Thursday, January 13, 2011

Becoming elite athletes ...

Wednesday January 12th, 2011     DAY FOUR
RAE Daily Update; Posted by Bill Palladino, Executive Director of On the Ground
 
I have been making the case since coming on board RAE that our team, a variant group of business professionals, cops, entrepreneurs, students, and community leaders, will eventually learn that they are becoming elite athletes.  That is to say that they were all extraordinary going into the project... they had to be to commit to such a feat.  My feeling was that many of them didn't understand the true nature of day after day physical punishment, and its effect on the body and psyche over time.

It is the nature of all things to return to inert uniformity, a process we know as entropy.  There is irony here for those who would venture to call themselves endurance athletes.  Typically this physical truth occurs when things cease motion, an old tractor left out in a field, the newspaper caught in the rain, a mountain slowly turning itself into boulders, gravel, and sand.  For these runners remaining in motion the entropy ensues.  There is breakdown of both the physical and the spiritual, but unlike the tractor and the newspaper and the mountain these dreamers, these doers, these bodies in motion rebuild.  As the RAE Team shows us, it's not about the limp we may have, or the pain that we bear.  It is about being present when we feel things breaking down, and understanding in that moment that there are always others whose pain and fragility is greater than our own.  That in fact our own momentary pain can simply be a reference point for the sacrifice others live with every day of their lives. It is this act that challenges them, not the motion itself which they seem to thrive upon, but the process over time, difficult to predict, impossible to measure, but once completed clearly understood.

I watched a short video today of an interview with my good friend Hans Voss conducted by Jacob Wheeler.  Hans had a simple mishap on Tuesday, turning his ankle twelve miles into a thirty-mile run.  Hans, a seasoned endurance athlete, stopped briefly and then buried his pain somewhere deep within to finish out the day.  In this interview he said, when asked about the pain he'd suffered through, "there's a lot of people struggling a lot harder than me. One day off with a rolled ankle in nothing in comparison to the challenges the people in this country and around the world face every day.  So, I'm fortunate, I'm healthy, and I'm ready to go."  I loved this comment because part of Hans' pain was in his wise decision to take the day off from running.  He put his ego aside on Wednesday for the betterment of the rest of the team, knowing that he would ultimately slow them down if he chose to continue.  Instead he stayed on the bus, and decided to contribute to how the team was supported during the day, adding new depth and a repeatable process that will live on for the rest of the run.  Hans seemed to embrace the simple acts today of gathering and distributing fresh, salted, avocados to help replenish the team running south today without him.

Here's Jacob's post from his Glen Arbor Sun blog.Hans youtube
Michigan Land Use Institute executive director Hans Voss, one of the original activists behind the Run Across Ethiopia, saw a different side of the run today. Voss sprained his ankle early on Day 3 but gutted out the entire 30-mile run yesterday. But extensive swelling last night convinced the competitive athlete that riding in the support van today might be wise. Earlier today, Voss talked about his injury, the importance of the “sustenance” van for the runners, and why Coach Dan Zemper — a late addition to the Run — has been nothing short of a Godsend to this ambitious endeavor.

To see the entire video clip on YouTube click the image or click here.

Today we had several runners chime in to our building storyline.  Here are some excerpts:

NIGEL
BeerAnd finally, today was day two of four consecutive 30 milers as we Run Across Ethiopia. We are now right out in the African Savanna. The temperature is rising and the people from the villages we run through sometimes join us for a few hundred yards or even a few miles. Luckily Matthew Desmond, Chris Girrbach and myself can still find cold beer at the end of each day :-) Day 4 - Another 30 miles down as we ran from Alem Tema to Ziway in 5 hours 53 mins. That was 30 mins faster than the 30 miler the day before. In four days we have now run 108 miles or 175 KM in 21 hrs 21 minutes. We are rolling (or at least crawling :-))
 
MATT
Day 4 of the run, 108 miles down, 108,000 mind-blowing strides, approximately! The Run Across Ethiopia team gelled today over the 30 mile run with an earlier start and extremely efficient support along the run: water every half hour, food every hour, no lolligagging. That added up to an earlier end time and about an hour and a half less in the hot afternoon sun. We made big waves in the small communities we passed through, including many consisting of round, mud-brick, thatch roofed houses. Folks welcomed us even more heartily today. Adults and children joined us en masse as we passed by, some for several miles. The highlight of the day was midway through the run when 60 or so people ran with and behind us, mostly children. A chant erupted from the kids: "Chelsea! Chelsea! Chelsea!" referencing the English soccer team. Nigel, our Liverpool loving British teammate was none too pleased! Soon, however, we were able to redirect the cheer to honor our visionary leader: "Treter, Treter, Treter!" The moment was well deserved for Chris and provided a timely pick-me-up for us all.

A few days ago May Erlewine and Seth Bernard made their way back to Addis Ababa to work with more school children and to interact with one of Ethiopia's most renown jazz musicians.
 
Seth &May
Another incredible day here in Addis Ababa!
Art AidWe are inspired every moment and have been trying to soak in as much as possible. Today in the schools we focused on love as a theme. The kids did art work and we played all of the love songs we could muster. We felt so fortunate to be able to witness such a beautiful intimate moment with them. The paintings were beautiful!  (Stephanie from Art Aid International, a division of the Tesfa Foundation helped with the art portion and provided the photo).

Amalia Fernand arrived yesterday with the rest of the Young and Voss families and of course miss Shauna Fite. Amalia worked with the kids to make leopard and baboon masks. The students colored them in and put them on. The school became a forest of wild animals... dancing wild animals. The images of these little ones with their colorful masks and giant smiles will be one I will hold onto dearly in my minds eye!
 
We also got a quick tour of the Jazz school that our musician friend Henock helped to foster here. It's a really incredible school that focuses on the Berkley school of music curriculum. They provide Theory and Ensemble classes and offer practice and jam spaces for the students. The atmosphere was very free and open. It was the first time in a long time that I have felt moved to return to school.
 
We are going out this evening to see some traditional Ethiopian music. It's been hard to pass up all of the amazing cultural experiences, but we're all a bit exhausted from the constant motion. I am operating on the idea that I can rest when we're back home. But still, I think we'll call it early tonight.  Everyone is well and sending love back to all of you!
 
Day five on Thursday promises more stories, and more growth.

To read full-length stories posted by our RAE Team members please visit our blog pages at http://onthegroundglobal.us1.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=e86f86882c25bcdcfe0bda552&id=dfafc38c28&e=7b6f7ef5c1
 
Remember too that you an follow us on Facebook and on Twitter where we post frequent, if short, snippets about the adventure.

If you want to see our stream of photos as they arrive you can go to the website (see below) or go right to our Flickr Photostream using the link below. http://www.flickr.com/photos/57872575@N05/
 
Tune in to the RAE website every day, or wait for these daily email messages.  Daily coverage is available on our website, and if you're in the Traverse City area, three area businesses host online coverage: Higher Grounds Trading, Pangea's Pizza, and Crema Cafe' & Grill.   Feel free to come on by and cheer on the team.
 
To see more photos of the team as they are sent to us from Ethiopia, go to the website, www.runacrossethiopia.org, or go to our Flickr page, http://www.flickr.com/photos/57872575@N05/. 

No comments:

Post a Comment