Day 53: Thank you!

As I write this I’m sitting in the comfort of my own home. Paddy and I enjoyed a home cooked meal after unpacking the van and I shaved off my beard. It will take a bit of time to adjust but it sure feels good to be home.  

Today I got to run across the finish line in Hood River surrounded by family and friends who have been supporting this endeavor. Columbia Gorge CC did a fantastic job of putting together a great finish party. A DJ was playing all of the daily songs that I had posted along the way, there were phenomenal bagels and after some speeches a few of us jumped into the Columbia River. After 53 days of running across the state of Oregon and visiting all 17 community colleges, it was a perfect ending. I was able to thank a lot of people during my speech and I want to do the same here as well.

Paddy Cook - I’ve said it over and over that Paddy had a harder job than me.  She drove the Sprinter van, “Roxy”,  approximately 5,000 miles, made sure I was fed and had all I needed, organized the crew support, arranged press interviews and so much more. We make a great team and I couldn’t imagine doing this without her, I’m forever grateful for her love and support.

Planning Team - The logistics of this run took nearly a year to plan. The team worked with all of the communication and foundation staff statewide and helped plan all of the details that went into this journey. The team consisted of:

Lori Hall - Clackamas CC Communications and Marketing Executive Director

Debra Mason - Executive Director of CCC Foundation

Haley Stupasky - Director of College Advancement

Kattie Riggs - Executive Assistant to President Tim Cook (Me)

Paddy Cook

Fernando Rojas - Faculty member at Clatsop CC, who biked to all the 17 CC’s in 2021 and gave me the seed for this journey

Crew Members - Every leg of the run had two crew members who assisted Paddy with routes, nutrition, van maintenance, errands, etc. Crew members:  Allan Niemi, Mark Thomas, Ed Dennis, Mark Hopkins, Rachel Alm, Megan Cook, Owen Cook, Jeff & Shayna Butler, Rob Nosse & Jim Laden, Howie Howard, Colm Joyce, Carrie Anderson, Casey Layton, Debbie Corcoran, Ken Dankenbring, Matt & Kate Schweitzer, Melody & Lance Lile, Sandra Kindley, Michelle Lowe & Michelle Thomas

Sponsors - Rivermark Credit Union, Johnson RV, Daimler Truck, Ford Family Foundation, Carson Oil, Rob Nosse & Jim Laden, Desireé Caldwell.

CC Presidents who supported the run, helped with housing, fed us, and welcomed us to their campuses.

Day 52: We Did It!

Paddy and I started this amazing journey on June 16th in Ontario, OR at Treasure Valley Community College. After 52 straight days of running through Oregon to all the other 16 community colleges we finally reached Columbia Gorge CC in Hood River today. I can’t say thank you enough to Paddy for all of her work taking care of me, driving the sprinter van, coordinating logistics and everything else she managed so that I could focus on the daily runs.  

Today’s run started out with rain, only the 2nd time I’ve run in rain this entire trip (the first was outside of Pendleton). It felt great and cleared up after a couple of hours. It helped that I was running on the Historic Columbia Gorge Trail for most of the morning. It was lovely to run along a bike path through forest and then emerge to phenomenal views of the gorge. With about 5 miles left the trail ended and I found myself on a hiking trail headed up to the top of Mitchell Point. I gained more than 1,000 ft of elevation in about ½ mile navigating rock slides and 80% grade at one point. It may have been the most challenging segment of the entire run. After coming down the other side I had about 3 miles to run to CGCC where several staff members were there to cheer me in.

Tomorrow I will run the final 2.5 miles from CGCC to the Columbia River where we will celebrate the finish of this epic run to all 17 CCs. I’m feeling quite emotional as this is all coming to an end tomorrow.  I’m grateful for all the support from my crews, the colleges, donors and many others. This adventure has been so much more of a success than I dreamt it would be and was truly fun for Paddy and I. Still lots to process and celebrate including tomorrow’s finish.

Day 51: Columbia Gorge Highway

Stunning run today along the Columbia Gorge Highway Trail. I ran parts of this trail years ago and have been looking forward to this route as I make my way to Hood River. After a few miles on the old Gorge highway I spent the majority of the day on the trail. I ran by Multnomah Falls and several other waterfalls. The views of the gorge are amazing as the trail has quite a bit of climb so I was much higher than I-84.

Also enjoyed running through Cascade Locks, a stop along the Pacific Crest Trail. Had a nice lunch at the base of The Bridge of the Gods and a Blackberry Milkshake from the East Wind Drive In before finishing up my run for the day.  

Tomorrow I make my way to Hood River and Columbia Gorge CC. Except for a couple of miles on Thursday to the finish line I will effectively end this epic journey tomorrow. I have lots of feelings about this adventure coming to an end but I will save those for the next day or two. My plan right now is to enjoy my last run tomorrow, I will take my time and savor the miles.

Day 50: Mt. Hood CC and Day 50!

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, Alejandro Guzman, and a faculty member, Dawn Loomis, as we started the run toward Hood River. Dawn and Alejandro 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. 

Day 49: Familiar Places

Today I set out to run the 24 miles from Clackamas CC to Mt. Hood CC. Nearly the entire route was on bike trails along the Willamette River, I-205, and the Springwater trail. When I lived in Gresham over 10 years ago, I used to run the Springwater weekly as it is a nice flat trail that goes from Boring, OR all the way into Portland. So today felt very familiar and I spent the day navigating cyclists and walkers as opposed to cars. The weather was nice and cool which made the run much easier too.

It was particularly fun running into people I know throughout the day. I saw Dr. Kathleen Hollingsworth, Music Faculty at Clackamas along the Willamette Trail. I ran into high school friends in Gladstone, met a couple in Gresham who used to teach at Clackamas, and finally another high school friend, Beth Salisbury, was at MHCC when I arrived today.  The past two days have been fantastic as I’ve been able to catch up with so many people who have been following the run and making the effort to find me on the route or attend an event.

Tonight I’m headed to dinner at Mt. Hood CC President Lisa Skari’s house. This week all of the Oregon CC Presidents are in Gresham for our Summer retreat. The timing worked out perfectly with my route and I’m looking forward to seeing all of my colleagues. Tomorrow morning I’ll be at MHCC for a morning event before I make my way to the finish line at Columbia Gorge CC.