Morning Pup Run

Morning Run w/ Cinder

William Tugman State Park to Bandon. Holy crap- what a day. I think I need a day to process today, but here’s a summary. When Geoff got me back to my start point, at Tugman park, I realized I’d need to decide between an extra short day (18 miles) which would finish in coos bay, a medium day (25 miles) but slightly off-track finishing off of Hwy 101 in Sunset Beach, or a long day (39ish miles) finishing at the next available Hiker Biker campground - Bullards Beach. Since I was back to pushing the stroller, and had to say goodbye to a great friend at the same time- this choice brought a lot of anxiety. I started my run with a bit of tears, realizing I only had to get moving and wait to see how I felt at mile 18. I rolled through those miles quickly, averaging 9:40 pace and feeling fine. Which, it’s worth noting, is after two consecutive 31 mile days and already logging 234 miles in 8 days. When I made it just outside North Bend, I was cheered on by two random cyclists who shouted from the other side of the road “you’re making this look easy!” A couple miles later, as I approached the huge bridge into North Bend, a familiar voice called out “Yes! Marcus!!” Last year during my run across Washington, I met a guy named Nik in the middle of nowhere on a HWY. He joined me that day for 2 miles and we chatted a bunch, connecting over the fact we were both traversing the WA coast. He’d already done 2/3 of California, and was wrapping up WA that day. We stayed in touch over the last year and to my joy, He messaged me last week that he was also heading out from Astoria and should catch me after a few days. Well, today he caught me just before we crossed into North Bend and we cruised together for a while. We parted ways at mile 14 for me, and I hoped to see him tonight in Bullards- if I had the conviction to continue on the long option. Into North Bend, I started considering my options and by Coos bay I knew I should get to Bandon. Around that point, my stroller flipped, broke an attachment I had, and I lost a couple supplies in the mishap. I adjusted, went to Safeway for coffee, then NAPA auto for tape, fixed everything up and got back on the road. At this point, I was at mile 18, still with 21 miles to go. I started a climb out of North Bend, and gained my focus back. By the time I hit marathon distance, I was locked on my goal. The miles ticked by. I walked occasionally. I FaceTimed my wife and kids, and before I knew it, I was at 34 miles. At 36 miles, I celebrated a bit because now had less than 100 miles to go in Oregon! I also knew I needed food for dinner, and to replace the items I lost when my stroller attachment broke, so I needed to go past my campsite an additional 2 miles to get to a store and subway - supplies and food. Made it to the store and saw my cyclist buddy again, doing laundry, then had an awesome phone call with a good friend back home on my way back to camp. Arrived at camp, got my hiker hiker spot, ate my subway, chatted with two other cyclists, took a long hot shower, and then ate 2nd dinner. Time for sleep.

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Marcus Nuckolls

RUN-OREGON :: DAY 9

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Morning Pup Run

Morning Pup Run

Morning Pup Run

Morning Run w/ Cinder

Morning Pup Run

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