Dude, did you just shoot at my runner?!

Run It Fast Love & Estimated Fini... Washington! We are heeeeere!

Dude, did you just shoot at my runner?!

Guns, guns, and more guns. Guns have certainly been the theme for the last few days as we ran to and through Knoxville. I was expecting something a little closer to the tourism of Memphis, but it was a lot more sketchy and a few sections were scary.

We did run through some beautiful forest roads and waterfalls in Ozone, Tennessee, but Pat also heard one guy either shoot at him, or shoot in the air as he ran by on the public highway.

That incident really pissed me off and I can only hope there was some misunderstanding, like maybe he was shooting off his bicycle lock because he couldn’t remember the combination and he had to go to the market to get fresh kale. And Pat just happened to run by.

The second incident happened in Knoxville when Pat saw a couple of plain-clothes guys banging on a door with guns out and ready. It was a shady neighborhood and he didn’t stick around to see what happened.

As a result, Pat has been posting a lot of anti-gun ideas on his Facebook page and it has been raising quite a stir and debate, as this issue always does. I’m just trying to focus on crewing and keeping Pat safe as he navigates some shitty experiences.

Pat is definitely right about one thing though: sometimes people use guns to point and intimidate. The goal is to make us feel fear. Our greatest revenge is to never feel fearful. Not ever.

Knoxville was a nightmare to crew. We ran right by the college. The roads were narrow, a lot of one way streets, and no place to park. Pat had to make a few turns and we couldn’t be there to make sure he turned (he did). We met him later outside of town but it was a stressful stretch. It was also really hot and no good for the animals in the RV. Cities like that make us feel like caged beasts.

A couple days ago I took my bike out to ride with Pat and we both missed a turn. I blame myself since I’m the crew and I also plotted the route and should know where the hell I’m going. We ended up running for 7 miles before we figured maybe something was wrong and we called Shacky. In the end, we rerouted so the mileage loss was minimal. A new #crewfail for me.

The biggest highlight of Tennessee so far was staying with Leanne and then Mikki. They were both amazing hosts and Mikki had a dog-friendly everything. Ginger and Kitty loved it there.

Mikki is training for a body-building competition so we got a chance to chat with her about training and diet. I have a great admiration for what she’s doing. It takes a tremendous amount of commitment and dedication, but she has a goal in mind and she’s working full force towards it.

We’ll be crossing the border into Virginia in two days! I can’t wait! It’s supposed to rain most of the afternoon today (again) but we’d like to cover another 40 miles if possible. Pat is out there right now running in the rain. These weather patterns are so confusing. Yesterday was a scorcher and today it’s pouring and cloudy. Hello, spring.

With every step we are thinking of our buddy Jup, just a short ways behind us and primarily self-supported. Be sure to check out his adventures below.

Onward!

Originally posted on Jup's Blog:

A beautiful morning as I headed out of Nashville into the rush of traffic coming into the city, I past this lake first up and it set a nice mood in my head as I battled with little or no shoulder.

So I wanted to show you the shoulder on the road, It can go from this big wide one on a larger road and hone on the next 3 photos go right down to nothing and running with the buggy I stock out a hell of a lot , I do feel a bit bad as everyone thinks I have a baby inside and they stop quickly and hold up traffic more, sorry everyone.