Running for Ronald McDonald

Editor's note: Mike Stout is a 2009 graduate of the University of Northern Iowa who ran track at UNI and Iowa. He currently resides in Cedar Falls.

I'm not nuts, I swear.

I am, though, running the Leadville 100 trail race in August, so a lot of people have questioned me on that statement lately.

The Leadville 100 is a mountain ultramarathon that starts and finishes in the sleepy mining community west of Denver. It winds through the treacherous Hope Pass, reaching altitudes of more than 12,000 feet before looping Twin Lakes and finishing downtown Leadville. It started as a mountain bike race, which is hard enough as it is, until someone decided running it might be just as much fun.

On the face of it, it does sound crazy. Stupid. Dumb, even. I have run plenty of full marathons — Boston, Chicago, you name it — but nothing even close to this long, this high, this hard. I have run against the best in the world while at Iowa and Northern Iowa, but maybe not against anyone crazy enough to do this.

Why would someone drive 900 miles to the Rocky Mountains only to get out of the car, stretch, strap on a backpack and then run 100 miles through the mountains at 12,000 feet elevation?

For me, the answer is pretty straightforward. There are countless families each year that drive hundreds of miles a day to Iowa City and its world-renowned University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. After the drive, they get out of the car and face the reality of watching their loved ones undergo life-threatening treatments and surgeries — sometimes without knowing or being able to afford where they're going to sleep at night.

The Ronald McDonald House, located down the street from the monstrous hospital, takes these families in and gives them a hot meal, warm bed and comforting shoulder. Ronald McDonald House Charities are funded completely by charitable donations like the ones for which I'm asking. Without the support of people like you, these houses would close — and the people who need them most would be left wondering where they are going to lay their heads at night.

So I'm doing it. I'm going to Leadville. I'm paying for my trip myself, but I challenge my friends and family to make a donation to the Ronald McDonald House for my run here. All money raised goes directly to the charity and is tax deductible.

Consider donating today. One hundred miles won't seem so far soon.

Click here to donate.

Contact Stout at michaelrstout@gmail.com