My friend Mark (I couldn’t think of anything more creative than that)

As I’m still recovering from some knee problems, there isn’t a whole lot to say about my running; so I decided to write about my pal Mark Jackson.

I met Mark in late May of 2001; we were both attending the US Army’s Criminal Investigation Division’s Special Agent Academy at Fort Leonard Wood, MO. After our first day of class I was heading out for a run when I saw Mark doing the same; it was love at first sight, ok not really..well maybe sort of a bromance. We did a lot of running there, to include an incident where we ran 14 miles during the heat of the day without water in the month of August; I almost died (well heat exhaustion at a minimum). We were in class together during 9/11 and stayed good friends ever since.

In 2007, Mark was the one that called me and asked me to pace him during a 50-mile trail race (see my last post). Because of that I have been hooked on trail running since.

So for the past two years Mark has been trying to get into WS100, but as of yet he has been unsuccessful. So this year he decided to sign up for the Tahoe Rim Trail 100 mile run. The race’s tag line is A Glimpse of Heaven, A Taste of Hell! The race is held in the mountains around Lake Tahoe, with a high point of 9,214ft and a low point of 6,800ft. Now Mark trains and lives on the East coast of Florida; in other words flat, sea level and humid. So in perfect Mark fashion he has decided to try and complete a hilly mountainous 100-mile run that will see the majority of the course well above 7,000ft in dry heat.

Mark runs between 50-70 miles a week depending on this work schedule and has completed numerous 50K’s, 50-milers and one 100-miler (Ancient Oaks 100 in Titusville, FL). He mixes his training with back-to-back weekend long runs, speed work, weight training and about two hours a week of playing soccer. He’s one of those guys who really just enjoys running; to the extent that he once ran 50 miles (or was it 100?) around an airfield while deployed to Iraq.

Recently Mark attempted to complete the Keys 100-miler; at 40 miles his feet fell apart. He tried to relieve the pressure by cutting his shoes (way too expense for me to try!) but at mile 82 his day was over.

Since then Mark has been focusing on Tahoe 100. Two weeks ago Mark had a little set back. He called and told me he had a painful tumor on his hand and the doctor stated they were going to remove it. The conversation was something like this:

Me: Are you serious? Is it cancer? Can Tara or I do anything to help?

Mark: Not sure, but don’t worry I’m gonna knock out a really long run this weekend just in case I can’t run next week after surgery.

Me: OK, but when will you find out what the deal is with the tumor?

Mark: Surgery next week, biopsy results a few days after. It shouldn’t affect my training; I mean it’s my hand, not my feet!

He had surgery last week and tried a long run this weekend. He found out that trying to run a long run three days after general anesthesia isn’t a good idea.

Today Mark found out that the tumor was benign!

On July 18, 2009, Mark will get his glimpse of heaven and hopefully just a small taste of hell.

If all goes well both Mark and I will get into WS100 next year. If one of us gets in, the other will pace. Worst case, we will both volunteer and pace whomever from Foresthill.

Good luck bro!