Run down your fears

Editor's note: Daren Schumaker of Cedar Rapids and Dennis Lee of Walford are attempting to run across Iowa's 99 counties to raise money for the American Heart Association. The two have completed 69 counties. This is No. 66. Next: Floyd

By Daren Schumaker, community contributor

October is synonymous with Halloween. Due to the fun often had at costume parties and while trick-or-treating, it is easy to forget Halloween also involves the visiting of haunted houses, the telling of scary stories and the watching of horror films.

In fact, early Halloween celebrations revolved around a general theme of using 'humor and ridicule to confront the power of death.” Confronting death doesn't exactly sound like a walk in the park, and is something that is much more frightening than the prospect of a less-than half-full bag of candy after a hard night of trick-or-treating. In reality, Halloween is more about fear than it is fun.

At 5:15 a.m. on Oct. 18, 2014, the stars still were bright in the sky as our journey to southwest Iowa and Montgomery County began. The sky remained clear and the air remained cool as we traveled eastward for nearly four hours, arriving on the western border of Montgomery County shortly after 9 a.m. The sun warmed the air and our spirits as we ran eastward on Highway 34, slaying many monstrous hills before arriving in Red Oak nearly seven miles later. Absent the grind of the long unrelenting hills, there really wasn't too much that caused us any fear at all. We visited the Montgomery County Courthouse, circled the town square and ran past a cemetery appropriately lined with oak tress that were displaying their bright red leaves. Despite the giant hill on the east edge of town, no ghosts or ghouls presented themselves in a frightful manner.

After our five-mile tour of Red Oak we resumed our eastward journey on Highway 34. The sun disappeared and the temperature dropped, chilling our hands to the point of uselessness and the air to a temperature that made each of our breaths visible. If we were to ever right a running horror story, it might start just like that. The hills continued to beat us down, each climb providing our bodies with a fresh reminder of our mortality. The miles passed us by, one by one, and the hills passed us by, climb after climb. The road beneath us seemed to stretch out - what seemed to be one mile away was really more than two miles away. We passed under Highway 71 on fresh asphalt, running down the middle of the road as it was still closed to traffic. After reaching the summit of a one-mile hill we coasted two more miles to our finish, running 27.45 miles in 3:50:23 to complete our 66th county.

Fear is something few forget. Most of us fear failure, many of us fear embarrassment and nearly all of us fear death. Fear is the death of dreams. Fear can keep you from trying for fear of failing, from speaking for fear of embarrassment, and from living life to the fullest for fear of death. The fact of the matter is the only thing to fear is fear itself. Face your challenges head on. Run up the hills in your life.

Embrace failure as a sign of success. Hold onto embarrassment as a reminder of boldness. Make the most of your life to spite death before it takes you.

Be fearless.

We all have fears. As we begin to realize that we will eventually cross each of Iowa's 99 counties, we have started to fear finishing our quest as it walks hand-in-hand with an emptiness that will appear in each of our lives. Instead of fearing the finish, we hope to embrace it - one step, one hill, one mile and one county at time. Fight your fears inch by inch, foot by foot, mile by mile. No fear. Fail. Embarrass yourself. Enjoy life.

Inspiration through perspiration. Become active or make a donation to Team 99 Counties or the American Heart Association to help fight heart disease today.