Singing in the lifeboat

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 73 counties. This is No. 71. Next: Calhoun

By Daren Schumaker, community contributor

We've all seen them - those motivational posters that either depict majestic scenery or someone doing something amazing, usually with a few words about attitude.

Attitude is a decision. Attitude is everything. A positive attitude won't guarantee victory, but a bad attitude will guarantee defeat.

If you're not sure what such a poster looks like, take a look around the next time you're visiting a school. They hang in hallways, classrooms and offices. In the words of Winston Churchill, 'attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.”

Needless to say, attitude is important. However, most of us don't know just how important attitude is until they see what it can do first hand.

On Jan. 17, we rolled out of Walford at 7 a.m. and made our first stop in Amana where we picked up our secret weapon - Darl Van Rheenen, who always seems to bring good weather with him. As such, we were optimistic as we continued west on Interstate 80 for a few hours. We turned north and traveled a few more miles until we found ourselves standing on Highway 44 with Audubon County at our back, and Guthrie County on the horizon.

We took our first steps at 10:15 a.m. and the sun instantly began to shine and a cool breeze pushed us forward. Not too bad for January.

We enjoyed rolling hills and beautiful scenery for the first 14 miles of our journey. We expected both as they are typical of a Scenic Byway such as Highway 44. We charged up a steep climb and enjoyed an equitable down into Guthrie Center. We circled the Guthrie County Courthouse - needlessly running up a mountainous hill while doing so, smiled for some photographs, took off a few layers of clothing and charged east out of town and up a hill that was just as steep as the hill that had brought us into town. The hills continued, but how bad could they really be? The sun was shining, it was 45-plus degrees, and the wind was at our back. In fact, we even stopped to chat with and collect a $50 donation from Dan Beamon, a bicyclist who ended up riding 76 miles into Des Moines.

We logged our 20th mile at the top of a grinding hill on the west end of Panora, just as we passed Panorama High School. We stopped at City Hall to stretch, danced through downtown and ran north on Highway 4 for a few blocks before finding the Raccoon River Valley Trail and heading southeast.

We crossed Highway 44 with five miles to go, and continued on the tree-covered trail to our destination. The wind blew, the sky darkened, and the temperature dropped - but nothing could bring us down. A sign posted along the Raccoon River Valley Trail marked the county line. We crossed 26.6 miles in 3:50:12 before walking about a mile to Linden, where our ride out of town was waiting. It was a good day.

Some days the cards you are dealt are good, other days they are not so good, and other days they are down right terrible. So is the way with running, and more importantly, with life. To us, running is just a drop in the bucket, but a drop that can teach. We had good weather and our positive attitudes magnified the good things we were experiencing.

However, a bad attitude could have just as easily made what should have been a great day less than what it should have been.

I recently witnessed a friend of mine go through a rough patch. The cards the doctors were dealing were not good. However, she kept her attitude positive, how I'm not quite sure, but she did. It made a difference. You could tell by looking in her eyes she wasn't only going to make lemonade out of life's lemons, but was going to make some damn tasty lemonade. As it turns out, things with my friend ended well.

By watching my friend I learned something very important. You can live your life with a frown and you can die with a smile. The decision is yours. Make your own path. Remember that although life is a shipwreck, we can't forget to sing in the lifeboats.

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