Welcome to the newest within the lengthy, recurring collection of posts sharing pictures I took whereas my spouse ran very lengthy distances. This time, as a particular deal with, my son was additionally operating. Not me – I walked round slowly and regarded for flowers and spiders.
This previous weekend, Kim and John ran a 50K (31 mile) race as a part of the FlatRock 101 Ultramarathon alongside the Elk River Mountain climbing Path close to Independence, Kansas. This was solely John’s second 50K run – his first was on the identical path again in September, 2024. In that first race, he completed nicely behind Kim. This time, he really beat Kim by about 5 minutes, one thing I’m certain Kim is totally and completely high-quality with.
Having Kim and John operating at comparable paces all through the day made it simpler for me to satisfy them at help stations and high off their water, and many others. as they got here by way of. Since I didn’t have to attend lengthy for one or different to come back by way of station after the opposite handed, I had extra time in-between these stops to wander round with my digital camera.
Sadly, the day was very vibrant and sunny and there was a robust breeze. It was an incredible day for operating, however a difficult one for images. In consequence, I spent a pair hours performing some images within the morning, however discovered different methods to entertain myself the remainder of the day.
It was enjoyable to be significantly south of residence and see lots of spring flowers that aren’t but blooming additional north. I didn’t have time to wander very far, so I didn’t get to see practically as many as Kim and John noticed, however apparently there have been spiderworts, columbine, phlox, and plenty of others blooming alongside the path. I principally frolicked in a little bit wooded space the place I discovered some flowers, spiders, and fungi.
As a prairie man, after all, woodlands usually are not my favourite ecosystem, however I don’t dislike woodlands, and might get pleasure from a great stroll by way of the bushes as a lot as anybody. On this case, I headed to the woods principally due to the sunshine circumstances. The solar was extremely vibrant from virtually the minute it breached the horizon within the morning, so lighting was actually harsh out within the open. As well as, all of the grassy areas near the race’s help stations had been fairly encroached by bushes and shrubs anyway, so I used to be going to be round woody crops irrespective of the place I went.
Within the bushes, I might a minimum of discover a number of areas the place the sunshine was being subtle by distant tree leaves and branches. A lot of the woodland was in shade, which isn’t best for images, however there have been scattered patches of subtle solar and I walked from one to the subsequent, on the lookout for something fascinating.
There have been a lot of spiders and webs strung between the bushes, which saved me busy for some time. I additionally discovered lots of mushrooms and different fungi. The trick was to seek out those that had been additionally well-lit.
A fast be aware on the runners, since they had been the explanation for the journey: Kim has been operating ultramarathons for fairly some time now, so a 50K has change into a reasonably typical distance for her to coach for. This specific path was a difficult one as a result of it’s tough and rocky in locations, has some hills, and it had rained arduous the night time earlier than, making it muddy as nicely. We don’t have lots of rocky, hilly, muddy trails for Kim to coach on close to our residence, so it’s arduous for her to organize for a race like this. She actually needed to run this path within the spring, although, partly as a result of it’s a great time to see wildflowers. (I wish to see spring wildflowers, too, however go about it very in another way.)
John was operating in solely his second extremely. He and Kim now hearken to lots of the identical operating podcasts, comply with a few of the identical well-known races and runners, and ship one another operating memes and coaching suggestions. It was actually cool to see John enhance tremendously from his first try. I believe he loved himself, however fast post-race conversations aren’t often the time to get constructive reflections from runners. He principally talked about rocks, his ankles, and his intense dislike for all times, operating, and just about all the pieces else.
Kim is John’s step mother, so he didn’t inherit his stamina or coaching self-discipline from her, a minimum of not through genetics. Nonetheless, they share a capability to push by way of ache, which is clearly necessary on this sport. There isn’t, so far as I do know, an official slogan for long-distance path operating, but when I used to be requested to jot down one, it could most likely be one thing like, “An effective way to discover nature whereas in fixed discomfort.” It’s arduous to imagine the game doesn’t have extra members, isn’t it?
I’m grateful to Kim (and now John) for all of the coaching they do for these races as a result of it permits me to tag alongside and see enjoyable locations whereas they do a lot of the work. In any case, I received to lie on the bottom within the woods for a pair hours taking a look at spiders and mushrooms! (It’s arduous to imagine macro images doesn’t have extra members, isn’t it?)
