Waypoint Narrative #10
Waypoint Narratives: Five questions, one objective - share stories of people who have experienced the impact of the outdoors.
In October of this year, a friend of mine convinced me to take on the wild challenge of the Black Forest 100k trail race in northern PA. A few nights before the race, I met David, who is one of the race directors for the race. I remember him asking me if I felt like I was ready. I’m pretty sure my response to him was, “Uh, no, not really,” through some nervous laughter. To my surprise, he replied with something along the lines of, “Good. That’s the right answer.” I won’t forget his huge smile when I did cross the finish line a few days later by the grace of God. Besides race directing, Dave has a wide range of experiences in the great outdoors that he thoughtfully pieced together for today’s narrative. Enjoy his story:
Do you have a trail name, and how did you acquire it?
I received my trail name in 2022 when I thru hiked the Appalachian Trail. Anyone who has thru hiked a long-distance trail knows that reducing pack weight is of the upmost importance and many compromises must be made with our normal items of comfort to keep the pack weight trim. I made many compromises, but I had one item that was nonnegotiable – good coffee.
Now, coffee was not the root of my problem but rather the lack of planning on my part that resulted in my trail name. In my haste with last minute preparations, I grabbed a pound of coffee from the store, threw it in my hiking pack, and flew out to Georgia the next day. You probably can envision the surprise of my fellow campers that first morning on the trail, when I pulled an entire pound of coffee from my pack. Its weight rivaled my sleeping bag and my tent. My only defense was that I loved coffee!
From that day forward, I was known as Pounder. And after I ran out of the first pound of coffee, I vowed to live up to my name and buy another full pound of coffee. I embraced the moniker and retold with zeal the story of how my trail name came to be.
What is the most prominent thing the trail/the outdoors has taught you about yourself?
My time on the trails is often alone and that is partially on purpose. Early on in my running career, I utilized other people, music, audio books, and podcasts as a way of distracting myself from the tedious training schedule. One day while running on the road, I decided to just be with myself without the normal distractions and found it liberating in many ways. This liberation was heightened when I took to the trails.
I have found that the solitude of being surrounded by the natural world allows the distractions of the modern world to melt away and frees my mind to meditate on what God is doing in my life. This has led to a greater satisfaction in my spiritual life, my relationships, and increased joy of running. Neither nature nor running are idols in my life but only tools that God has given me to know Him better and find joy in my every day.
What are the key waypoints of your life that ultimately lead you to the trail in the first place?
I was deployed to Iraq in 2003-2004 as a Combat Demolition Engineer and returned from deployment a changed person. No longer was I the happy carefree person I once was. One of the greatest hardships that the jolting transition back to “normal” life presented me was how mundane and obvious everything was. I had spent over a year of not knowing what the next 24 hours would bring to always knowing what was to come.
My happy accident into ultrarunning was what shook me out of my PTSD. I was to partake in a relay trail race with my brother and his friends but as the time drew near, the group disbanded and left me high and dry. For no reason other than to quench this maddening desire to do something that seemed impossible, I signed up to run the entirety of the race on my own.
No one should train for 6 months starting with a 5k and ending with an 80-mile race, but I am so thankful that I did just that. I discovered that the unknown aspects of the race were exactly what was missing in my life. Could I complete the race? Can I overcome bad weather, a sour stomach, going off course, injury, etc.? So many variables on race day along with all those that creep in prior to race day. I think this why so many people love these long-distance sports, because they want to share in the unknowns and see if they can overcome them. It’s a break from the mundane and obvious of everyday life and I really think we all need it.
Share about one of the most memorable problem-solving moments you’ve had on the trail.
I spend enough time on the trail that problem-solving is just a normal thing. I really can’t pick out any one thing that stands above the rest!
Who and/or what inspires you to keep moving forward?
God has given me this gift of running and being able to do it well for many years now. This has opened opportunities to direct some amazing races that has impacted so many people. Being able to share the beautiful natural world with people and showcase the incredible power of God’s work in nature is such a privilege. I hope to continue this into old age!
