Thinkin’ about Dennis Aslett, a former Marine I met in Idaho a year and a half ago and saw again last October. Before he ran the 100 miles in front of him, we talked long about how he rode a 50cal north of Danang and I rode the steel rail west to Vancouver, about how choices last a lifetime, about how we got it wrong, each in our own way, about how we got it right, about how the truth was that if you make peace not war then love will follow so long as you stay in, stay steady, stay alive.
Shooting a 50k in the woods come Saturday I’ll be keepin’ it real for myself and for those who are “out there”. I’ll be done when they are. All I can do is the best I’ve got and most days it seems to work out. People ask me why I stay all the way to the end, shoot images of every runner and I tell ‘em something like “it’s my job” or some other non-answer. I stay because until every one of them comes in “we” have people “out there” and we leave no one behind. It is not military or fake heroics; it is built into the fabric of ultra running. I’m privileged to be a part of it.
Photo Credits
Photos are © Michael Lebowitz – All Rights Reserved
Leave a Reply