Blue Collar Runners

It was March of 1993, just a month shy of my 19th birthday, and I couldn’t take my eyes off of the man speaking on television. Jim Valvano, the coach of the North Carolina State men’s basketball team, was speaking at the ESPY Awards, and that night he was accepting the Arthur Ashe Award for courage. He spoke that evening about living a meaningful life and doing three things every day.

Melanie Arleth never dreamed she’d be a runner, let alone an ultrarunner. In March of 2018, she felt a shift in her mindset. “I decided to go for it. I had just turned 41 and after putting my family first, I was consistently losing myself along the way. It was then that I decided I wasn’t going to just be a runner, I was going to be an ultrarunner.”

2020 was a year full of problems and sorrow that none of us saw coming, but it was also a year of adapting to change. While it was also a year of cancellations, for Krista and I, that meant it was also a time to try new things and climb more mountains.

After serving his first tour in Iraq, Jason Mosel came back home to a whole new set of struggles. Ones that training hadn’t prepared him for. “From everything I saw, everything I did, I may have physically left the country of Iraq, but my head was still there.”

Eve was an active kid who grew up in rural Indiana. She started her running career early, running both cross-country and track throughout high school. Her running coach was instrumental in her growth. “He taught me to love heat running, to run easy when needed, and to race smart.”

As the Vermont 50 race weekend approached, sadness hung in the air, as the void of the race was evident. When Laura Farrell, founder of the Vermont 100 & 50-mile races and Vermont Adaptive, texted us four days earlier, asking us if we’d like to join her and her family for an impromptu 50k to keep the Vermont 50 spirit alive, we were immediately on board.

Chip Howard felt his adrenaline pumping as he began buckling himself into the thrill ride Superman, alongside his family at Six Flags New England, but he had a problem. The buckle was not big enough. An attendant approached him and explained he would have to get off the ride.

Kevin Draper grew up in the coastal town of Guilford, CT, where his adoptive parents helped him cultivate a love of nature. Yearly trips took them to the mountains and lakes of New Hampshire where they swam in Lake Winnisquam and spent time exploring Gunstock Mountain together.

Just 10 years prior to finishing third at the Laurel Highlands Ultra in Pennsylvania, alcohol was slowly killing Margaret Smith, and she knew she needed a change. So she joined the United States Army. It was the best decision she’s ever made.

Ten years ago, Robert Gantz had just arrived at the Little Rock Air Force Base for C-130 airplane training and his mentor and best friend, “Seabass,” asked him if he’d like to run a 10k the next day. Always up for a challenge, Robert said “Let’s do it.” He ended up placing third in his age group, and the fire was lit.

We had just heard about this really cool challenge inspired by David Goggins, where people run 4 miles every 4 hours, for 48 hours. We quickly came up with our own variation that included a 100-mile twist: we would run 4 miles every 4 hours, until we hit 100 miles.

Imagine waking up to a sunrise in a new place every morning with the next adventure waiting around the corner. This is the life of Amy Margolis and David Wilson. Van life has taken them all over the United States for the past two years.

When Chad Prichard reflects on sobriety, running and life, he pauses, “I wouldn’t want it any other way. I call it, “life without crutches” and the ability to feel everything. It hasn’t been an easy journey, but the ability to see life in a new light is a gift. I have been able to attack the traumas in my life from combat and other areas, and face my demons.”

Ruthie Loffi hung up her bib at mile 50 of the Rocky Raccoon 100 in 2018. Amid tears and disappointment, Ruthie had an epiphany about a nagging worry that had consumed her most of her life. It took this DNF (which Ruthie loves to refer to as Did Not Fail) to realize that not trying was far worse than failure itself.

As 2020 begins, I look back with gratitude to the year 2010—a decade that began with darkness and confusion, and ended with hope.

In the fall of 2014, Maribel Dichard felt herself hitting rock bottom. Outwardly, she had it all. A successful career, loving marriage and two healthy children. However, she also had a drinking problem, “I hit a point where I realized my kids could see it.” That evening, she took her last drink and quickly discovered running.

In 2017, Vin Framularo’s marathon plans were derailed when a snowboarding accident sent him to the emergency room with a broken back. Now he has a ritual that he follows each time he toes the starting line of a race. “I tell whomever is around me, guys, the hardest part of the race is over.”

“My life was pretty much gymnastics and school. We worked out in the gym 20-30 hours per week.” After a string of injuries in high school and her gymnastics days behind her, Meghan had a big void to fill. Her dad was a marathon runner, which intrigued Meghan, and at the age of 18, she decided to join him for a run.

By 2001, his life was spiraling out of control. Jon tried to commit suicide by taking a bottle of sleeping pills. “I fell asleep and woke up a couple days later in the hospital. The doctor said, ‘You should believe in God, because you shouldn’t be alive.’” It was a major turning point in his life.

Laura Farrell has broken barriers in the sport of ultrarunning. Her real legacy, however, began with a vision she had in the mid-1980’s. Nearly 40 years later, she has dramatically impacted thousands of lives.

In 2001, Jacky discovered a lump on her leg. One week after her diagnosis, she was in surgery having her leg amputated. “Looking back now, it sounds really weird but I’m kind of glad it happened. It puts life in perspective, you appreciate things more. I just think I’m a better person because of what happened.”

Sharon Knorr was quiet and reserved as a child growing up in Marietta, Georgia. Early on, after receiving discouraging advice from her doctor who suggested that she not run due to her asthma, she decided she wouldn’t be held back.

Thomas Torres’s first 5k race was in the middle of the ocean. To be more specific, it was on the deck of an aircraft carrier while serving in the US Navy.

Now retired from skiing and the arduous training that came with it, a thought lingered in Hugh’s mind from his old training days: “I felt like I did better the longer the distance was… maybe it was something I should explore.” It turned out Hugh’s intuition was right – and ultrarunning was the perfect match.

Running came into Lulu Martinez’s life exactly when she needed it. Growing up in Mexico, Lulu was not sporty. “I actually failed PE class. I graduated with honors, but not in PE. I was never a person who enjoyed any physical activity whatsoever.”

On the eve of Matt Klein’s first Vermont 100-mile race in July 2014, he found himself in tears. He had come a long way since his darkest days nearly a decade earlier.

We’ve met so many people in the running community with incredible stories that would make you laugh, cry or inspire you to think bigger. We’ll be featuring a new Blue Collar Runner each month. Every runner has a story. What’s yours?