RAH 2017: Mountains beyond Mountains

Feb 24-26, 2017 - The run is over and we are in the Port Au Prince airport to head home. There is an old Haitian proverb, 'mountians beyond mountains', which means when there is a mountain a head of you, once you conquer it there is always another one that will cross your path. One of our mountains has been conquered, we as a team have complete the 2017 Run Across Haiti. This was no small feat, but as the proverb says, there will be another, and our next mountain still looms in the distance, poverty. Just because this run is over doesn't mean we have reached our ultimate goal of putting an end to poverty. This mountain will take a while to conquer, but with God's work through Team Tassy, we have taken the first steps in this long journey. Donations are still being collected for this cause, please donate here and help out Haitians into dignified jobs to support themselves, family and community.  

Feb 24 - Wahoo Bay to Port Au Prince, 29 miles. After the rest day we had two more runs to complete the run across Haiti. I started this run knowing that my knee was giving me a little bit of a problem. I felt good and strong for the first 5km, and then it hit like a ton of bricks. As described by Dr Stefan, one of the muscles in my quad was tightening up and causing the tendon to work harder, which in turn pushed my patella into my knee causing it to run and feel like a nail under my knee cap. This cause each step to be full of pain, although not detrimental or raging, enough pain to know I couldn't do the remaining 30km that day. Those would be my last miles run on this years trip. I then, alongside others who had to withdraw, joined the support crew and help the other runners get fueled and encouraged to keep going. 

Feb 25 - Port Au Prince to Jacmel, 56 miles. This run is crazy. It starts at 12:30am and our last runners finished at 2:30pm. The first, yes first, marathon of this leg of the race is a flat marathon starting in Port Au Prince and ends at the base of a mountain. The second marathon on this route is half up a mountain and half down a mountain with gain of 4,500 feet in elevation. This leg has the potential to chew up and spit out some of the best runners. By Gods grace we saw 11 people finish this run of the 17 who started that day. The rest of this day was filled with celebrating and reminiscing about the past week of running. We are sad that this event has come to an end but we know we will stay in touch with each other and most of us will be retuning next year.

Feb 26, Port Au Prince to Home, seems like forever. We don't want to leave this place, but we know we have to. Although we will not be here physically, Haiti will always be on our hearts. And even though we will not be hugging and shaking hands with the families that Team Tassy is working with, we will always be thinking about this place. To quote Jonathan M. Katz (author of The Big Truck That Went By: how the world came to save Haiti and left behind a disaster) 'The island, is good time and bad, is not a place to which you adapt. It rewires you. To cope and not be touched by its energy, you have to change the way you think and feel and see the things around you. Even the illogic has rhythm to get used to... Haiti, like life, does not care what you want from it' This place has forever re wired how I am as a person. I pray that God continues to do amazing work through the people who live here and the people who visit. 

Please continue to support Team Tassy's goal of raising $200,000 for jobs in Haiti. My personal goal is to raise $5,000 toward this cause, you can donate by clicking the link below:

https://www.crowdrise.com/zacks-run-across-haiti-2

35km check point

Nick refueling

The shore at Jacmel

Jace and a goat at the finish

Finish line polaroids