Taking summer vacation to the extreme

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If it’s summer, it must be the season for amazing athletic endurance feats, otherwise known as running or cycling across country or climbing a mountain to raise money and awareness for a good cause. We caught up with one group still in the early stages of its cross-country trek, and one woman who just completed a run from Chicago to Santa Monica.

In a previous blog post we told you about Livestrong Across America, a group of six cyclists who set off from San Diego on July 1, headed for Washington D.C., to benefit Livestrong, the Lance Armstrong Foundation that supports cancer research and education. One of the cyclists, Britt Gober (third from left), filled us in on how they were faring — so far so good, despite (brace yourselves for TMI) some chafing and sore derrieres.

‘Yesterday we got rained on, hailed on, and had a head wind most of the day,’ he said. ‘But it’s all good.’

Gober said he also experienced numb hands, a tired neck, chapped lips, and had to endure temperatures around 118 degrees. On the positive side, no riders have crashed, despite averaging 100 miles a day and traversing some steep grades. And any rider having a bad day is supported by his cycling brethren, who make sure he doesn’t ride alone.

Gober thinks he trained well to endure the demands of such an exploit — he cycled at least 50 miles a day in preparation. It’s paid off, even though the first couple of days were marked by extra energy and a desire to get right back on the road after a water break. But, Gober added, ‘After a couple of days you come to the realization that you’ve got to go for 103 miles, and it’s going to take seven or eight hours, and you know you’re going to be on the bike all day long, so you just keep pedaling, knowing you’re getting closer and closer.’

Meanwhile, in Santa Monica on Tuesday, Dr. Kate Condon finished her run from Chicago along Route 66, which she did to raise awareness and funds for the Psoriasis Assn. in the UK and the National Psoriasis Foundation in the U.S. Condon, a British dermatologist at the Bognor War Memorial Hospital in West Sussex, endured a torn hamstring and a hairline fracture on her arm (both from falls) and 100-plus temperatures. When asked if she was in pain from her injuries, she replied, ‘Yes, but after 20 minutes something else hurts, so you take your mind off of it.’

Condon (that’s her at left, sitting on the motorcycle) says she was pleasantly surprised by the kindness of strangers she and her support crew met along the way, was taken by the scarcity of fresh fruits and vegetables in low-income areas, astonished by the changing U.S. landscape, and struck by the sight of POW/MIA flags she came across. And though she isn’t sure how much money was raised, Condon believes she was able to spread the word about psoriasis and helped lessened some of the stigma attached to the disease.

And if you happen to be toying with the idea of taking on such an adventure, Gober and Condon have some words of advice: Train, and train well. Have a good support team. Muster solid financial resources. Be confident in your pursuit. Ask for advice from those who have gone before. And, if you’re a cyclist, have plenty of anti-chafing cream on hand.

-- Jeannine Stein