An Inspirational Journey
This was a unique location for a race out at the Wildlife Animal Sanctuary near Denver. The 26+ mile marathon was actually a training run as I’m using them to build up strength for further distances. I was supposed to be running a 100k there but the weather wasn’t happy with that and washed out parts of the route. The marathon route was still okay so they allowed us to run the marathon route instead of running the 100k.
The unique thing about this marathon was that at the end of the race, you actually run right by the cages of lions, bears and other amazing wildlife. If you go to the animal sanctuary as a visitor, you have to walk the boardwalks which are up high above so you can see view them good while being at a safe distance. We ran on the ground just feet away from the fences and could easily lose some fingers if we were to stick our fingers through. Of all the animals, I remember an alpha lion that was watching me as I ran by them and he kept showing he was the dominant one there.. It was pretty awesome Thankfully none of the fences for the grizzly bears got washed out or I might have to turn my training run into a PR!
My post-race celebration for finishing the marathon.
