MT Madness: DFQ!

By Greg Wells

Just signing up for MT 50 miler was hard for me. Not because I didn't think I could do it, but because it was a hard trail run and trail running is still pretty new to me. After a few trial trail runs with some awesome people, I gained some confidence. If you can run 30 at Greenrock, you can do 50 at Mark Twain... You got this! Plus I've got Schupp to run with me.

A few weeks leading up to the race, I was seriously in my head big time with doubts and worries. What if I fail... What if my legs quit working ... What if I'm in the middle of the woods and I have a full blown anxiety attack ... How are you going to deal with that ... I began to feel regret for signing up because this wasn't feeling fun anymore. Luckily, I have amazing people in my life to help me believe in myself to push past the fear and own it.  You know who you are and I love you all! 

Race day came and we were off. My goal was just to finish. I wasn't going to push myself too hard. John and Randi talked much of the first 15 miles and I kinda just hung out in the back, trying to relax and focus on what I needed to do to make it. John must have felt really good because, after the 15-mile AS, he took off like a bullet! To be completely honest, I was pretty disappointed for a little bit because the plan was to run the whole thing together. He left the plan with not so much as a, “Hey I'm out,” so I felt a little abandoned. Thankfully, it didn't last. This is one of my best friends and he was high on a good feeling and was taking on 50 miles with confidence... and, after all, I had abandon him before in a Warrior Dash years earlier because I had felt the same confidence. So, instead of being mad, I built off his energy and used it as a motivator for myself. If Johnny’s got this then I got this too.

Grabbing awesome food at the DRC AS.

After the first 25, I got to the Start/Finish AS and was immediately met there by John Cash who was incredibly helpful and seemed to go out of his way to focus on me. That was the pick me up I needed; this guy is literally an ultrarunning/any kind of running superstar and he's helping me!! To me, that was huge. I had to believe in myself if he did. I took off on my second loop telling myself there was no fucking way I was quitting!!

No one said running was easy on the body!

Around 40 miles, it got really hard ... like really, really effing hard. I felt great, but my legs were quitting underneath me. So, rewind to 2010. That year, I accidentally put my leg through the glass window on my entertainment center and completely severed my Tibialis Anterior Tendon, the tendon that allows you to pick you foot up, and another tendon (can’t remember the name of this one), that allows you to move your big toe. It was bad and it was a big deal. The doctor literally told me I wouldn't ever be the same with my strength in running and jumping. That sucked. I’m an athlete. Sports are my life. So I worked my ass off to make sure that didn't happen. By 2011, I had completed a marathon. Suck it, doc!

Fast forward back to 40 miles into the race. My right ankle right where my surgically repaired tendons are was hurting a little, my thighs were completely trashed, and I was scared I wasn't going to make it. But once again, at the 40-mile AS there was Mr. Cash to greet me and help me out. I found my bearings and took off. And that’s around the time when I remembered Andy writing #DFQ on my right arm. I literally looked at my right arm 100 times from that point and said “Don't Fucking Quit”, then to my left arm where I had LSE (Lor'e, Shea, Ella -my daughters)  and said, “I love you girls, your dad’s not a quitter.”

The AS at mile 45 was my seal of victory. I hurt so bad-- my ankle was swelling up , my thighs wanted to seize into a cramp on every step-- but there at Mile 45 were Meghan and Stacey, two very big reasons I even had the confidence to attempt a 50. These two people went out of their way to run with me and to help me become a better runner. There was 0% chance I wasn't finishing - if my tendon ruptured, I was crawling! I went back to the right arm: Don't Fucking Quit!! To the left: I Love You Girls, Your Dad’s Not A Quitter! It might be corny, but it carried me to the end. I came out of the woods and there were my best friends. Schupp and my girlfriend Stacy, who had paced 20 miles with Rae, cheering me on. Two people I couldn't be more proud of, two people who have come so far in running and in life and they were right where I needed them to be, to celebrate this awesome moment of my life with me. I fought my back tears and high-fived Travis at the finish line and received my 50-mile finisher medal!

Today (a few days after), my body hurts pretty bad, but all I can think is, “Let's do that again because I wanna do better!”  I wanna give a HUGE shout-out to everyone for all your support, motivation, and friendship in this crazy-ass world! Thank you for being a part of my life and making it that much better! I love my DRC family!