Im never done this before but Frank e mailed me and gave me the link of his Facebook post. He wanted to post this story but my settings dont allow. So I will post this and let you read about what happened yesterday on the road...trail. God bless you Frank. Still praying for your mother. blessings, arthur Frank Fender https://facebook/groups/BCrunning/permalink/592169697558985/ 14 hrs · Edited Sorry for the long story..... So somehow I managed a minor salvage of my running schedule in Denver with an 8-mile run on Thursday and a 20-miler today. It was ugly and I didnt finish strong. It got done. As some of you know, I hate running solo; wasnt even sure how far I would go today... but I like longer endurance runs. They always turn out to be an adventure, and today was no different. It became spiritual. I headed out about an hour later than intended (6:30am) on a bike path that a friend suggested which runs parallel a nearby highway, the C-470. Not a cloud in the sky, but it was cool and dry. I didnt do much study of the route and just figured I would bump into convenience stores at least every five miles to refill by beloved water belt. I was passed by a few bikers but saw maybe only three other runners. This route turned out to be fairly remote. By mile three it was clear that I was out in the middle of nowhere with very little civilization in sight, and water dwindling, so I ran up a hill to a distant industrial building. Nothing but tons of jack rabbits and families of prairie dogs. The only sign of life, other than cars flying by on the freeway, was a road crew repaving a parking lot... so I hit them up for water. Then at mile 6 I saw a building off the path that turned out to be a nursing home. I beat on the door until they let me in to fill up from a sink. Turns out the first oasis in this running desert was a convenience store at mile 8. By now I was committed, so to force my twenty I ran past it until my GPS hit 10 miles then turned back to that store. I had run out of the house without cash or credit, so I telepathically thanked the store for a little ice, Poweraide and water fill-up and considered the Karma. But now I was heading home and back through that sparse water-less 8 miles and now mostly up hill. At mile 13.5 I see a figure approaching and as he gets closer it is clear that it is an older gentleman dragging a 12-foot cross. He was dressed for distance in desert khakis wearing one of those safari baseball caps with the long backs for sun protection. The dragging end of the cross was fitted with a small bicycle-wheel to reduce friction... I should pause here to say, at the risk of TMI and offending some of my closest friends, that I was raised Luthern, and while I value my culture, I have never been a fan of extreme religious statements (Islamic, Jewish, Christian, Buddhist, or the myriad other spiritual sects, but they have my full support in their right to their belief structure so long as they leave the heads of non-believers intact). So I gave him a friendly runners wave and ran past. But being so far from water, and given the odd circumstance which finds me in Denver, and probably the endorphins, my curiosity got the better of me and after a quarter mile, I was compelled to turn around to understand the story of a man dragging a giant cross alone in the middle of nowhere. I had to hoof it pretty hard to catch him for what was now a third of a mile in the wrong direction to my next water. When I caught up, I walked with him a bit. In hind-sight the proper protocol would probably have been to ask to carry his burden, but I guess I wasnt thinking so clearly at that distance given that I had just added another half a mile to my trek. So I offered him some of my water which he politely refused, but introduced himself as Arthur Blessitt (blessitt) and offered a business card with his contact info. He shared his story and told me that he was now 74 years old. He lives in Lone Tree and walks the weekends to stay in shape because he now gets stiff if he doesnt stay in shape between official hikes. His wife was meeting him up the road a couple miles; I assume at that single convenience store. He said he started hiking with this cross over 41,000 miles ago in 1968 from Hollywood CA, had walked across the country and then through 323 other nations and island groups to hold the Guiness Book of World Records for the worlds longest walk. I asked if he had walked through my home town of Okinawa. He said he had. He was a pleasant fellow with a bright smile and I shared that I was running towards Lone Tree and could not stay but offered that my mother was 72 and struggling. He immediately, without missing a breath, offered a beautiful prayer for her. Afterwards he confessed how much he misses his own mother and I could see a tear welling up in his eye, probably in response to my pathetic display as a couple of silent tears slipped out from under my endurance sunglasses during his prayer. I thanked him for our short conversation and then headed west. Endorphins are beautiful things. Luckily, three miles later, the road crew was still working and allowed me one last indulgence of their water to get me home. I promised them that I would not be bothering them again today. Another 20 in the books. Welcome to The Official Website of Arthur Blessitt longest walk, Arthur Blessitt, carried a 12 foot cross around the world. Guinness World Records for worlds longest walk. Buy The Cross movie DVD, Book blessitt LikeLike · Share B.J. Gallo, Davina Jones, Ashleigh Long Hawkins and 46 others like this. Michael Fronsoe That should be a chapter in the book you should be writing of the many adventures of Frank Frank Fender. Made me smile 14 hrs · Like · 7 Randall Wallace McKeon Only you, Frank Fender!! Thanks for sharing. And seriously, you ran 20 miles without a water belt?!?!?! 14 hrs · Like · 3 Jena Welliever Sounds just like what you needed - its all about the journey! 14 hrs · Like · 2 Mike OLeary Wow. That was quite a run and quite a memory you have made. Amazing story Frank Fender. 14 hrs · Like · 2 Amy Eversole Oh my, Frank Fender! Great story. You just made me tear up too 14 hrs · Edited · Like · 5 Kashka Tarka Take that Fender. Great story! 14 hrs · Edited · Like · 2 Diego Jarrin Awesome story, And Michael is right, another chapter for your book. 14 hrs · Like · 2 Marilyn Rohen Harris Wow! Great story.... Thanks Frank Fender 14 hrs · Like · 3 Lisa Holland Enjoyed reading about your journey today and I truly believe things happen for a reason - you must have been destined to meet Arthur and I hope his prayer for your Mom provided some comfort. Happy, you found water too:) 14 hrs · Like · 4 Beth Dungey Alcalde Amazing and inspirational! 14 hrs · Like · 2 Ernie Ojito cool beans.... 13 hrs · Like · 1 Pamela Joy Again Frank Big hugs! 13 hrs · Like · 1 Phil Cromer Nice story Frank. Sometimes things just happen when they need to. 13 hrs · Like · 3 Ivana Meservey excellent 13 hrs · Like · 1 Bonnie Molfetta You were in precisely the right place at precisely the right time, my friend...! 13 hrs · Like · 2 Janice Katz Salcedo The inspiration here is your interpretation and your willingness to believe 13 hrs · Like · 2 William Salcedo Great story Frank. Thanks for sharing. Amazing when you consider the likelihood of a chance meeting like this. 13 hrs · Like · 1 Will Glover The Fuel Belt has been ordained. We all have stuff going on. Sometimes you have to turn around and notice. Solid story Frank. 13 hrs · Like · 3 Miles Tamburri Great story 12 hrs · Like · 1 Karen Vitale Great story thanks for sharing 12 hrs · Like · 1 Debbie Lathrop Wow! Amazing story 12 hrs · Like · 1 Maria Vallecillo-Dunn Thanks for sharing Frank Fender...and for all you do. 12 hrs · Like · 2 Christy López Tears. What a wonderful solo 20 miler ... Memories, prayers and a chance encounter that youll always remember. Thanks for sharing 5 hrs · Like · 1 Mitzi Gilooly Beautiful!! 3 hrs · Like · 1 Davina Jones Thank you for sharing an amazing story! 2 hrs · Like · 1
Posted on: Sun, 31 Aug 2014 15:07:07 +0000
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