It dawned on me a couple of days ago that I never posted an update to the marathon row I was a part of back in November. If you recall (or even if you don’t), I participated in a marathon row for a local charity, Upstate Warrior Solution, that supports veterans returning to civilian life once they are back home.
There were about a dozen or so of us who strapped our shoes into the Concept2 rowers on a chilly November morning and settled into rowing for 42,195 meters at my gym, Swamp Rabbit Crossfit. The beauty of this particular row was we could perform it in teams of two, which is what most of us did. There were a few brave souls who opted to row the entire distance solo, bless them.
My partner and I split our marathon up into 15 minute increments, taking turns rowing. The last bit we dropped it down to 10 minute increments. I was just running out of steam. I’m pretty sure my partner could have kept going, she was amazing and a great partner to be on a team with!
Our official time was 3:38:20.5.
As a whole, the event raised close to $5000!! I would definitely do this again with a partner. I’m not sure I’m quite ready do go solo for over 3 hours of rowing just yet.
I do have one story that I need to tell.
I ended up on the rower next to the director of Upstate Warrior Solutions, Charlie Hall. We chatted off and on throughout the morning. His partner was coming a bit later, so he was rowing by himself for a good chunk of the marathon.
Charlie told me his partner, Erik Russell, was a retired USAF Major and was with USAF Special Operations, but was currently facing terminal cancer. They had been training together for months for this specific event. Erik had been battling cancer since 2009.
Erik and his wife arrived and he sat down on the rower for his turn. We didn’t talk much, just “hi” and “how’s it going?” type chit-chat.
I wish I had taken the opportunity to say more. But I was in the zone, just trying to get through my 15 minutes of rowing so I could take my break.
Erik seemed to be in good spirits that morning. He and his wife chatted with people and it appeared like they didn’t know a stranger.
The event came to an end and we all went on our separate ways. I told a few people about Erik’s story with cancer, and he stayed in the back of my mind. Having known and seen people go through cancer this past year, I knew first-hand the toll it takes on life and your family.
Three days later, Tuesday morning, Erik passed away.
I was stunned. I had just talked with this man three days earlier. He was laughing and talking. . . breathing.
I realized a few things that day.
Life is short.
You never know what a person is facing.
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