Finding Friendship on the Trail

By: Holly Fussell

Last April, I pulled up the windy road in the pre-dawn darkness to the race start, and I thought, “am I really ready for this?”  I reviewed my checklist of race items, wondered what layers of clothing I should commit to and scanned the emerging group of runners and race organizers to see who I recognized in the misty West Virginia morning.  I was about to step off and run the longest distance I had ever run in my forty-three years and I was going to do it on the rugged hills and rocky terrain of Ace Adventure Resort in Oak Hill, WV.

The question, “how did I get myself into this?” echoed through my mind multiple times on the course, but I certainly had an answer.  

I had gotten into this because a friend had invited me to join a relay team.  More accurately, I felt the collective positive pressure from a group of impressive, supportive and encouraging female friends.  Their influence is what got me to the start line and ultimately what got me to the finish.  Committing to a race with friends is a forcing function with multiple fringe benefits.

It provides both a long-range goal, and a routine, recurring calendar date that can help you frame your days and your weeks.  It can serve as a group therapy session or a general catch up. It can lead to happy hours, brunches and girls’ trips or taking meals and watching kids when a friend is in need. Missing a run makes you feel like you are missing out on so much more – the group text laughs, the follow-on plans, the elevated training base.

This year, I was not able to run the Falling Waters 100k relay because of family commitments, and I certainly suffered from FOMO. However, the relationships that began on the trail in previous seasons carry on, and I was rooting for my friends from afar as multiple local teams toed up to the line last weekend.  Their tenacity, their discipline, their esprit d corp is something I want more of in my life and running along side them means a little bit rubs off with each mile.