Blood, Sweat and Tears

We all remember the image above, taken 9 years ago on this date, when terrorists attacked U.S. soil in ways we could never have imagined. From civilians to firefighters and every type of emergency personnel possible, no one was untouched by this tragedy.

That's why I jumped at the chance to participate in a firefighter fundraiser event held on what we now call Patriot Day.


OK, I lied about jumping at it. The event, after all, was a 10K run and these legs had only done that prior to today by stringing a few runs together! Still, the promotion for the event -- in a little central Wisconsin town called Bear Creek -- drew my attention:

"...This event is being held to help out the Bear Creek Fire Department and Bear Creek First Responder services. On any given day when travelers drive through small towns and the need arises, they rely on the help of the the fire and rescue departments.

"In these small towns, such as Bear Creek, the people that respond are volunteers. Like all small towns across the United States, these first responders operate mainly on grants and donations. Without the proper funding, equipment and training suffer. This is something that Bear Creek refuses to let happen. So, on September 11, 2010 please come out and show your support."

So I did. I showed my support. In a weak moment I signed up and decided to go for it!

They called this event the Bear Creek Kraut Run. Unbeknown to me, Bear Creak is the heart of cabbage country and, where there's cabbage, there's kraut! Yuck. The only thing worse than the taste of cabbage or sauer kraut is the smell. Throw in some occasional manure from farms and it looked like we were in for some breathing issues!

The other challenge -- besides the obvious one of running that far -- was that the race kicked off at 8 a.m. I coerced a friend from work (or did she coerce me?) to not only do the race with me, but to put me up for the night last night. Sue lives closer to Iola (and Bear Creek) so we had a slumber party and carbed up at supper. Still had to hit the road by 6:45 a.m. but who doesn't love a sunrise run?


Oh what we would have given for a sunrise! It rained. Harder at some times than others. But steady. The whooooole time! Thus the hat. We wanted to keep water out of our faces at least so we could breathe.

It started off with a neat 9/11 opening ceremonies presented by the Color Guard. The flag was raised then lowered to half-staff. A woman with a beautiful voice sang the National Anthem and we were off!

Sue and I have been running together for awhile so we knew how to pace ourselves. Initially our goal was to just finish the darn thing! But really we wanted to beat a certain pace time. (Jim and Carter even got me flowers with a note that said they knew I could beat my pace!) I had my timer watch on so that helped. Of course, how could a person not do well when the start/finish line DJ sends us off with the theme from Chariots of Fire?

And after my first puddle soaked my shoes, I really didn't care what the air smelled like. So breathing wasn't an issue. Sue and I had "planned" walk breaks into our run -- 15-30 seconds of walking at each water station, which were about 1.25 miles apart. Just enough time to slightly rest and re-energize. I think that was the ticket. We were never out of breath -- except by the wicked manure barn at Mile 5 -- and surprisingly, weren't dying by the end.

In fact, being as competitive as I am, I sprinted (that's not as fast as it sounds) the best I could so I could beat 66 minutes. And I did. And I even passed 2 younger runners in the home stretch. Ha! I wanted to laugh when the DJ said, "Here she comes with a big smile on her face!"... but I can't sprint, breathe and laugh at the same time!

It was so great to finish better than I had dreamed (probably due to those wonderful flowers I got). And just finish! And say I did it!

We were soaked to the bone, but obviously very happy and, quite frankly very proud of ourselves. There were 150-some runners and we finished around the top third. Not bad for two old-timers!

Would I do it again? My endorphins (plus the 30 minutes in the hot tub when I got home) are telling me, "You bet!" Hey, for a good cause, I'll try just about anything.