I Shoveled Horse Manure to Get Here!

Every story has an interesting angle or side to it.

This is that side of how I got to Phoenix, AZ to run the 2006 P.F. Chang's Rock and Roll marathon.

I promised to do hard labor for that person who bought my airline ticket. I told her, "Whatever you want me to do, I'll do." I arrived in Phoenix and we drove to New River, my girlfriend's Aunt's home. The place was a modest home in the desert. One of her cats squeeked like a mouse. The coyotes would run around howling or yipping loudly every night. When I would go out to jog at dusk, they would tell me to watch out for the coyotes (jokingly, I think).

I relaxed and trained for a couple of days. I went to Out of Africa wild animal park. I fed a giraffe with my mouth, several times. My dad and girlfriend accompanied me. We had a great time.

Now the story gets interesting. Saturday came and it was time for me to earn my keep. I was assigned some jobs. A full day of light farm chores...scooping lots and lots of poop! I raked and shoveled horse manure into a 6 foot high pile for 2 hours. For another hour or so, I cleaned out a chicken coop and replaced the straw. I raked and shoveled up what seemed like years of dog crap. Two of the dogs liked one area and while it was a lot of crap, it was easy to pick up. The third dog, Tina, is little and is more particular about the poo location. Also, the little ones are harder to scoop. So, an hour later, I started working on rabbit proofing the garden area. I placed a fence around some of the garden. A day later, it seems I may have trapped a rabbit in the garden. Oops.

The next day I ran the half marathon feeling great!

I lacked only one thing:

A t-shirt that said, "I shoveled manure to get here!"