Lauren Jones recently spent 4 1/2 days trying to run the 350 mile Pinhoti trail faster than anyone ever had. She came up short, but the story she tells about the experience is not a story of loss. In fact, it's quite the opposite.
Lauren said this about her experience:
"The people made it the experience. I thought it would be just grinding and getting miles and doing the thing. But I actually had such an incredible experience seeing how kind and how generous and how loving all these people were. There were some I didn't know at all and some I barely knew and some that I knew very well. All coming together and all working together and all working out this one common goal for this one person. I was just overwhelmed at the kindness of people. That was the whole experience of this thing for me. The people." It's amazing how the experiences that draw us closer to other people are the experiences we often treasure most. And maybe we all need to tackle more experiences that make us need other people to forge those connections. We often pursue this idea of being independent. We pride ourselves on being able to go at life alone. When we tackle things we know "I" can do, it's often at the expense of discovering what "we" can do together. Loren Jones had never run further than just over 100 miles when she decided to tackle this challenge. She knew it was a challenge that would require assistance. In the end she came up short. Or did she? Sometimes discovering the beauty in other people exceeds the beauty found in a finish line. But rest assured, if you listen to this interview, you'll be left with no doubt there are many more finish lines in Lauren Jones' future. You can find this episode and others at The Running4Soles Podcast. The podcast is also available on iTunes and Spotify.
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Keith CartwrightRunning for something bigger than me. Archives
November 2020
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