If you ever get an opportunity to crew for someone running a 100-mile race, do it. Even better, crew for someone using their running efforts to raise money for a great cause.

I had the honor of crewing and pacing Tony Brown last weekend at the Honey Badger 100-mile ultra-road race. Those of us on his crew witnessed Tony display heart, will and overall mental toughness for nearly 33 hours straight. Tony is running 5,000 miles in 2021 to raise $10,000 for ICT SOS. ICT SOS is a Wichita-based organization fighting human trafficking. Tony ran the Honeybadger 100 race as part of his 5,000-mile goal.

This was Tony’s fourth attempt at this tough race. Tony had to drop out after 80, 52 and 75 miles on previous attempts. The 100-mile race occurs in July on an asphalt surface making the high temperature extremely difficult. The race does not have aid stations along the route—each runner is required to have a support crew throughout the duration. Tony told me he would complete his fourth attempt several weeks ago because he’s “running for a cause” this time.

The race began at 6AM on Saturday morning but it wouldn’t take long before temperatures exceeded 90 degrees for a long duration. I was only concerned at one point during the race, approx. 53 miles in. I knew Tony was never going to quit, but I hoped his body wouldn’t quit on him. Tony looked beat down from the sun and had a sore quad, but he kept moving along. He took a break to eat a hamburger, ice his quad and prop his legs for a couple of minutes before returning to the pavement. Tony looked much stronger when I saw him again 4 miles down the road and there were only a few hours of high temperatures left in the day. I felt like he was in the clear at this point.

As temperatures dropped, blisters began to kick in. The blisters were large and had already burst. Tony kept fighting through the pain while making several shoe/sock adjustments, spreading Desitin on his feet and cutting holes in shoe inserts to create a “blister cradle”.

I began pacing Tony round mile 74 at 2:15AM (until around 9AM); 20 hours into the race. Temperatures dropped to 68 degrees which felt freezing cold after a long day in the sun. We both put on jackets and still felt cold. Tony told me previously that the overnight portion of a 100-mile is very difficult. This is where I really saw his heart and mental toughness kick in. The crew made us coffee, but Tony wasn’t able to get it down…awake for 24 hours with no caffeine. We were in the middle of nowhere during a new moon; it was darker than dark. The stars in the sky were majestic as we were surrounded by darkness and silence. Tony’s blisters continued to be a problem and his feet hurt so bad. Tony said the white line on the road was jumping around. He was so exhausted but quit was never an option. Around mile 81, Tony reiterated what he told me weeks earlier, “I will finish this because I am running for a cause”.

Tony was right, he would finish. The 3 failed attempts didn’t matter anymore; the goal was conquered. Tony crossed the finish line just short of 33 hours. Tony had every excuse to quit many times but kept moving along despite fatigue and pain. Tony demonstrated an extreme amount of mental toughness to pull this off. I’m honored and thankful to have the opportunity to be part of the crew as well as pace him. I enjoyed spending time with Tony’s crew over the weekend—fun group of folks. Shout out to Elizabeth for taking all the great pictures and creating laughs for us all weekend long.

What’s Tony doing next?

A 200-mile run in early September.  You can support Tony’s cause by clicking on this link to donate: https://www.classy.org/campaign/5000-mile-challenge/c328229

Go get it!