Nerves were on edge days before “game day” as Levi would put it. So many things raced through my mind and I didn’t really grasp how huge participating in the Bataan Death March was until the night of our going away party. We had been training for months in all types of climates, such as cold, rainy, windy, hot and humid. We trained by running many rolling hills and short and steep hills. I felt ready and was hoping to finish between 7 hours to 7:30. A fellow CrossFitter told me to think of Isaiah 40:31 when the day came, “but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint”. Another fellow CrossFitter read this same verse out loud at our going away party. While packing for the trip I wrote verse Isaiah 40:31 and Philippians 4:13 out on a piece of paper and stuck it in my purse.
We all met up at the Comal CrossFit box Friday at noon where we threw everyone’s rucksack in the back of Clay’s truck along with cooler’s and the rest of our luggage. Clay, his cousin Brandon D., Leigh, and myself were to drive to El Paso Friday and then meet up with the rest of the group the next morning as they flew in. Everything went great and all made it to El Paso safely. The next morning the rest of the group met us at the hotel in El Paso, loaded everything back into the vehicles, and we headed out for Las Cruces. As we checked into the hotel in Las Cruces you could immediately spot fellow participants of the Bataan Death March. It was truly inspiring to see a group of men who were amputees and to know that these men would be participating in the March. We left the hotel, went and ate some carbs, and headed to the White Sands Missile Range to pick up our packets. As we drove up to the military base Clay pointed out parts of our trail, giving us a glimpse of where we would be rucking on Sunday. We got our registration packets, walked around the museum for a bit, and then headed back to the hotel in Las Cruces.
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| Heather and the Guys. From Left: Levi, Heather, Mike, Brandon B., Clay, Doc, Tommy, Jason, and Brandon D. |
Saturday night at dinner I felt drained. I’ve never really been a great traveler and usually get bad jet lag. Between my poor traveling skills and being tired of carb loading, I ended up holding up part of the wall while I sat in the booth and listened to everyone’s conversation. I was nervous that this fatigue would carry over into Sunday, the worst day possible to feel a lack of energy. Later on we were doing our final check off to make sure everything was in our rucksacks. Clay and Brandon D. were my check off buddies and thankfully fixed my ruck to where it was completely off of my butt, which saved me from pain in my lower back on race day. My energy at this point was thankfully much higher than earlier as I prepared for the early morning. As I laid my clothes out for the next day and grabbed my bib number I remembered that I had the verse Isaiah 40:31 and Philippians 4:13 in my purse. I took the piece of paper and duct taped it to the back of my bib number so that if in any time of doubt I could look down and read it.
3:00 a.m. came very quickly, but we were all ready to get the show on the road. As we entered the military base it was hard to believe that the day had finally come. We all parked and met up at the soccer field with thousands of other participants. As I looked around during the opening ceremony at the other participants I noticed an astounding number of soldiers dressed in full uniform. These men and women reminded me of the significance of the Bataan Death March. We were here to honor those who had fallen, those who had survived this tragedy, and those who were lost in the meantime. After the opening ceremony we gave Leigh and Jennifer one last hug and told them we would see them later and took off towards the start line. This was the last time I saw Levi and Srdj.
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| Heather and Mike minutes before the start of the race. |
As the crowd broke up and everyone started moving along, I started running. My plan was to do intervals through out the marathon of running for 35 seconds and walking quickly for 75 seconds (35 on/75 off). I also had it in my mind that if I was feeling good enough and I was going downhill that I would continue to run in order to gain a little time because I knew that the long uphill portion of the course would slow me down tremendously. Another part of the plan was to take an EFS (Electrolyte Fuel System) shot every 6 miles. I planned on being alone after we started and not seeing any of the guys until the finish line since they were all faster than me. We hadn’t gone far past the start line before I saw Jason Moseley. I didn’t see anyone else until I turned around and there was Mike Hoge, Tommy Williams, and Brandon Bonser. As they passed me Mike told me, “stick to your intervals, it’s what you do”. I knew what he really wanted to tell me was, “be careful and don’t overdo it because you have a long way to go”. As I finally fixed my intervals and was continuing on I looked around at the scenery. It was beautiful, the sun was coming up and the mountains were in the background of the open desert.
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