Running Times-LetsRun.com Road Trip of a Lifetime: The First 24 Hours

Day 1: Boulder to Lawrence, KS

Never wanting to live the life of a struggling writer, Chris insured that the lucky members of the RV travelled in style. First, they secured a beautiful 30 foot RV from CruiseAmerica.com. Now, travelling in style in a CruiseAmerica.com RV is a great experience, but it's even better if its members are well dressed and well nourished.

Thanks to adidas, the members of the RV are perhaps the best dressed RV in America. From shoes (adidas Supernova Cushions), to hats (baseball and winter), to jackets, to shirts, to pants, the crew has some of the finest adidas gear in the world. And they are happy as a result. (It's not too late to enter the adidas NCAA XC Prediction contest where our 5 winners will walk away with a plethora of adidas gear. click here)

But travelling cross country can be physically demanding, so the participants have to stay nourished. Thanks to Gatorade that won't be a problem, as they crew was given basically an unlimited supply of Gatorade, Propel Fitness water, and Gatorade bars.

And the final element of a good trip is some nice partying, and since the entire crew is of age, they secured 10 cases of some of the best beer in the world from Rockies Brewing Company, the oldest microbrewery in Colorado (Boulder Beer and Singletrack were the 2 brands of choice).

With the Cruiseamerica.com RV, the adidas Gear, the nourishment from Gatorade, and the Boulder Beer if this crew could not have a good time going to perhaps the most exciting sporting event in the US (the NCAA XC Championships) they would be some of the sorriest people in America.  But have a good time is what they did on the first 24 hours on board.

The Destination on Day 1 was Lawrence, Kansas where we were to meet up with one of Jeff's former athletes at Smoky Hills High School, Steve Vockrodt, now a member of the Kansas Jayhawk XC team.

Near Disaster
The trip almost suffered its first casualty as the RV made its first turn out of the parking lot as one unidentified member of the crew (hint: boyishly good looking fellow from CT) forgot to lock the shower door where the 20 cases of Gatorade and beer were stored.  The cases came flying out of the shower, crashing down as the shower door flew open. Fortunately for the crew, the damage was minimal.

"We only lost one (beer).  It was truly amazing. There is no way cases of beer can drop 10 feet to the ground and not break, but somehow that's what happened.  We were really lucky the damage wasn't worse. But if it was, I would have flown to Terre Haute.  We need to do a better job of protecting the beer."- said another unidentified member of the crew.(hint: he's 6 foot 8 and as goofy as well, Goofy)

The driving down from the plateau of Boulder to the plains of America was fairly uneventful.   The crew knew time was of essence if they were going to get to the "Library" in Lawrence, Ks before closing time. Only stopping for gas and some tacos (69 cents - $1.09 if you care for the stray-hair special) at the Taco King in Ft. Hays, Ks (also of Running With the Buffaloes fame), the crew rolled into Lawrence at midnight, 2 hours before closing time at the Library, thanks to the driving of LetsRun.com's Wejo (from now on to be referred to as LeJo (lead foot Johnson)).  

The RV crew is quite a studious group with 4 Ivy Leaguers and a teacher on board, and they wanted to get in some higher learning at the Library as promised.  Much to their disbelief, the "Library" in Lawrence is not a traditional library, but rather a bar in town. But what could they do? They would have to educate themselves about the finer things in life the best they could. It's safe to say, many books were devoured during our brief study break.

Waiting in line to show their cards to the library staff, the crew ran into a surprised Charlie Gruber (sub 4 minute miler formerly of Kansas).  Gruber had no idea the Running Times-LetsRun.com RV was coming through town and was thrown off his game a bit. Recognizing former top USA miler Dan Wilson: "Wilson what are you doing here? (then recognizing Wejo and some other members of the crew), "wait I know all you guys, it's the runwithus.com guys".  (Note: The crack marketing department at letsrun.com is investigating changing the name of the website to runwithus.com.)

The night was filled with some good times as Middle America can be quite fun.  The crew ripped up the dance floor when the Road Trips theme song "Lose Yourself" from Eminem blasted over the libraries pa system right before last call.  But 3 days were left on the trip, and the crew had to get some sleep.  So they had to fight for sleeping positions on the RV.  Some trading was done as beds were traded for blankets, and eventually (after Lejo's and Slicko's experimentation with completely hetero spooning was ixnayed) day 1 of the Road Trip was history.

Day 2: Dan Wilson breaks Adam Goucher's record

The daylight hours of Day 2 of the Road Trip featured a trip to the Rim Rock cross country course (site of the 1998 NCAA XC championships of Running With the Buffaloes fame, where Adam Goucher won his NCAA title) for some serious training. And Dan Wilson, of UConn fame put on one of the finest displays of running ever witnessed on the XC course (NCAA cross country meet included). Weldon Johnson of 28:10 10k fame, and Scott Anderson tried to stay with Wilson on his "tempo run" over the course but it was futile.  Not even 7 minutes of hard running in, they were both left in Wilson's vapors.  He continued almost effortless covering the 10k course in record or near record time. The runners were not exactly sure of the start and finish of the 10k course so they can not be sure if Wilson ran the full 10k distance. Nonetheless his run was unbelievable. "Dan's run today was as fine as Adam Goucher's course record back in 1998", said no other an authority than Running with the Buffaloes author Chris Lear. (Mark Wetmore could not be reached for comment.)  LetsRun.com Lejo opined "I was embarrassed to be dropped so early, until I realized how fast Dan was going. I see now why he's called the Danimal"

The crew is currently en route to St. Louis, Missouri where they will be checking in with LetsRun.com fan Steve Mrotek and spending the night on the banks of the Mississippi. Sunday they will roll into the promised land of Terre Haute, IN for the tailgate of a lifetime. If you're in Terre Haute and would like to reach them you can call them at 928-380-5093.

First 24 Hours of pictures below. Click here to read Scott Anderson's recap.

The Genius Behind the Operation: Chris Lear	Pimpin' ain't easy: Scott Anderson and Dan Wilson	That better be a Boulder Beer, Mr. Roboto
Paying Homage to the Genius Chris Lear	You want a piece of this, Heinrich?	Smoky Hills Coach Jeff Bliven and our Host for the Evening Steve Vockrodt
Hydration time:The Crew Decked out in the freshest gear w/ some Gatorades at that confounded bridge (Bob Timmons' Rim Rock Farm)	John Carson Driving	Garson: "Damn this is Fun"
Married Life on the RV Sharing some fun courtesy of Singletrack	Science Class   p.s. not EPO	More to come later

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