Running on the Sun

I watched this documentary tonight. I've known about Badwater for quite some time now. I remember seeing a piece a long, long time ago on Dean's first time running. I've had endless conversations with Chris Bergland about his experiences running the race. I've even researched the entrance requirements for this particular race.

Although it is obvious that the documentary was somewhat low-budget, I felt that it put a whole new perspective on the race. I think that most people watching this documentary would see the pain, anguish, blisters, vomiting, heat, and suffering and then ask the question, "why?"

I watched, and instead of seeing suffering I saw perseverance. Instead of pain I saw toughness. Instead of anguish I saw triumph. I won't even begin to pretend that I understand what its like to run this 135 mile race, but as I sat watching I understood why the runners were putting themselves through that hell. I connected with them. Instead of finding myself asking the question "why," I found myself asking the question "when?"

I'm a long way from attempting something like Badwater, and it may never happen. However, I can see that my brain processes things differently than most. It is kind of scary, yet exciting, to think about the future and what I might put myself through to test my limits.