Going the distance

Ellyn Ritterskamp

I did complete my nine-mile walk/run Wednesday. The first seven miles went awesome, and then the final two kind of sucked. I made it up a long mild hill because the right song showed up on my iPod: the totally cheesy "Go the Distance" by Michael Bolton (from the movie "Hercules").

Several years ago, my mom completed the Disney 15K called "Women Run the World," an event for women only. She got a medal the size of a saucer. While she was training, I made her a playlist of running songs like the Pointer Sister's "Jump," some fun stuff from the 60s, and I included that insidious Bolton song.

She said when she was doing the event, she didn't remember most of the words except, "I can go the distance," and the trumpets that go with it. And that got her through it.

Wednesday when I saw that hill and that song came on, I felt connected to her, and it became easy. There's even a line about an uphill slope that made me smile, because I was ON it.

I see now why people run for causes, to raise money for issues to help people they know. It makes it mean more than just movement.

I know every mile will be worth my while.