"RATS should be my girlfriend"

Author's Note:

Desert RATS – Race Across the Sand is a 6 day stage race in Utah.

From the race website

Run from Grand Junction, Colorado to the world famous Moab, Utah along the beautiful 148-mile Kokopelli trail. Distances will range from day to day between 9 and 50 miles. This is a grueling event that will challenge the most seasoned athletes yet it is designed so that less experienced ultrarunners can train for and successfully complete the course.
The entire length of the trail is stunningly beautiful with jagged canyons and breathtaking vistas and Desert R.A.T.S. racers experience every beautiful mile.

A friend of mine…  let's just call him Mark…  is single and dating.

While we were running trails earlier in the week, he made an off the cuff remark "Maybe RATS should be my girlfriend"

I followed that up with an email the next day

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From: Michael
Sent: Wednesday, February 20, 2013 11:44 AM
To: Mark
Subject: RATS should be my girlfriend

Capital idea my man!

To which he responded:

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From: Mark
Sent: Wednesday, February 20, 2013 2:04 PM
To: Michael
Subject: RE: RATS should be my girlfriend

She is a beautiful siren.

But what are the list of reasons?

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My list is below

From: Michael
Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2013 10:40 AM
To: my old buddy Mark
Subject: RE: RATS should be my girlfriend

1.      Because you think you can't

2.      Because you are 45 years old…  and have a precious few years left to try something so daring

3.      It is an endeavor that takes dogged persistence… unwavering singleness of purpose…  intense planning…  attention to detail… and daring.  And you my friend embody those qualities as well as anyone I know.

4.      Camaraderie and team spirit on the trail

5.      Because you are looking to apply logic, hard work, research, and dubious effort to find a match (.com) and as Crash Davis said "I don't believe in quantum physics when it comes to matters of the heart."  but I bet he would say the opposite of RATS

6.      Chicks would dig you more if you weighed got down to race weight

7.      Your blogs about the journey and experience will be the stuff we re-read and laugh about when we are old

8.      Because you will feel small

9.      But tall enough to almost touch the stars

10.  Because food tastes better when you are truly hungry

11.  And water (even tepid) is sweeter than any wine when you run through the desert

12.  But most of all because of the people you meet…  listening to their experiences… and sharing your own.

13.  In the end it is a race…  but in essence it is a journey to see who we really can be… runners, yes…  competitors, maybe…  but in truth a band of brothers (and sisters) doing something truly unique and forming lifelong bonds

(I can name pretty much everyone in this picture…  and tell you their fascinating story)