November 4 2007: Exactly 2 months ago, we finished our run around the world for safe drinking water

I have been avoiding writing this for weeks. I think subconsciously I didn’t want to write the last blog entry, because it would mean that it was over. It would mean that the biggest adventure of my life, the most extraordinary thing I’ve ever done, the intense commitment to something higher than me, was over. Now, two months after our finish in New York City on September 4th, sitting in a coffee shop in Ohio watching the beautiful fall leafs play their colorful theater, it’s time to start living in the presence.

It’s really difficult to wrap up my mind around the fact that we indeed did run around the world. I am sitting in a coffee shop where I used to sit before the Run, watching people do ordinary things they used to do before I left, most of my friends are living same lives they lived before I left. After all, I am living a similar life to what I l lived before I left. Did we really do it? Did we spend 95 days on the road, one of us always running, total of 15,200 miles? Looking back, it really seems surreal. Glimpses of camping in the Gobi desert, walking up the Great Wall of China, vicious mosquitoes in Russia, biking to Auschwitz in Poland, running/biking with my dad through downtown Prague at 3am…. It all plays out in my mind as a historic black and white movie, colored with a deep sense of nostalgia.
I miss my teammates. I miss coming to an exchange point at 2:30am and seeing the other team tired of running since 9pm. I miss the long rides in the van. I miss the excitement of seeing an open gas station in the middle of the night. I miss saying the message every day. I miss having my name pronounced five different ways by various team members and staff. I miss having my life being all about water. I even miss Betty (as we affectionately referred to our GPS navigation device).
I do hold on to my nostalgia extra carefully. I am in no rush to “get on with my life.” I have the whole life to look back on the 95 days in summer of 2007, so I don’t mind to wallow in the valley of nostalgia for some time. Yet, I am slowly moving into the here and now.
After I got home, I went through all my pictures (about 1,500), organized them by country, selected the best ones, and then printed 400 of them and put them into albums. That in itself took some time. I sent one album to my dad for his birthday. Then I put the best pictures into a presentation to share with others. I presented about water and the Run to my colleagues ones, and twice to students from various residence halls. Everyone was so positive about the Run. Many people were so appreciative that, as I they put it, I volunteered 3 months of my life for a great cause. As much as I appreciate their words, I am also a little puzzled by them. I didn’t volunteer my time. I honestly could not imagine anything I would rather do for those 3 months. Learning about the world by traveling it, doing it by something meaningful and mostly enjoyable (for me that being running), and all that to help fellow human beings. I would expect anyone else to do the same, provided they had the security to do that. And the being up all night, fighting mosquitoes, countless hours in the van, desert heat and 12,000 feet elevation? Well, that just added more fun to the whole adventure.
The question that inevitably needs to be answered is: where do we go from here? The Run is over, yet the water crisis still goes on. 1.1 billion people still don’t have access to safe drinking water. Thus, the Run was just a beginning. A grandiose one, an amazing one, yet still just a beginning. It is what I do with my life now that truly matters. It is what I do now, after the interviews end, after I no longer get to visit exciting cities, after the glory of the Run fades into the background, that really matters. I have several plans in mind. First, I want to contact volunteer organizations, schools and colleges, running clubs, churches, and anyone who wants to hear about the Run and the water crisis. I will share the stories, the pictures, the videos (if you would like me to come present, just contact me at christd@muohio.edu). I am also flirting with the idea of running across the US on my own, stopping in every town I pass through and talk about water. That is an ambitious project, which will depend on whether I find another crazy person to do it with me. I also want to stay in touch with the Foundation and see where we all go together.
I would like to thank those who have been most instrumental in me being able to take part in the Run. Thank you to my mom, dad and sister, for their constant encouragement and their ever-present sense of adventure and exploration, which makes it easy for me to want explore new horizons. I also want to thank Victoria, Patty, and Jerry from Miami University for their understanding of the importance of the Run and thus working with me on making it possible to miss the busiest 6 weeks in our profession. Lastly, thank you to all my friends for their excitement and support.
And now are minds are one. Water is life, and life is good at home.