Four years ago the Snoqualmie Falls (SnoFalls) ward, which we attended at the time, put on a Father and Sons 50/20 adventure to celebrate the Restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood. Jason was only 8 at the time and Justin wasn’t too interested in it so it wasn’t something we were involved in. They’ve done it once or twice since. This year they invited our ward to participate with them. Brother Willis puts it together and is quite passionate about it – he is also our ward high councilman so we got to benefit from his hard work and expertise. This time it was open to all youth and their parents. I thought it sounded like a neat experience and Jason was interested (the girls only somewhat) – Justin not at all. Anyhow, life got busy and we didn’t attend any of the preparation walks or think too much about it. Then when we found out Ashley would be in town that weekend I pretty much dismissed my participation. Carly still wanted to go because she had friends doing it and Abigail bailed. However, as the event neared I really felt like I should be a part of it even if just for a few hours. Carly started walking at the beginning on Friday at 4pm and walked until Saturday morning. Sometime between 2-4am he crawled inside someone’s car and called it good. She walked 30 miles! The group keeps a pretty slow pace so that everyone stays together, but that amount of walking, especially in the middle of the night is tough. I was so impressed. I didn’t get much sleep that night because I kept texting Carly to see if she was still walking or if she needed me to come pick her up.
There were lots of youth at the beginning
Not nearly as many youth in the middle of the night
Jason and I met up with the group at the church in Issaquah on Saturday morning at 8:30am however they were running late so we drove over to the McDonalds (2.5 miles away – at mile 38.5) and met up with them there. Jason had a game that afternoon so he could only walk until around noon and then Justin picked him up for his game.
The pit stops along the way where lifesaving
I only intended to stay a few hours at most, but one of my close friends Andrea was attempting the whole walk and was struggling after walking all night. I workout at the gym with Andrea and I know first hand how strong and determined she is so to see her struggling was tough and I knew I couldn’t leave her. You can’t imagine how challenging this event is unless you’ve been there to see it. She was emotionally, physically and mentally spent. I walked along side her for the remaining 12 miles and did my best to support, distract and encourage her to the finish. It was emotional for us both and I was so, so grateful to have been there with her. Because of the slower pace near the end the walkers actually ended up walking 22 hours instead of 20 – wow! Only 9 people completed the entire 50 miles. Andrea was the only woman! So proud of her!
I look ridiculous in this photo, but I was so proud of Andrea and the other finishers.
At the finish line they asked everyone that had walked to get in a picture. Obviously, there are lots of people missing that stopped earlier. Andrea isn’t pictured here because her feet were so blistered and torn up that she couldn’t walk another foot.
All loaded up in her car and ready to crash so the other finishers came to her for the photo.
So grateful for everyone who helped organize and pull off this event. It was an incredible experience to be a part of and I know that my being there on Saturday was precisely where I needed to be that day.
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