My pacer Denzil Jennings and I approached the mile 75 aid station at this year’s Cascade Crest 100. He turned to me and said, “It will be 10 years since you made that wrong turn and I started my ultrarunning journey. We’ve been running together for 10 years now!”
I could feel the depth of emotion and elation in his statement. Denzil also happens to be my best friend. He’s paced me through many 100-mile races over the course of a decade. Here we were once again reminiscing over everything we’ve shared on the 15 mile stretch that Denzil had taken on during his pacing duties for Cascade Crest.
The next 25 miles to the finish I was to run solo and as I said goodbye to Denzil, I felt a twinge of separation anxiety. It was then that my head turned to the statement he made before we parted ways. Had it really been 10 years?
It was December 2014 when we had planned on running the out and back on Greenrock Trail, one of the most popular trail segments in West County, St. Louis, MO. The mileage for this segment is 14.5 miles point-to-point and the out-an-back gets you approximately 29 miles. It was just another group run and I was leading the band of misfits that had decided to join us. Denzil had never before covered this distance on trails, so this was a bucket list trail to run for him.
Somewhere around 22 miles, I made a bad turn and Denzil followed me. I realized we were off-course and we had gone off the planned segment by 2 miles. I self-corrected and we were once again on track. By the time we got back to the trailhead we had run a 50k. I handed Denzil a celebratory beer and congratulated him on his first unofficial ultra.
Photo: Janzow Photography
This was never planned, but because of that error in my navigation skills, we bonded as one. So much life has been lived ever since, with Denzil relocating to Oregon, job switches, divorce and DNFs, and so many miles have been shared. With each passing mile, Denzil and I became best friends.
As I approached the finish line of Cascade Crest, far out in the distance I saw a ginger running full speed towards me. The runner came into full view and all I could muster as I tried not to ugly cry was, “I love you.” This statement was reciprocated with a big smile and sprint to the finish.
The bonds we form while running ultras are invincible for as long as our hearts are beating. These are the bonds without judgment, pure love for the shared passion of this sport we call ultrarunning. Bonds forged in the pain, suffering, overcoming each climb and the subtle understanding of why we run long.
Hold on to your trail BFF!