by what we were doing and we saw them several times along the route.
Today is day 50, a momentous day as originally I had planned to finish in 50 days. Early on in the run I realized we would need a couple of extra days built in to have time to visit all 17 colleges and get the miles in. So I have two more days of running to reach Columbia Gorge Community College in Hood River on Wednesday. The final couple of miles to the finish will take place on Thursday morning. As I write this I am feeling a mix of happy/sad realizing this once in a lifetime journey is coming to an end. I’m very much looking forward to being home and will also miss the daily adventures and people I have met along the way.
