Leg 2. Phoenix to Las Vegas

Leg 2 had 4 people with 6 organ donations between them. To say we had a few things in common would be an understatement. We say goodbye to Team Running on MT (Megan &Tim), aka the Scream Team. You may ask “why the Scream Team? All I can say is that what happens on the road to Vegas, stays on the road to Vegas. 😎Seriously, it was a fun week, as I knew it would be with Tim, a friend of almost 30 years. As a complete contrast, having never met Megan before, it was hard to know what to expect. I felt their personalities would mesh and they certainly did. Leg 2 had a moment or two that happens in every ultra endurance race I’ve ever participated in. It’s usually in the middle of the race, particularly during or after an especially long, hard section. In this case we had a lot of climbing the past two days, many miles of little or no road shoulder that we rode on with heavy traffic, mostly semi trucks. We strategized routes to get bike the miles needed, while also keeping ourselves as safe as possible. It’s when physical exhaustion, mental fatigue, and just the weight and especially on The Organ Trail, the responsibility of the undertaking, surfaces. Bluntly put, I lost my shit a little….ok, maybe more than a little. It’s usually reserved for the people closest to you, the ones that you know the best, and the ones that know you the best, the ones least deserving of the pettiness. Tim Mullen, of course, handled it as a friend would. Megan Conner, being a competitive runner and knowing some ultra athletes, like her boyfriend Marcus, who I know from a race we were in together years ago, the Arrowhead 135, recognized it for what it was, as well. My wife Lynn Scotch, sadly, has witnessed the same at times at actual endurance events and during some TOT rides. Organ Donors aren’t perfect. We’re just like everyone else. We make mistakes, we hurt people we love at times, we’re like the rest of the human race. People sometimes try to put us in a pedestal for what we’ve done, and we know we need to graciously accept the accolades to a point, but most of us would rather people look at us as just normal people. We want to normalize living donation. We want more people to understand that yes, it’s an ultimate gift to a dying person, but on the other hand “it’s no big deal” to most of us.

Tim and Megan.