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SMALL TOWNS IN NEBRASKA

BELOW IS THE DELAYED NEBRASKA REPORT:

A couple of days out of Beatrice I stopped in a Gilead, population 39 for lunch.
The mailman had directed me down a dusty side street.
” Try the Pioneer Inn. It’s a lime coloured building and you can’t miss it. ”
I nearly missed it.
I was the only customer there. The bosses name was Karen who is also the cook and Sandy the waitress were sitting down having a chat waiting for business. I ordered a Philly steak sandwich and chatted with Sandy while Karen cooked.  Then Karen went home for a few minutes to hang out her laundry. Sandy says she will do the same when the boss gets back.
” Just as well you weren’t running through here a couple of days ago because we had a problem out on the road. ”
” A woman hit her husband with something hard and then called the emergency services. The ambulance came and took him to Fairbury. She went in the ambulance with him. Then they decided his injuries were so bad they took him to Lincoln. ”
” Is he ok? ” I asked.
” He died and the police arrested her in Lincoln hospital. ”
” Population 38? ”
” No they were from Dakota, just travelling through. We never had anything like that happen here before… In fact we never had anyone running around the world stop here before. ”
” Really. I wonder why!
I noticed the stove in the cafe bar was fuelled by corn. I never saw corn fuelled stove like that before. There were a couple of buckets of corn with a scoop waiting to be fed to the stove. I guess that is one way of using up wastage from the corn millery. A sign on the wall declared Tuesday a special night with pitchers of beer on offer at $2.61. Just as well I am not a drinker as I would have probably stuck around.
I ran on to Deshler. I asked around for a nice place for dinner and was directed to Grandpa’s by a couple called Kent and Rhonda Betten who stopped their pickup blocking a junction just to chat to me. Kent handed me $40.
” Nice meeting you Tony we will be tracking your run. Here is something for your next couple of meals. ”
Inside Grandpa’s two tables of 7 were playing Texas holdem poker. I suppose this is a Tuesday night activity and both bar and locals need some imagination to keep business and sanity in place. They were a friendly bunch.
One of the men shouted out over his hand of cards. ” Say why didn’t you comb your hair before coming into Grandpa’s? ”
” Caus I don’t carry a comb… I need to cut down on my baggage… Do you know where I can buy a sawn-off tooth brush? ”
That night I camped in a sheltered area of the high school football stadium. It was a restless night as every dog in town seemed to be barking all night. Next morning at breakfast in Grandpa’s I was told.
” We got a lot of critters out here and it’s a big problem for us as the dogs bark a lot.
I was also told of the twister that ran through the north end of Deshler in 2003.
” It came through here without much warning and devastated much of this end of town.
It then came back and demolished more property. My house was badly damaged.”
” Were you insured? ”
” It took 5 months and $80,000 to rebuild. I was lucky I had insurance but many didn’t. ”
A man called Dennis then told me.
” The south side of this small town was not really touched. Some people just lost power that evening, but they just went to bed early and got up the next day unaware of the disaster. One man even went to his dentist for his checkup.
” Even though that end of town was undamaged the dentistry was closed. So he was a bit surprised when he was asked why he turned up for his appointment ”
The customers all left and then I discovered that Dennis had silently paid for my breakfast. I also was told that another man was disappointed  that Dennis had beaten him to it! I have often found this that many people just want to help. They don’t want a ‘ song and a dance  about it ‘  they just want to quietly help me along the way.
The highway turned off about 5 miles before Superior. This took me by surprise as I hadn’t looked at the map too closely. In fact I have not needed a map since Illinois as I been following US 136 west for about 3 weeks now.
Just past the junction a couple of geology surveyors from Denver stopped for a chat. They topped my drinks bottles up with juice and water and gave me some snacks as I was a bit hesitant about stopping at farms now. My confidence had taken a knock from the events of last Sunday with Redneck of Rage County. It’s very windy now out in the open prairies so I decided to give it another go and ask if I can pitch my tent in a sheltered area of their farm.
First farm refused. Number 6.  I wondered will that be the refusal record.
At the next farm a nice friendly dog ran out to greet me. So I went over to where the activity seemed to be coming from.
Just then I heard shouts of… ” What are you doing… Get out! ”
I looked around and could see nobody but for some reason I persisted. I walked a bit further onto the property and discovered an elderly couple were arguing!
A loader was stuck in a rut and they were trying to pull it out with chains attached to the hitch of a pickup. There were 2 holes in the tailgate of the pickup. Barbara was driving the pickup while Neil was in the loader. Barbara told me Neil drove the forks into the back of his 2 year old pickup but Neil was adamant that Barbara had reversed into the loader forks!
So there we were in the middle of the farmyard. Neil told me he is of Danish decent. I guessed that is why there are so many Lutheran churches around this area as there is a large Danish influence.
” The name is Thomsen and not Thompson! Can you drive a pickup? ”
I got inside and swivelled the wheel till I got out of the large rut that Barbara had made. The engine stalled. I restarted and with hard push on the gas pedal, and another swivell of the steering wheel.  The wheels span around, screeching. I smelled burning rubber. Somehow I managed to chugg  the pickup  about 5 car lengths forward. Neil was shaking his fist. Oh no!  I hope I haven’t put another couple of holes in the tailgate. I remembered him telling me I could stay but he keeps a shotgun under his bed. It turns out he was telling me to stop and everything was alright.
” That’s great Tony. You saved the day as now I can load up the feed for the cows. ”
” No problem Neil… Looks like I arrived in the nick of time as you two were at each others throats! ”
” You sure did. ”
I was thinking of Tom and Mary from the Irish comedy Fr. Ted. Killing each other in private but with loving arms around each other in public.
” Barbara I want to feed this man… Do we have any more pork chops? ”
” We sure do. Come on in and shower. ”
Neil told me he is a hobby farmer. He and Barbara make more money from
their day jobs in the water board and receptionist jobs than on the farm.
 
Next morning I got up. It was St. Patrick’s Day. I had a flat tyre. My first since Ireland. The curse of Redneck for sure??
I decided I would make for a small town called Red Cloud, population about 1,000. there was no other place at a reasonable distance, so I decided to have an easy 32km/ 20 mile day.
 
I stopped for lunch at a gas station on the way. Everyone was dressed in green, some even had green paper neck chains!
I made it to Red Cloud and headed for the local newspaper office. Me approaching a newspaper office was  a first for me but on St. Patrick’s Day I was suiting myself!
Inside I asked the reporter if there was anyone who would be willing to guest a real Irishman who happened to be running around the world on this festive day.
” You may try the sheriff’s office and he may let you stay in his jail cell! ”

” Well you can camp in the city park. ”
I asked if I should put that in my blog about the Irish world runner being guested on St. Patrick’s night in the sheriffs jail cell; especially as there were 2 million New Yorkers out at their parade making a big deal of the Irish.
” Oh No! You better not put that in! ” She replied.

I left in disgust and went over to the Palace bar for a big steak and a couple of bottles of O’Douls non-alcohol.

One of the locals said. ” What’s wrong you don’t drink our beer? Is American beer not good enough for you! ”
It was a relatively quiet night, I spent most of it blogging and talking to the owner a nice guy called Tom.
Tom was disgusted by the reporter and arranged for me to stay at a local motel. He asked me to do the interview with the reporter in the morning so I said I would just to please him.
 
So next morning the reporter came over all as sweet as pie calling me sir!  She said their sister paper in Franklin would like to do a story and as they had a days notice they would find a place for me to stay. I felt the arrangement was a bit messy when I was told I would be met on the road. About a dozen locals were playing cards and pool in the local and not a dring among them. I guess Tom is providing a service of sorts.
A woman called Becky stopped me just outside town and made a $10 donation to my charity Aware.

However,no reporter came out and I was let down.
Arriving in Franklin I went into a diner called Down Home Cafe. The owner/ cook rushed out when he saw me pulling my netbook and other gear out of Nirvana. Michael was so excited that he forgot he had a pan of cooking oil on his stove!
His wife Alisa saved the day and the cafe from being burnt down!
They are both outdoor enthusiasts. Michael was a former bicycle mechanic and even had a mobile bicycle repair shop. When he first arrived in this town all the kids had worn out shoes as they had no brakes on their bikes. So he fixed up about 50 bikes, spending a couple of hundred dollars on parts as a nice gesture to the community.
He and Alisa along with their two young children once roamed around the country in their camper van for 5 years. They home schooled their children and never stopped in a place for more than 3 months doing odd jobs to pay their living expenses as they went.
Michael went outside to have another look at Nirvana and returned with a small cluster thorn and told me I got two more flats!
Yes I am now convinced Redneck has cursed me!
” We have a problem with these thorns here.. You may want to go to the tire place here and get a ‘ stop leak gu ‘ we all use here. That should sort out anymore punctures. ”
I was telling Michael about the paper letting me down. Bob, the Franklin town dentist sitting at another table just happened to be having dinner with his wife and daughter. He picked up his cell phone and called a motel to check me in without even a word spoken to me! He then popped over to his dentistry  and came back with a paper bag which he said contained a travel toothbrush and sensitive toothpaste. I opened the bag in the motel and discovered it also contained a $20 bill and my sawn-off tooth brush!
 
I dropped Nirvana over to the tire place and was very lucky they got me sorted as it was a Saturday morning. They pumped the blue gu into all my inner tubes. I was told that if I got a flat that this gu would self seal any puncture. They close at noon and are always busy on Saturday morning. A few days later I noticed a little of the blue gu on the outside of the tyre where it obviouslly seeped out and made a repair… Great stuff :)

 I departed after breakfast. Michael and Alisa not only treated me to breakfast but to dinner last night.
It was a pretty late start but I still ran 47km to Orleans.
I spent the evening there on my netbook in the Paddington Station Bar. There was an open mike night and I had a nice time talking to some of the locals, even a couple of female runners.
Dave the owner bought me a couple of bottles of O’Douls and said I could camp around the back.  I went outside to check it out and he came out to tell me not to bother that I could come back to his place after another bottle of O’Douls!
After the bar clean up I walked a couple of blocks with Dave and his wife Mya who is of Slovenian decent.
Mya was born here but her father managed to defect from the former Yugoslav state in the 1960′s. He came over here on a temporary work project as a skilled construction worker. Mya appreciates her freedom and knows how lucky she was to grow up in  a free society.
 
I put in a couple of good days as I ran towards western Nebraska. The west of the state seems to be much friendlier than the east.
Stopped in McCook Wal-Marts for a tarp and supplies. On the way out I met a nice family that took a keen interest in my journey. They said they would check out the site when they got home.
So they did and Angela texted me to say her two boys, Isaac, 14 and Nolan, 12  were excited when she returned and told them of my world run.
The boys are keen runners having brought their running shoes on vacation. They are from Kansas and are here for the spring break with Angela’s parents, Jim and Audrey.
The boys were driven out to me on the road by Angela and her parents. They ran about 9 miles while pushing Nirvana. Jim and Audrey invited me back to the family home in McCook for the for the night.
They had to return home with the boys first as there was no room in their truck. Angela and Jim  returned an hour later. I had run almost another 10km just past Trenton. Another good day, 53.6km/ 33.3 miles. I took a photo of mile marker 59. They will return me in the morning and the boys will run another bit with me.
After dinner Angela’s husband Bill and the boys spent an hour editing and printing off a Colorado state flag off the internet for me. We then taped it to cardboard. Jim got a suitable flagpole from his workshop.  Having previously lived in and loved the centennial state for 8 years, they knew how important this was to me and I can’t thank them enough :)
Angela gave me a laugh. I was talking about how the Nebraska prairies surprised me. I had been expecting them to be as flat as a pancake and in fact I have been running through small rolling hills.
Angela said. ” You know Kansas is flatter?… In fact Kansas has been proven to be even flatter than a pancake since the did a test many years ago putting a pancake under a microscope and determined it to be hillier than Kansas! ”
Stopped in Stratton for lunch. I asked an old timer where I could get a coffee in town. Not sure if he thought I was asking him for money for coffee. Eventually he directed me to a  nice place called ” The Whistle Stop. ”
I had a good laugh there with the two owners Cricket and Dana. They were about to close and said I didn’t need to hurry as they didn’t have much on that day, only 14 lunches and mine was on the house.

I told them about the old timer and she said half the town is deaf as trains roars through here so much. I told them half construction workers are deaf too as they been around too many power tools and then added…Women too!
Later a guy in a works pickup stopped in front of me. I had thought I saw something fly out of the back of his truck. He was holding a white metal tool box lid which had been ripped of in the ferocious wind I had been battling that day.
This happened about 30 meters ahead of me.
” Just as well you weren’t a bit faster! I wouldn’t have wanted you to have got hit!” He said.
It was slow progress that day, so I took a couple of long breaks. Ended up running till about 10pm in the dark. The road was quiet and I was well lit up. Ended running 61km / 38 miles pulling Nirvana off the road at mile marker 21. I want to have an easy run to the Colorado state line tomorrow.
It was a nice starry night, so I just pulled out my tarp and sleeping bag. A good days work!
 I had made my peace with Nebraska. I have met so many wonderful people during my two weeks running across the corn husker state.

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3 Responses to “SMALL TOWNS IN NEBRASKA”

  1. Ann Says:

    Another great read Tony, glad Nebraska turned out well for you in the end and that you are enjoying your stay in Colorado with your friends :) Take care Ann

  2. stewart cochrane Says:

    WOW…!!!!!
    another great read tony
    congrats on meeting this milestone of colorado
    still snowing here in newfoundland
    take care

    stewart and bernie cochrane

  3. Anjali Says:

    I know bob’s son!

    His dad rocks.. smiling atrong! :)

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About Tony

I have always considered myself to be an average runner. In school, I was even bullied for I was a sports wimp. Through hard work, dedication, perseverance, self-belief and a strong mind I succeeded in not only running around the world but breaking four ultra running world records during my competitive career. Having previously cycled around the world I didn't start running until I was almost 30. Then I had a dream of running around the world. For many reasons, I waited for over 20 years. One reason was to establish my pedigree as an endurance athlete. I started and finished my world run as the current World Record-Holder for 48 Hours Indoor Track 426 kilometres (265 miles), a record I have held since 2007. I also broke and still hold the World Record for 48 hours on a Treadmill 405 kilometres (251 miles) in 2008. When I retired from competition, more pleasing than any of my world, European or Irish records I had the respect of my fellow athletes from all over the world - in my opinion, sports greatest reward - an achievement I am most proud of. Then I finally put myself out to pasture, to live my ultimate dream to run around the world! This blog was written on the road while I struggled to find places to sleep and to recover from running an average of 43.3 kilometres or 27 miles per day for 1,165 road days. There were many nights I typed this blog on a smart phone, so fatigued my eyes closed. Many journalists and endurance athletes have referred to my world run as the most difficult endurance challenge ever attempted. During my expedition I rarely had any support vehicles, running mostly with a backpack. In the more desolate areas I pushed my gear, food and water in a cart which I called Nirvana, then I sent her on ahead to run with my backpack once again over altitudes of almost 5,000 metres in the Andes. I stayed in remote villages where many people had never seen a white person before. I literally met the most wonderful people of this world in their own backyard and share many of those amazing experiences in this blog. My run around the world took 4 years. There were no short cuts, I ran every single metre on the road while seeking out the most comprehensive route across 41 countries, 5 continents, I used 50 pair of running shoes and my final footstep of the run was exactly 50,000 kilometres, (almost 31,000 miles) I eventually finished this tongue in cheek named world jog where I started, at the finish line of my city marathon. I started my global run with the Dublin Marathon on October 25th 2010 and finished with the Dublin Marathon on October 27th 2014 at 3 05pm! Thank you for your support, I hope you can share my unique way of seeing the world, the ultimate endurance challenge! Read more...

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