Soul Runner By Collier Kempton
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Living in Gallup has saved my soul. More specifically, running in Gallup has saved my soul. By this I mean that here, in Gallup, I have ample opportunity to head out into the wilderness to live intentionally by running, without the distractions of our age of technological advancement. I have the opportunity to step out of my house and jog to the edge of civilization and grapple with nature through the primeval mode of transportation and recreation that we have at our disposal once we learn to walk. Depending on the direction I head, I can run to and roll over hills, up along the knife-edge of a monocline or across the strata of sandstone that has weathered into tabletops with ramps from one level to another. If I really need something else, I can hop in my car and drive out to the forest, only to forget myself as I weave through the ponderosa pines and junipers. In all these places, I can find my humanity again as I reconnect with the natural world through the harsh lessons taught by topography and the typical weather of the high desert. Flowing through fields of sagebrush or intentionally picking through a minefield of softball sized boulders on a descent provide diverse opportunities to keep me honest and sharp in disparate environments. As I roll along the gentle trails or try to dynamically react to the harsher trails, I relearn humility by coming face to face with the realities of how breakable my body is, and I need to make peace with my short existence here. I’d posit that we all have lessons to learn on these trails, at different speeds and through different activities. At the end of the day, that’s just my opinion and if I know anything, it’s that I don’t know everything. Gallup is absolutely spoiled, and I love it. I recently travelled to compete in a 50-mile race that dropped off the top of the Mogollon Rim in Arizona before more or less levelling out as it traversed the hillside of the Rim for miles before ultimately looping back to finish on top of the rim. 10 hours of racing means that relationships develop between oneself and one another. If you aren’t out there to more thoroughly engage your humanity, then you will probably quit at some point during the day. I know that for a fact because I have quit in the past when a race ofsimilar length didn’t yield to my titanic capacities. That day, I was prepared for anything except my unpreparedness. In long days like that, you must make peace with both yourself and the topography or you won’t come out the other side. When I do find myself running with others during these races, people ask where I am from. Their attitudes generally change from perplexity to curiosity as I tell them first where Gallup is located,and then go on to describe how many miles of trail we have in addition to the different types of terrain that I have the privilege to train on. We have it good here. As the world keeps marching forward into a future characterised by a technological ubiquity intent on pulling our attention from much of the experience of life that keeps us human, I argue that keeping one’s soul and seeking out opportunities to be humbled by nature should remain priorities. Let’s get out into the wilderness and grapple with ourselves so we don’t become consumed with the luxuries that are becoming more commonplace. If I can convey some hope, it is found in the fact that I see more people getting outside. While there are awesome geographical landmarks within hours of Gallup, they aren’t Gallup. Traveling on the Kaibab trail in the Grand Canyon is like driving on an urban highway, just harder, drier and harder. Traveling around the Island in the Sky in the Canyonlands outside of Moab can feel claustrophobic. Driving along Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park can feel like moving slowly through a queue. Running trails in the Gallup area, however, present an opportunity for peace. The sheer variety of trails, from sand and slickrock to needle-strewn paths between towering Ponderosa pines, is a reminder that peace is still obtainable. A friend of mine once stated that we, here in Gallup, are terrain billionaires. I thinkthere is some truth to that. We have more than enough. I can run somewhere new every day without driving more than 30 minutes if I truly want. For a town of 20,000 people, that is pretty solid. June 2021
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