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Where Dreams go to Die.

Just watched the Ginger Runner's feature length film that he dropped on YouTube yesterday: Where Dreams Go to Die. I enjoyed it thoroughly. I enjoy being in a position of saying, "yeah, I never want to do that." It's a position I enjoy because all to frequently it ends up not being true. Not only do I want to do that I'm often driven to find out how much of that I can actually do. It's amazing feeling to be both grateful to be alive and able to attempt these feats as it is to be surprised at what the human body can actually do. Ultra marathons push the boundaries of what we expect we can accomplish. This is why I keep running, this is why I keep trying for more, this is why running teaches me so much about what it means to be alive.

There are lots of hard things in life. Having a difficult conversation with my wife can at times easily outstrip the difficulty of running an ultra marathon with a nasty cold. Now with a toddler running around in my daily experience I can also say that now I'm confronted with many difficult memories from my own childhood, the horror of which outstrip any hallucinations I've ever had or will ever have 8 hours in to the dark night of a 24 hour race. To show up and find gratitude after the trails of life and after the trials of a difficult run make life more fun. They make life more livable.

I am not Gary Robbins. I recently introduced myself as such, "not Gary Robbins" to Gary Robbins at the Sun Mountain 50k a couple of weeks ago. Seems like a nice guy. I've been aware of him for a few years now ever since Ginger Runner introduced Gary to me via his film on Gary's FKT attempt around the Wonderland Trail. Ever since I've followed him loosely on social media and YouTube video's as well as updates from recent Barkley Marathon runs. I want him to win. I want him to finish it. That race is terrible. I like buttery trails. I like scenery. I do not like what I see of Frozen Head State Park. The weather and scenery there look like shit. And I can easily see that a side of meth and a carton of Camel Lights would be necessary to survive in that country. :)

The notgaryrobbins.com is my kinda sorta funny joke. Maybe you the reader will not find it funny... and I myself find the joke's funny factor waning. But I can tell you that I think it's pretty fun to be occasionally mistaken for the guy. I get it at supermarkets and at trail runs fairly regularly. I'm not sure how alike we actually look as I also get frequently mistaken for any other guy with a beard, even a black beard with no ginger hairs involved.

so check out the film and remember that I'm not Gary.

Signing off,

Not Gary

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