Day 54-Crawford to E of Chadron (36 Miles)

Getting off to a bit of a late start meant that I had to be efficient to catch Mary for lunch in Chadron before she had to teach a class at Chadron State College. Continuing down Highway 20 was the same as it had been the previous days. There were a few more Western Meadowlarks I spooked that were hidden in the sunflowers on the road's shoulder during this stretch. There were also a few friendly mosquitoes who decided to pay me a visit at my five-mile interval rests.

As I was entering town, completing the first two-thirds of the day, Terry and Pacen from Harrison stopped their red mini-van on the road's shoulder to say hello. It was great to see them again while they were in the largest city I will see in Nebraska (population 5,800) and they left me with yet another parting gift-a box of Twinkies to fuel me for a couple of days.

Soon after meeting them, I called Mary to let her know I was in town. She stopped at the convenience store I was at, helped load my cart into the back of her pickup, and drove me to a wonderful lunch with her parents at the Country Kitchen. Afterwards I got a driving tour through the university, an NCAA Division II school, and downtown before being dropped back off at my stopping point to resume the final third of the run.

I walked through the busy couple of blocks of town before starting off in earnest. As I left town, I noticed Mary had left me a message in chalk saying "12 More Miles-You Can Do It." Later messages down the road promised watermelon very soon and that I was getting "so close." I needed these little extra speed boosts as the final 12 miles were more difficult than the first 24 despite a few hour break.

Mary had passed me on her way home and joined up with me to run the last half mile or so. She then pushed my cart up the 3/4 mile hill to her beautiful home before she took off to finish her run. While she left running I took an ice-bath in the kiddy pool outside.

We had a great dinner of homemade pizza and dessert of rich chocolate pie. I admired all of the skiing, mountaineering, and running memorabilia covering the walls of her home. She also has several amazing landscape paintings that she had done around the house. It was a great way to finish a long week of seven consecutive days running.

Chalk support just outside of town