🏅Meet Cheryl Hickok, our May Featured Member

Benny was a runner when we met. He got started on the distance habit

way before I did. I like to tease that he’s a bad influence and we

should all be more careful of the friends we keep. But now I’m just

as much to blame as I believe we are all capable of doing beyond our

perceived limits.

We’ve had to be very clear with our communication about races and

goals, how they fit our work schedules, our budget and with our

family. For example, once I got a taste of our local Tecumseh trail

marathon, we would plot out our preferred events for the year and

just took turns participating in Tecumseh. We ran together in 2009,

unknowing that I had our youngest on board for the adventure–I felt

amazing!

Once we had the plan in place, we usually just traveled en masse,

Hickok style, to support the participant. We’d load up the kids and

spend a weekend following our runner from aid station to aid station or exploring the area while playing games, earning junior ranger badges, hanging out in hammocks, learning to hula hoop, that kind of thing. A weekend, outdoors, away from home, spending time together, setting examples for the kids on how to set goals and support eachother and trouble-shoot to accomplish those goals. The three youngest kids ran cross country in middle schooland somein high school, to stay in shape, have fun and socialize. Ouryoungest son ran his first 50k at Dances with Dirt Gnaw Bone lastyear! But they’ve each got their own, preferred physical outlets andunderstand it’s just part of a healthy life balance (and good foryour mental health!).

I signed up for my first 100 miler in 2019. I’d crewed Benny at many

100 mile events, so I knew that, for me, the hardest part mentally

was going to be running through the darkness of night. So I added an

overnight training event to my training plan and thought, well maybe

I’m not the only one who feels intimidated by running in a dark

forest? So I asked around, found interest and invited folks to join

me. We had SUCH a fun time and it was such an empowering experience

for everyone. We’ve spotted flying squirrels, heard the frequent

calls of owls and whippoorwills, seen tiny snakes, different species

of spiders, watched bats feast on bugs around parking lot lamps… all

the nightlife has invited us to enjoy the night. I think one year,

someone even brought a griddle and made midnight pancakes in the

parking lot. We even had a 2am slushie machine at a night “trailgate”

aid station! Friends and snacks make everything better. And we made

fun memories, and I felt very prepared for the night leg of my

race(s).

Favorite ANYthings are tough choices for me; everything great is

always enthusiastically “my favorite”!! But the 8hours of Brown

County will always have to be my top choice for ITR events. I will

never forget one year, standing clustered together, under the pop-up

tents, in a major June rainstorm, all of us holding on so the wind

wouldn’t topple the poles and Tom Feifer just standing on the middle

of the table, smiling and laughing, holding onto the overhead canopy supports, having the time of his life! All of us laughing in the rain. It still makes me smile. I also love to volunteer at trail events and pump other participants full of encouragement and support–and snacks! It makes my heart happy.