Team Run Alaska to do the Tahoe Rim Run
One of the bonuses of my bicycle tour to Alaska this summer was getting to see my good friend Dave Nevins while I was in Sitka. We rarely managed to see each other when he lived in Boise, Idaho and after he moved to Sitka, Alaska a couple years ago, we’ve had to stay in touch by email and phone.
While I was in Sitka, Dave told me of his projects to raise awareness of diabetes and the importance of a healthy, active lifestyle. When he did, my own project to do the same by bicycling to each of the 50 states began to sound pretty tame.
You see, Dave enjoys doing things like jumping out of perfectly good airplanes and finding the world’s highest suspension bridge and jumping off of it. He’s a notorious bungee-jumping and sky-diving fanatic with a reputation for such activities stretching from Arizona to Alaska. For example, this past September, he made his way to the Royal Gorge Bridge in Cañon City, Colorado and instead of doing some sightseeing like a normal person, he bungee-jumped off of it. The road surface on the Royal Gorge Bridge sits 1053 feet above the Arkansas River, so in my book, you’re crazy Dave! But you have my highest respect for knowing what you enjoy doing and then doing it!
Dave did his jump during the Go Fast Games 2008. The company offering the bungee jumping that was Over The Edge Bungee, Inc.. Their web site has some video and photos to help you get a feel for the height of the jump. Dave has also promised me some video of his own jump off the Royal Gorge Bridge. I’ll be sure to post that when it arrives.
For relaxation, he’ll do things such as riding his bicycle 500 miles in seven days, like he and I did in the Border-to-Border Against Diabetes (BBAD) tour in 2004.
So what’s he up to now? He’s planning a run around Lake Tahoe on the Tahoe Rim Trail. Sounds like a nice outing, right? Except that it’s 168 miles and will take eight days. Dave is getting together a team of people (AKA “Team Run Alaska”) to do this and is making plans to film a documentary of it. Right now, the planned dates are August 10-17, 2009 and he’s got five “slightly crazy people to be a part of the madness” (his words, not mine). He’s looking for at least one more runner and another support crew person. Since he’s organizing this run to raise awareness of diabetes, he’d really like to get at least one more person with diabetes involved. Hint, hint! Any readers out there who might want to be part of this history-making event? If so, send me an email and I’ll put you in touch with Dave.
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