On a cold Friday morning and 30 minutes before the 2018-2019 Across the Years began, shouts and high-fives and laughter filled the air.Įighties music blared. Belt buckles are awarded to those who complete their events, but those are small mementos compared to the experience. With racing bibs sporting their names as well as their events (one, two, three or six days), they compete for joy, camaraderie and personal achievement.
Hundreds enter the annual Across the Years Race, an ultramarathon measured in time rather than distance. It was during these times, plodding along with not a soul in sight, that Geesler dared to asked himself the question.įor more than three decades, those who love to run for hours - even days - have gathered in Glendale to do just that.Īs one year ends and another begins, they run, jog or walk for as many as six days, pushing through physical and mental barriers that would stop most people. Energy and high hopes were in abundance for one of the toughest tests of endurance in the United States.īut now, 26 hours into 2019, energy and high hopes had outpaced Geesler, leaving him to struggle around a mile-long loop track in cold that numbed everything but his determination. In the waning days of 2018, Geesler lined up with 87 ultra runners - 54 men and 33 women - for the Across the Years Six-Day Race at Camelback Ranch in Glendale. And that count began, what, four days ago? Almost five now. “Hours ago and not much” was as close as he’d get.īut Geesler knew it had taken him nearly 25 minutes to walk his latest mile, the 347th since he started counting.
Nor was he sure of the last time he slept or for how long. Past midnight, perhaps, but still hours before sunrise.
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