Hopkins 4K for Cancer

July 17, 2007

by Sarah Eichstedt
Lots of words come to mind when faced with the task of writing the journal entry for today’s arduous journey…however, I find that there are none with the power to recreate this day. Not that one would want to recreate this day in the least. In fact, if we were to live this day all over again, different choices would be made and better outcomes had.
I’d like to quote one of our riders who found something within herself 6 miles from the end of the day when some doubted if they could make it to the end.

“Today I’ve had to dig deeper than ever before.” (Referring to finding the strength to go on.)

And what made this particular day so taxing? Perhaps it was the extreme heat coupled with no shade, a dwindling water supply, a mountainous desert, and the anticipation of a day off with private rooms and beds with pillows…a bad combination no matter how you look at it.

That said, there was certainly some good that came from today’s challenges. After all, it is usually in the darkest of times that one finds the deepest of meanings. Everyone was pushed to his/her limit physically and mentally, and everyone emerged victorious. We all learned that we had more within ourselves than we ever though possible, and we learned to work together as a team in the worst of circumstances. Today we relied on self-motivation, peer support, and the inspiration of those whom we have met during this journey, along with the thoughts of those at home who are supporting our mission.

Today I met a woman named Billy who recently had surgery for breast cancer. She and her husband stopped in their car to give us water. They didn’t even know what we were doing, but when they heard about our mission they were touched. We were thankful. They had touched us as well. And I got to thinking…I bet that if we had stopped every car that drove past us today, there wouldn’t have been one person within each of those cars that hadn’t been affected by cancer in some way. Interesting how a cause of such destruction and sorrow also serves to link people together- to unite communities, if you will.