I will toot these folks’ horn for you. When Amy says her godmother is her running inspiration, she’s not kidding. Rhonda and her husband Rich are both les coureur sérieux

Rich and his running partner were the first beings to run from Death Valley to the top of 14,494′ Mt. Whitney…. and back. ~300 miles over the course of a week of either running, shuffling or sleeping in the intense heat. He wrote a book on the ordeal and I’ve read it. Prior to that adventure, simply running from the bottom to the top was considered ‘ultra’. I guess that makes them UltraUltra. My knees knock at the thought of 5…. 6 miles. Rhonda then became the first woman to accomplish the feat 6 years later and continues to run the Boston Marathon every year with a casual air. I wouldn’t say she takes it for granted, because the other night she talked about how she doesn’t, but she makes it look so effortless.  It seems to the outsider that ranked among the other activities of her week out East, this premiere run is somewhere far down below on her list of things to stress about. And I suppose after having run all day and all night for a more typical 100 mile ultra marathon, or 300 miles in the desert for a week, 26 miles and 4 hours invested might not seem like much.  Amy’s crewed that Western States event and I would give almost anything to bear witness someday.

These people sit in front of you and there’s no cape hanging off the back, rustling gently in the breeze. You inspect carefully. Nope. No ‘S’ on the chest. Although I suspect that viewed through a pair of superhero specs these things would indeed be present. It’s really actually very hard to comprehend. Like I said, I lack the will to soldier on after 3 miles. I can’t imagine the amount of work that goes into tackling something like ultra running. Everything else must seem as if there’s nothing left to prove. I dunno. Maybe that’s not how they feel at all but that’s how it seems to me.