04/30/15 – Tomorrow, May 1, is the launch date for Run For Currahee’s fundraising campaign! Make sure to donate to our cause! As a kick-off, here is a inside look on the challenges and joys of training for an 800 mile run.

“Running, they say, is a simple sport. It involves the basic movement of putting one foot in front of the other for a set distance or time. For me, training for Run For Currahee has boiled down to just that. There is really no way to properly train for an 800 mile run across three countries, no training guide or plan to follow. It has never been done before.

The challenges are plenty: the distance, logistics, weather, conditions, and in the end, elevation gain that literally has me climbing a mountain under only my own will-power. But these are the things that drive me forward, the things that get me out of bed at 6 o’clock in the morning to run 10 miles in the pouring rain. I relish a challenge.

Though difficult, there are plenty of moments and people that balance out the pain, exhaustion and stress associated with running as much as I do for an event like this. I am lucky enough to have two wonderful friends and training partners, Emily and Sam, to support me through the good and the bad. I am blessed to have a support team including my Mom, my best friend Heather, and crew members Kate and Phoebe, at my side from start to finish. I am lucky enough to train in some of my favorite places in the world, Umstead State Park and the American Tobacco Trail. I am also lucky enough to visit some spectacular places to log mileage, like Pisgah National Forest and Currahee Mountain herself in Toccoa, Ga.

I feel as though, through this event, I am part of something much bigger than myself and I am giving my whole heart to it. At times in my life, I have felt small and unimportant in the grand scheme of things. Run For Currahee is my opportunity to lend the drive and simple passion I have for putting one foot in front of the other to make an impact on the world. It is my chance to help preserve the legacies of my heroes, the men of the Band of Brothers of Camp Toccoa, support current veterans and inspire others to choose an active lifestyle.

I personally want to thank you, as well as my sponsors Skratch Labs, Ultimate Direction, PocketFuel Naturals, for your support in this daunting challenge. You will give me the courage to stay strong through all 800 miles of my journey.”

Currahee! – Kathryn