Hey folks –
Just wanted to say thanks for the continued opportunity to post family news on the blog. Here’s a blurb about the 5k run made by Brent Ryden (a counselor i met in July), and Michael Delson – an August camper.
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I got to camp the day before the 5k because I was helping out with registrations and making signs and just generally helping with the preparations for the race. I ran into Michael Delson that morning, whom I’d met and made friends with a few days before and he asked me if I thought he could do the entire race. I said I couldn’t see why not, but asked Harland and Ben Winter just to double-check. They said it was fine as long as somebody did it with him, which I jumped at the opportunity for.
I was running late on the morning of the 5k because I was still helping out with preparations and directing people to the parking and everything, so by the time I found Mike the race had already started. Because of this, it was about fifteen minutes before we realized that we’d been running the race backwards. No worries, though, because it all looped back around and wouldn’t make a difference in the long run. Mike just wanted to do it, no matter how.
We ran into a lot of friends along the way, who were heading back toward us as we were going, and had a lot of fun and a lot of good conversations about camp and school and jobs and women (haha) and everything. After a little while, we thought we were lost and had gotten off-track somehow just because we couldn’t really figure it out based on there being other runners anymore. Every time we passed a “water station ahead” sign, though (facing the opposite direction), we knew we were still on the right track.
With about a half a mile left, some August counselors came to find us and make sure everything was okay, which it was. Delson did the race without the least bit of help from anyone and with only two very short breaks. The only time he had any help was in the home stretch, when he wanted to sprint to the finish line so we grabbed his arms just to keep him balanced. He fell once toward the end and it was just because we were cracking jokes a little too hard.
Everyone gave him a standing ovation and cheered and it was pretty awesome; I’m just glad that I was at the right place at the right time to be able to be the one to do it with him. It was a great time.
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Backwards, eh? Kind of sounds like Jabberwocky – or at least like Brent! 😉
Just goes to show, no matter what the obstacle, Jabberwockians can get things done!
Again, congrats on a job well done, Michael. And thanks, Brent, for sharing the story!
Jabberwocky love,
faith
