Every once in a while, I do a crazy thing where I run around hoping to get a shiny medal at a finish line. It's part of what I do. This time, I decided to add some more meaning to my race.
If there were a good reason why bestselling hiking memoirs don’t turn into great movies, it should be that in novels the protagonist’s internal transformation and growth is readily portrayed through narrative, while films struggle to show these internal changes. It should be that the protagonist’s venture out of their comfort zone and into the unknown and then back again as a transformed character is limited in how it is portrayed, either as changes in their actions or via subtle visual changes – a slow thinning of the waistline, tanner skin, scars and bruises from the rough road, and the powerful resolve and acuity visible in a face after hours on the hard trail. These should be the challenges – portraying the narrative without incessant, droning voice-over.
Should.
If you're one of those travelers this Labor Day weekend - either to the beach, to see family, or you're off on some rugged adventure - here are some tunes to get your wanderlust riled up.
“Excuse me, I don’t mean to alarm you, but I just wanted to let you know something very big was swimming near you just over there.”
We were about thigh-high in the surf of Oak Island beach off the North Carolina coast when this woman approached my two bikini-clad friends and me. The woman’s adolescent daughter was body-surfing the small waves in the shallows. The woman was calm, pleasant and non-alarmist, which I appreciated. We thanked her and moved to the shallows where sea and sand swirled around our ankles.
I had lived in North Carolina for 15 years and I’d never been to the Outer Banks, so I decided running the Outer Banks Half Marathon in November 2014 would be an excellent excuse to explore. I recruited some friends to drive with McCrae and me to Manteo, and we piled into our compact SUV and headed east.
A while back, I was assigned John Updike’s “A&P” for a writing class. I was a little wary. I’d heard Updike had a reputation for not being the most sympathetic writer to women’s perspectives. I was certainly alarmed when I read in the assignment.
As much as the trail beckons, most of the time I can't go traipsing through the woods. I have a day job and bills and some responsibilities (though I try to keep those to a minimum). However, none of these curb my urge to explore, and suppressing my need for Nature just makes me more restless. And so when I'm unbearably restless, I run.
My first solo hike - from Rock Gap to Wayah Shelter and back on the Appalachian Trail - was a search for solitude and the perfect quiet campsite.