At least a dozen times throughout
the Hawk Hundred trail race in Lawrence, Kansas, my fiancé, Mike Zubelewicz, and I heard, “If you can make it through this together without fighting, you can make it through anything.” We got engaged earlier this year and have since been balancing 100-miler training with wedding planning.
In January 2024, Mike signed up for the Hawk Hundred and invited me to join. I had eight months to train, and I was excited to prepare for such a daunting challenge. Our goal was simply to finish the 100 miles – something neither of us had done before. We entered the race with the same pacing plan, but the freedom to separate anytime one of us needed to break away. It would all be worth it if one of us could tackle the full race.
We spent the first few miles working through nerves and jitters before settling into the zone. Earlier than either of us could have anticipated, Mike hit his wall. Somewhere around the 20-mile mark, Mike was locked up mentally and in serious physical pain. He was slow to communicate it with me, but he continued to fight through. My vocal optimism shifted into quiet determination. I wanted to stay with him stride for stride, to keep the forward momentum and give him a chance to work through the rut he found himself in.
Shortly before the halfway point, words of encouragement from a veteran runner offered Mike reprieve – and allowed him to offer me the support I needed as I hit my own wave of despair. I was overwhelmed by the thought of running through the night and I struggled to visualize completing the final miles. Mike led the way through the darkness and continued to pace us incredibly well. There were only a few stretches through the back half of the race where conversation filled the gap between our strides. One step at a time, we began to realize we were actually going to finish. But even better than that, we were still there doing it together.
We crossed the finish line closer to one another than when we began. There is an indescribable connection that was formed between us along that trail. Our character was split wide open for the other to see, as we pushed our physical and mental effort to its limit. Mike and I continue to process the depth of what we experienced over those miles as we prepare for the next adventure ahead.
We are thrilled to be getting married, and whether we ever run that far again or not, it was a journey we will never forget. I have always thought of running as an individual sport, but I am beginning to see its ability to forge some of the deepest connections I have ever experienced. Keep running and keep loving. These are memories well worth making.