John Rutledge, who is running an ultramarathon for his 40th birthday and using the opportunity to support Aim High, sent us this update on his training and anticipation for the 50-mile race. The bib, sporting #218, for my upcoming 50-mile run arrived in the mail today so it seems this is really going to happen. No backing out now. No need to, either, (I hope) as my training has been coming along pretty well. After several consecutive weekends of running farther than I’ve ever gone before, I’m glad that my body generally seems to be holding together. There’s something going on with my left foot, but my fingers are crossed for now… A few weeks ago I ran a 50-k course with two legitimate ultramarathon veterans. Talk about eye-opening. This guy and gal freely discussed “G-I” issues (gastrointestinal–nasty) they’ve endured while on 50-mile, 100-mile, and even 24-hour endurance runs (if you haven’t heard of one of the latter, as you may have surmised, that’s where you run a fixed course for 24 hours and see how many miles you can cover–cuckoo). But otherwise these were nice normal folks with families and jobs. In their free time, they just like to run. A lot. That’s what I’ve been doing with most of my free time lately, too. While on the trails, I’ve definitely had time to question this undertaking, especially while fumbling through head-high manzanita brush or poison oak. One reason certainly is that I’m curious about the experience. Like many other things, there’s only one way to find out what it’s like. And since it seems that I’m capable of doing it, why not try? But it’s the other purpose that actually adds meaning to it. By spreading the word about Aim High to all of you, I’m doing just a little part to remind everyone of the challenges facing the less fortunate and the genuinely good people that then devote their lives trying to help. Many of you have expressed your support for them by sponsoring me for this race. Thank you all very much. The partners of Aim High and the beneficiaries of the program will be more grateful than you can know. Of course, the arrival of #218 also means that there are only two weeks until race day. And don’t you worry, I’ll be sure to check in before then. Thanks for your interest. JR P.S. For anyone interested in contributing to Aim High for my effort, the web site is http://www.firstgiving.com/johnnyrutledge.