After flaming out during HOTS in a major way I was ready to redeem myself at the earliest possible juncture. I hadn’t expected such an opportunity to come so soon, but when Brent called me in mid July and asked if I’d be interested in doing a charity run with him to raise money for the Family Enrichment Center in Bowling Green, I was totally in. In years past Brent has volunteered for this organization and has played a major role in setting up their annual half marathon run and their mud run. With Covid, those events were cancelled this year and he wanted to try to help the organization in any way he knew how. He, like myself, also just enjoys having an adventure and facing a challenge.
As we talked, we discussed possible routes and distances. At first we contemplated a run from Bowling Green to Lexington or perhaps a run from the Tennessee border to the Indiana border along 31-W. Both of these runs seemed very interesting to us, but in the end the thought of keeping it local to South Central Kentucky seemed like a better option. The Family Enrichment Center provides services to all of the counties surrounding Bowling Green (Warren County), so the thought came to mind that visiting each county on foot could help with local awareness of the programs that are available. I had considered this route for about a year prior and now the opportunity to run it had arrived.
For various logistical reasons the start date was pushed back to mid-October, so it was wonderful that we missed the heat, but several evenings the temperature dropped into the upper 30’s and we had brought no warm weather gear with us. Nevertheless, there is no better place to be than the Kentucky countryside in the month of October. I was excited to visit all of the small towns and communities that we would run through and to see the fall colors as we passed through Mammoth cave National Park.
I got off work on Tuesday at 5:00 pm and came home and changed and grabbed a quick bite to eat before Mami and the kids and I all piled into the van to drive downtown. It was almost 7:00 pm when we got to the square and there was a reporter from the news set up to ask us questions. I hadn’t planned on that. We walked around the square and I found Brent’s van where his wife informed me that he was hurrying to finish some work up before starting on the run. He was in the passenger seat with his laptop open. I walked over to the reporter and chatted a bit with her and then Brent came along and we were interviewed and she shot a few clips of us running up the sidewalk. Once all the formalities were completed, we said bye to our families and started on our journey.
We first ran up State Street towards WKU’s campus and that’s when Brent realized he had forgotten the sim card we needed for our tracker. We were using a spare cell phone to track our movement in real time because it was an unsupported run. We figured friends and family could follow along and if anything happened to us they’d at least be able to pin point where we were. So, less than a mile in we had to make our first adjustment. After a few phone calls we met up with Brent’s wife a mile or so further down the street on 31-W to swap a sim card from his tablet, but it was the wrong size, so instead he just tethered it from his cell phone and did so for the next three and a half days. No big deal, things never go as planned.
Coming down 31-W we passed my neighborhood and then stopped briefly at Lost River Cave. We wanted to highlight all of the major attractions in the area and Lost River Cave is certainly high on that list. After a few photos we made our way South down 31-W towards Richpond. At about 7 miles in the shoulder of the road dropped completely off and there was heavy Northbound traffic. There was just enough space to make it through that stretch but the traffic here was way heavier than we had anticipated. We had run that particular stretch many times over the years but it had always been at 5:30 in the morning. It was getting close to 9:00 pm and the road was totally different.
Lost River Cave on 31-W
At Richpond we decided to take our first break. The Richpond Market was closed so we stopped at the IGA next door and loaded up on gummi bears and Body Armor. I hadn’t brought any food or water with me besides a carton of coconut water, and I don’t think Brent had either. Carrying excess food and water is very heavy and I wanted to keep my pack under 5 pounds, so it had been an easy decision. We had figured we could find whatever we needed along the way and we knew the first 21 miles to the square at Franklin very well. My basic strategy throughout the run was to just keep the most recent bottle of whatever I had bought and fill it up with water at spigots or from bathrooms or gas stations. We knew there would be some stretches up to 50K where there would be limited to no supplies, but I guess we had figured that even on these stretches we would find water somewhere. Food was another issue.
Several hundred calories later we left the IGA and continued on 31-W South, going past Chaney’s Dairy Barn, which was unfortunately closed for the evening. Once we got past it and Buchanon Park we noticed the traffic had started to really drop off. We did have one close call, and it was a situation I hadn’t really considered. There were no cars in front of us (we were running into traffic on the left side of the road), but we heard a car approaching from behind. Another car passed this car also going South at a very high rate of speed (probably 80 mph or so) and while there was plenty of room, we weren’t fully on the shoulder because when no cars were approaching we would give ourselves some space. When the speeding car came by it definitely made me jump and from that point on I made sure to be more aware of cars coming from both directions for the remainder of the run. The only promise I had made my wife and kids was that I wouldn’t die. I guess I shouldn’t promise things that I only have limited control over.
About 14 miles in we arrived at Woodburn, KY. I’ve always considered Woodburn to be the halfway point on the road to Franklin and it’s a lovely little community. I remember as a small child stopping at the Crossroads market when I’d visit my cousins who lived on a farm out there. Unfortunately, the market had closed years ago and the Dollar General store nearby was also closed. There really isn’t much else in Woodburn along 31-W and no stores or anything except a few churches and a park off the road. The temperature was dropping but it still felt good in the upper 40’s so we didn’t lose much time and kept on along the road South. If you’re in a pinch, though, there are places to get water if you don’t mind going into the community about a quarter mile or so off the road.
As you get close to Franklin there are a couple of big factories and we hit them right at the 2nd to 3rd shift change, but the road there is good and we felt safe enough. Soon we passed the country club golf course and before we knew it we were at the light at the intersection with 1008. There was a new gas station there that looked open and because it was almost 11:00 pm we decided to grab some snacks and drinks because we really had no idea when we would see another opportunity. As luck would have it most of the fast-food restaurants along 31-W were open, but I guzzled a Mountain Dew and had a bag of pepperoni pizza combos in my pocket so I was squared away for the next couple of hours.
Inside Franklin City limits there were nice sidewalks but we didn’t really need them because there were no cars at all on the roads. I used to work in Franklin and have always thought that it is just the most charming little town with a couple cafes and shops along the square and the old courthouse there in the middle like so many other small towns in Kentucky. The town was completely asleep as we came in and we took a few minutes to look at the square which was decorated for Halloween. Nothing was open and no one else was to be seen. It was as if we had stumbled onto a beautiful little ghost town and in fact that was a consistent theme of our run. It almost felt like we were journeying by foot through some post-apocalyptic landscape and we were the only humans left on earth. Before the run I had imagined we would stop at the square in each little town and relax and take our time, and in some places we certainly had, but at night when it’s cold stopping means freezing and getting stiff so we decided to push on.
Turning onto Cedar Street we ran by several beautifully decorated homes but in a few blocks, we had left the town and were generally heading East towards Scottsville. We crossed the Drakes Creek where the dam is and continued on towards Gold City, where we knew the Gold City Market would be closed, but we thought maybe we could get some water from a spigot. We crossed I-65 and once on the other side I felt for the first time that we were now out on an adventure. From that point on it would mostly be areas that I had never run before and I was excited to see what there was to see.
At about 25 miles in we could see what looked like a UFO hoovering just above us, but in reality it was the water tower at Gold City. There’s nothing in Gold City except the market and a crossroads, but at midnight there wasn’t a single sign of life. As we approached we could see the glow of Coke machines on the front porch of the store and fortunately I had brought money for just such an event. I was out of water again so we sat at an outdoor table and had some Mellow Yellow and got our calories back up and rested a few minutes. The body grows cold when only wearing shorts and a T-shirt in 45 degree temperatures so we couldn’t linger too long. Besides, we weren’t even halfway to Scottsville from Franklin.
Leaving Gold City you pass through Amish country as you approach Scottsville on 585. There’s no stores or businesses and only a few churches here and there, but it’s beautiful country. The old farmhouses sit off the road and I noticed they had candles in the windows and if you let your imagination wander you start to feel as if you have run backwards through time to a point where Kentucky was still a frontier state cutoff from greater civilization. You really can imagine what it might have been like two hundred years prior even if the modern road ruins the illusion. We turned our headlamps off and just marveled at the stars and the milky way above us. It was a new moon so it was quite dark and there were no electric lights to speak of. We slowed our pace to a walk because at the current rate we would have arrived in Scottsville before anything had opened and we didn’t want to do that. So we just strolled through the countryside for several hours in darkness, occasionally crossing a low water ford and passing through forest and then pastures in turn. Eventually we came out onto Highway 100. It was before 5:00 AM on Wednesday morning and many people were out on their way to work. We were only on Highway 100 for about a mile and in that time were passed by more cars than we had seen in the past 6 hours.
We came into Scottsville just as the sun was creeping up. Coming around the backside of the high school we weighed our options for breakfast. There were a few local joints and a few fast-food choices, but we quickly found out that nothing was open for inside dining due to Covid-19. After spending 10 or 11 hours traveling close to 50 miles in the cold we had really hoped to get inside somewhere and warm up and get our shoes off for a few minutes. Instead, we walked up to the Sonic drive-in as you come into town. They told us that the patio was closed, but it was obvious because all of the tables were stacked on one another. We asked if we could order and they let us but we had to take our food and go elsewhere. I had the largest burrito they had and a hot coffee and a water and we took our food and headed towards the square. By now the dawn had broken and just by the square we found a little niche between two buildings with picnic tables and murals painted on the walls. It was one of those nice places that you probably drive by but don’t ever stop at and it was exactly the type of place that we needed at that moment.
15 minutes later we were walking through the square and down to 4th street where we turned and passed through the town and headed back out towards the highway where we finally arrived at 31-E and headed North towards Glasgow. 31-E is a great running road. The shoulder is huge and it’s safe and easy to move and we put some more miles behind us. About 10 miles later we arrived at Barren River Lake and stopped at a Dollar General Store to buy some food and drinks. I guzzled a Mountain Dew energy drink and any drowsiness that had crept over me soon dissipated and I was ready to keep moving. We passed Paradise Point but it wasn’t open so the hotdog and glass bottle soda I had envisioned myself enjoying on the patio will just have to wait until next time. If you’re in the area, plan on a stop there.
As we crossed the bridge over Barren River Lake several semi-trucks blew by us. I’m glad they didn’t come any closer because I would have hated to have had to jump into the lake. The sun was fully up and the sky was a beautiful blue with no clouds in sight. The temperature was rising and getting downright hot, and I think we both thawed out a bit and felt good in spite of the endless hills. At the rate we were going we would get to Glasgow before lunch time and we had decided to take an extended break there. Along the way we passed through Haywood but didn’t stop at the market. A few miles later we were hot and sweaty and thirsty and we passed a mechanic’s garage with one of the bay doors open. We approached and asked if we could just refill some water and the owner let us. It seemed like we were constantly running out of water but constantly finding places to refill so our strategy of not carrying water was working out. I kept losing my bottles though, but in the end, it never came back to hurt me.
We passed under the Louie B Nunn Parkway and reached the outskirts of Glasgow around 11:00 AM. It’s much larger than Franklin or Scottsville and there are many stores and restaurants. The city streets had sidewalks so we walked the final two miles to the square where we arrived just before noon. We had put 70 miles behind us in about 17 hours with no sleep in about 30 hours, so a little break at the square sounded great. We arrived and met Katie from the Family Enrichment Center and she wanted to do a Facebook Live recording. It was great and she offered to help us in any way we wanted, but we preferred to do everything as unsupported as possible so Brent offloaded some items but otherwise, we didn’t solicit any assistance.
I assumed he was dead…
My sister’s best friend, Kelly, works at a café on the square at Glasgow called the Fine Arts Bistro, and I had connected with her before the run and let her know we would be passing right by it on our run. They were just getting ready to close for the day when Brent and I walked over. She made us some smoothies, which were excellent and we chugged those down in seconds. We chatted with her for a bit and it was very nice to speak with someone after being on the move for so long. Sometimes all you need is a little pit stop to pick you up not only physically but also emotionally and psychologically. Running 230 miles will take you through many unexpected places and a familiar face and a cold smoothie sure do go a long way towards keeping you going.
The Fine Arts Bistro in Glasgow, KY
Once we said our goodbyes at the bistro, we walked back across the street to the square and decided to try to rest for a little bit. I got my shoes off and inspected the damage, and honestly my blisters weren’t nearly as bad as I thought they would be. I pulled out my inflatable pillow and laid down on the grass right in the shadow of the courthouse and quickly drifted off to sleep. Brent was in a gazebo, which had been decorated for Halloween and he had his legs up on the rail. I don’t think he actually slept a wink, but I managed to get about 45 minutes. We were about 70 miles in and the first major stretch of the run was now behind us with the road to Munfordville and then on to cave country before us.
To be continued in Part 2…. (Coming Soon)!
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