Day 1: It Takes A Tribe

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Day 1: 25.18 miles. Tennessee border to Cherokee Casino and environs.

Today was the first day of the Carolinas Can Ruck For Autism! We drove out to the starting line at about 7:30 and by 8 a.m. I was off from the Tennessee border! I was telling Cheryl on the drive out there that I have played out that scene so many times in my head and it was sureeal thi king that it was actually happening. The starting point was just as I had imagined, but the route itself was very mountainous and it got extremely hot by midday. Cheryl and Matt met me at several points along the way and they really lifted me up with support,  and nutrition. The run on 74 headed east was somewhat boring and I had to pay attention to the oncoming vehicles, the only thing interesting things I were a big black snake that was slithering in front of me and a marmot. I learned that the median strip between the highway is never place a human being should go for any reason. It got hotter as I was progressing, and I was probably going a little too fast for the first day, but I finished in about 6 and 1/2 hours and I'm so happy that the day went without incident. Although this may seem like a solo effort, it has taken a lot of people a huge amount of commitment and dedication to make this happen.  This is my tribe and these are the people that I love.

Godspeed,

R.

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