Day 37: Cincinnati, OH to Columbus, OH (Monday, July 21)
Distance traveled: 122 miles
Personal running distance today: 10 miles
Total personal miles to-date: 236 miles
Today's dedications: Lee Hecht
My running buddy: Tina
Weather: Sunny, 80s
As per usual, not a day on 4K goes according to plan. Last night, I spent time with Haerie and Devin, our leg 3 leg leaders, making the running route for today. As it turned out, Google maps lied to us again about the reliability of roads, so once we had arrived at the place where we were supposed to run, it was no good. Plus, it was crazy foggy. So, in a last minute effort, I found Paint Creek State Park, a park about an hour away with plenty of trails for us to use.
We drove the extra hour to the park and started our day. As we quickly discovered, the grassy trails were very wet with dew. I ran in a group with my running buddy, Tina, and a few other girls on the team. We traveled in a pack, so it was fun to have more friends to be around. Our feet were pretty wet within the first couple miles, and then we traveled further into the forest area on a mountain bike trail where we found spiderwebs EVERYWHERE. We actually carried a huge tree branch to put in front of us to attempt to catch the spiderwebs. It was a pain.
Our first time out, we got 6 miles done before heading to the van for a water break. After that, our big group broke up into our running pairs, and Tina and I did laps around a beautiful pond to finish up our last 4 miles.
Distance traveled: 122 miles
Personal running distance today: 10 miles
Total personal miles to-date: 236 miles
Today's dedications: Lee Hecht
My running buddy: Tina
Weather: Sunny, 80s
As per usual, not a day on 4K goes according to plan. Last night, I spent time with Haerie and Devin, our leg 3 leg leaders, making the running route for today. As it turned out, Google maps lied to us again about the reliability of roads, so once we had arrived at the place where we were supposed to run, it was no good. Plus, it was crazy foggy. So, in a last minute effort, I found Paint Creek State Park, a park about an hour away with plenty of trails for us to use.
We drove the extra hour to the park and started our day. As we quickly discovered, the grassy trails were very wet with dew. I ran in a group with my running buddy, Tina, and a few other girls on the team. We traveled in a pack, so it was fun to have more friends to be around. Our feet were pretty wet within the first couple miles, and then we traveled further into the forest area on a mountain bike trail where we found spiderwebs EVERYWHERE. We actually carried a huge tree branch to put in front of us to attempt to catch the spiderwebs. It was a pain.
Our first time out, we got 6 miles done before heading to the van for a water break. After that, our big group broke up into our running pairs, and Tina and I did laps around a beautiful pond to finish up our last 4 miles.
Once everyone had finished their miles for the day, we drove into Columbus where we were going to do some volunteer service with their local Ronald McDonald House. I had been talking with Meika at RMH for a couple weeks planning our day of service there. She and I were both so excited about the day, so I was happy that it finally had come.
We arrived to RMH to a huge lunch for us, consisting of amazing spaghetti, salad and bread. This was the first time in a long time that we really had a REAL lunch, so it was a huge treat for us. And it was so nice of the RMH staff to make extra food in addition to the lunch they prepared for the guests to give to us.
When I walked into the RMH, I noticed a sign on the front that said they were currently under expansion. Once they finish the expansion, they'll be the largest RMH in the WORLD! How crazy is that?!?! I spent 4 years of high school volunteering countless hours at our local RMH, so it has a special place in my heart, and it was especially amazing to see this one.
The first thing we did after lunch was get at our of the house. It was absolutely amazing. Their facilities for their families are top-notch and so home-y for the residents. My personal favorite room was the workout room because it was themed for the Columbus Crew soccer team, and many of the players had signed the walls! Other rooms throughout the house were sponsored and decorated by other Columbus sports teams, which was really cool to see. There was even a few Ohio State rooms, which was fun to see since I now have friends I know who went there.
We arrived to RMH to a huge lunch for us, consisting of amazing spaghetti, salad and bread. This was the first time in a long time that we really had a REAL lunch, so it was a huge treat for us. And it was so nice of the RMH staff to make extra food in addition to the lunch they prepared for the guests to give to us.
When I walked into the RMH, I noticed a sign on the front that said they were currently under expansion. Once they finish the expansion, they'll be the largest RMH in the WORLD! How crazy is that?!?! I spent 4 years of high school volunteering countless hours at our local RMH, so it has a special place in my heart, and it was especially amazing to see this one.
The first thing we did after lunch was get at our of the house. It was absolutely amazing. Their facilities for their families are top-notch and so home-y for the residents. My personal favorite room was the workout room because it was themed for the Columbus Crew soccer team, and many of the players had signed the walls! Other rooms throughout the house were sponsored and decorated by other Columbus sports teams, which was really cool to see. There was even a few Ohio State rooms, which was fun to see since I now have friends I know who went there.
In their expansion, they're adding a ton of rooms plus an awesome rooftop garden. After the expansion is complete (which will be very soon, and they're so excited!), they will have an impressive 122 rooms. So insane.
After our tour wrapped up, we began on our service projects. I worked on making a big metal shelving unit with Bree and Jovia. We mastered that task like CHAMPS! It was the best looking metal shelf I've ever seen.
This took up most of the afternoon while my teammates worked on various other tasks to help out RMH. By 5:00, we had finished up and were ready to head to our new host, which promised to have dinner by 6:00.
We actually stayed in Westerville, Ohio, because that's where the church was located. When we arrived, a ton of the church congregation was there helping out with dinner and wanting to eat with us. They had a HUGE spread of food to accommodate all our dietary restrictions. I had a black bean burger for the first time on the trip, and I was way too thrilled about it. The best part of dinner was meeting the church members who sat with us. They were all so intrigued by our run and wanted to learn so much about all of us.
After dinner, we headed to the building across the street that the church owns to relax. It had been a long day of trail running and volunteering, so many of us ended up going to bed by 10:00 on a rest day. We awoke the next morning by 9:00 to yet another great meal provided by the church.
Day 38: REST DAY - Columbus, OH (Tuesday, July 21)
Personal running distance today: 4 miles
Total personal miles to-date: 240 miles
Weather: Hot, sunny, humid, 80s
After breakfast, a few of the girls had convinced me to go on a 3 mile run with them, despite the terribly humid and hot morning already. I went with Kelsi, Syd, Tina and Kenzie. I hadn't run with Kelsi or Syd before, so I was excited to get some run time with them. We had a great run and came back dripping in sweat. I showered off and then went on a (long) walk to CVS to get cash back to get quarters for laundry.
A big group of us went to the laundromat for our LAST LAUNDRY DAY OF 4K!!! Since this is our LAST REST DAY, it's the last time we'll do our stinky runner laundry, which was kind of an exciting moment. We headed back to the host to write in some more journals before our big dinner event.
The Navigator Management Partners in Columbus, OH, offered to host a dinner for our 4K team because they had also hosted one for Portland's bike team when they passed through several weeks ago. Tonight was special, though, because it was more than just a dinner for us. It was also a fundraiser for the James Cancer Center and the Navigator Management Partners' Pelotonia team. Pelotonia is a huge bike ride in Ohio that raises money for cancer and has a variety of distances that people can choose to do. We got to meet several of the riders and several of the amazing workers at NMP.
The coolest part was that they had a resident artist who was painting a mural in a room of the office and had painted the 4K Portland logo on there to have all the riders signed when they passed through. By the time we arrived, they also added our run team logo for us to sign, too! This is the second time we've had a "run-in" with Portland (since we also spent a night with us in Yuma, CO). It was pretty amazing to see our teams' signatures together on that wall, especially since Jamie had signed it just a few days before the accident.
After our tour wrapped up, we began on our service projects. I worked on making a big metal shelving unit with Bree and Jovia. We mastered that task like CHAMPS! It was the best looking metal shelf I've ever seen.
This took up most of the afternoon while my teammates worked on various other tasks to help out RMH. By 5:00, we had finished up and were ready to head to our new host, which promised to have dinner by 6:00.
We actually stayed in Westerville, Ohio, because that's where the church was located. When we arrived, a ton of the church congregation was there helping out with dinner and wanting to eat with us. They had a HUGE spread of food to accommodate all our dietary restrictions. I had a black bean burger for the first time on the trip, and I was way too thrilled about it. The best part of dinner was meeting the church members who sat with us. They were all so intrigued by our run and wanted to learn so much about all of us.
After dinner, we headed to the building across the street that the church owns to relax. It had been a long day of trail running and volunteering, so many of us ended up going to bed by 10:00 on a rest day. We awoke the next morning by 9:00 to yet another great meal provided by the church.
Day 38: REST DAY - Columbus, OH (Tuesday, July 21)
Personal running distance today: 4 miles
Total personal miles to-date: 240 miles
Weather: Hot, sunny, humid, 80s
After breakfast, a few of the girls had convinced me to go on a 3 mile run with them, despite the terribly humid and hot morning already. I went with Kelsi, Syd, Tina and Kenzie. I hadn't run with Kelsi or Syd before, so I was excited to get some run time with them. We had a great run and came back dripping in sweat. I showered off and then went on a (long) walk to CVS to get cash back to get quarters for laundry.
A big group of us went to the laundromat for our LAST LAUNDRY DAY OF 4K!!! Since this is our LAST REST DAY, it's the last time we'll do our stinky runner laundry, which was kind of an exciting moment. We headed back to the host to write in some more journals before our big dinner event.
The Navigator Management Partners in Columbus, OH, offered to host a dinner for our 4K team because they had also hosted one for Portland's bike team when they passed through several weeks ago. Tonight was special, though, because it was more than just a dinner for us. It was also a fundraiser for the James Cancer Center and the Navigator Management Partners' Pelotonia team. Pelotonia is a huge bike ride in Ohio that raises money for cancer and has a variety of distances that people can choose to do. We got to meet several of the riders and several of the amazing workers at NMP.
The coolest part was that they had a resident artist who was painting a mural in a room of the office and had painted the 4K Portland logo on there to have all the riders signed when they passed through. By the time we arrived, they also added our run team logo for us to sign, too! This is the second time we've had a "run-in" with Portland (since we also spent a night with us in Yuma, CO). It was pretty amazing to see our teams' signatures together on that wall, especially since Jamie had signed it just a few days before the accident.
We also were able to award our second and last scholarship of the trip to Rebecca this evening. Rebecca lost her mom to cancer and took much of the work of caring for her family after her mom's passing. She was very sweet, and I'm glad it worked out so well that she could also attend our special dinner.
After dinner had finished, we headed back to our church. Then, one of my most memorable/fun nights of 4K commenced.
Sarah, Mo, Jovia, Kenzie and I headed out to grab a drink at a local Irish pub. In true Irish fashion, I enjoyed a Guinness. After we had each had a drink, our suave waiter had convinced us to stay for another drink. So, we figured we should all split a bottle of wine. After this, we decided that this night was far from over, however, the Irish pub was closing up. Our waiter gave us a recommendation of Jimmy V's across the street to visit for another drink. This was probably the best suggestion we've gotten all trip long.
Jimmy V's had a great outdoor patio, and the weather was perfect. Even better, there was a guitarist singing and playing live. JT Hillier was honestly one of the most talented local artists I've ever heard. He took any and all requests we had, even one song he had never played before but tried out and performed perfectly.
JT stopped playing around midnight, much to our dismay. His mother was also in the audience, which was adorable. After he stopped playing, he hung out with her. As he was starting to pack up his stuff, we struck up a conversation with him and starting talking about 4K, of course. We also dropped in that Mo had sung on Broadway and it would be cool if they could do a duet, which we were partially joking around about, but JT was more than happy to sing with her!
He hopped back up onto the stage area with his guitar and Mo joined him singing a few songs, like Landslide by Dixie Chicks. It was basically the perfect ending to SUCH a fun night. We even managed to get a photo with our new favorite Ohio artist.
After dinner had finished, we headed back to our church. Then, one of my most memorable/fun nights of 4K commenced.
Sarah, Mo, Jovia, Kenzie and I headed out to grab a drink at a local Irish pub. In true Irish fashion, I enjoyed a Guinness. After we had each had a drink, our suave waiter had convinced us to stay for another drink. So, we figured we should all split a bottle of wine. After this, we decided that this night was far from over, however, the Irish pub was closing up. Our waiter gave us a recommendation of Jimmy V's across the street to visit for another drink. This was probably the best suggestion we've gotten all trip long.
Jimmy V's had a great outdoor patio, and the weather was perfect. Even better, there was a guitarist singing and playing live. JT Hillier was honestly one of the most talented local artists I've ever heard. He took any and all requests we had, even one song he had never played before but tried out and performed perfectly.
JT stopped playing around midnight, much to our dismay. His mother was also in the audience, which was adorable. After he stopped playing, he hung out with her. As he was starting to pack up his stuff, we struck up a conversation with him and starting talking about 4K, of course. We also dropped in that Mo had sung on Broadway and it would be cool if they could do a duet, which we were partially joking around about, but JT was more than happy to sing with her!
He hopped back up onto the stage area with his guitar and Mo joined him singing a few songs, like Landslide by Dixie Chicks. It was basically the perfect ending to SUCH a fun night. We even managed to get a photo with our new favorite Ohio artist.
The walk back to the church was just as memorable as the rest of the night. And although we didn't get to bed until about 1 a.m. and woke up at 5 a.m., it was so worth it. After our 5 a.m. wake up, we headed toward Moundsville, WV. One state closer to Maryland, one day closer to Saturday!
Run happy,
Natalie
Run happy,
Natalie