My day with Jason

Early morning 4-29-07

Jason's initial pace was a pretty good clip. He alternated walking and running. I'm not nearly as fast a walker as he is, and even when he wasn't running, I had to jog to keep up. My second lesson learned: Jason does not wait for anyone.

As always, the intermittent segments of the Ice Age Trail had to be connected by roads. There seemed to be a lot of road-miles today here in the southern part of the state. One unique section today was where Jason had to cross the Wisconsin River at Merrimac, WI: We rode across on the car ferry. (Note: The Merrimac ferry is said to be the only place on the National Register of Historic Places that moves.)


Jason hits the beach running

When Jason comes to an isolated segment of the trail, he must run it. His goal/plan is to include every inch of the Ice Age Trail. So when, for example, a trail segment simply ends at private land boundary, Jason retraces his steps back to the nearest road and carries on from there.

In the late morning, we were joined by three new replacements to accompany Jason: Brenda Bland, Kevin Radel, and Dave Sarocka. Thank goodness they arrived when they did - Jason had worn me out. My third lesson learned: Jason does not wait for anyone. I stayed on and rode in the support van with Tom Bunk.


Dave, Kevin, Brenda and Jason at Lodi Marsh

The Lodi Marsh segment was probably the longest section of trail today. It was all green and blue with a wide vista from the overlooking ridges.


Lodi Marsh

Jason was having trouble with painful, tight hamstrings today. Tom had to fix him up with some sort of exotic stretching from time to time.



Jason also occasionally turned around and walked backward. Even when he was walking backward though, Jason kept moving forward.

To get across 4-lane Hwy 12, Jason and company crossed the new pedestrian footbridge which for all appearances does not seem connected to any place at either end.

All along the way today, every time I'd meet another hiker or park visitor, I'd say, "That's Jason Dorgan - he's running the whole Ice Age Trail." Nine times out of ten, the person would say, "Hey, I heard him on Public Radio," or "Wow, I just read about him!"

Jason's mom and dad met up with us at several places this afternoon. It appeared that they were already aware of the lesson I learned: Jason does not wait for anyone.

Another lovely segment of the trail Jason ran today was through Dane County's Indian Lake County Park. Here's where another friend and admirer, Ann Heaslett, joined the small convoy who ran with Jason for the remainder of the day.

Jason completed the day's run at Cross Plains, WI, around 5:30 p.m. Ultramarathon legend Roy Pirrung joined us to witness Jason's feat. So did Tim Goihl and Kevin's wife LaDonna. We all had a high-spirited dinner together at Abuelo's Mexican restaurant in nearby Middleton, WI. Then, understandably, Jason called it a day.