Team 99 Counties: Be your true self

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 and awareness for the American Heart Association. They've completed 86 counties. This is No. 81. Next: Mitchell.

How do you define yourself?

When you next look in a mirror, ask yourself one simple question. 'Who am I?' The answer may surprise you, for better or for worse.

How each of us perceives ourself is often a complicated process, but it begins and ends with the various roles we play in our lives. Some of these roles are achieved by one's personal skills and abilities, Others are ascribed by society without regard for merit and are instead based on certain traits beyond one's control.

Roles include terms such as mother, father, child, architect, doctor, athlete, runner and even sky diver. Many of us work hard so that, as we fulfill the various roles in our lives, we earn and are showered with praise and positive attention from others to such an extent that the roles we play begin to tell the story of who each of us is, to ourselves and to society. We define ourselves and attribute value to ourselves based upon the roles we fill, and how we well we fill them.

On Sept. 19, we departed Cedar Rapids at 6:30 a.m. for a relatively short trip up Interstate 380 and Highway 218 to the western edge of Bremer County. Upon arrival, we met a familiar face who had agreed to interview us for a local news story. In speaking with her, we realized we had last spoke with her in April 2011 as we completed our 27th county — Black Hawk. How time files. We departed in the cool morning air, traversing one mile of soggy gravel before crossing Highway 218 on a paved road that led us into Waverly. Soon, we found ourselves on the campus of Wartburg College where we circled the outdoor track before passing by Clinton Hall via a web of sidewalks.

We jumped onto the Rolling Prairie Trail as we completed our sixth mile, crossing the Cedar River and passing by the Bremer County Courthouse on our way south out of Waverly. Soon the pavement of the Rolling Prairie Trail turned eastward, and we settled into our run. As the minutes turned into hours we realized the beauty of the Rolling Prairie Trail, especially the surrounding woods and overhanging trees. It made it feel as if we were running on a treadmill, staring at the same scenery and not really getting anywhere at all. We completed our 19th mile as we stumbled into Readlyn. We blazed a trail from the southwest corner of Readlyn to the northeast where we jumped onto Reed Avenue, heading north for less than one mile before turning east onto Highway 3.

We climbed a few long and grinding hills. We talked about how much we enjoyed the scenery around us. We crossed the Wapsipinicon River. We talked about how today would be our 81st county. We talked about how we only have 18 counties left to conquer. We talked about what it will be like to finish our last journey. We stopped talking. We climbed a few more hills and completed our 27.5-mile route across Bremer County in 3:55:17 with a cool wind at our back and a bright sun in the sky.

As we thought about the change that is on the horizon, the end of our journey, we started to realize just how difficult things will be for us. Over the last several years, we became Team 99 Counties, and Team 99 Counties has become a part of how we define ourselves. When it is all over, how will we define ourselves? How will we value ourselves, and will others still value us? How will we cope?

Unfortunately, the only constant in this world is change. Roles will change and, in turn, so will how each of us defines ourself. Change is never easy, and this reality will knock each of us down a few times. In the big picture, it doesn't matter if you get knocked down because each of us will. What matters most is if each of us is able to get back up, dust ourselves off and begin to define ourselves anew. If you lose one of your most valued roles, how will you respond? If you lose a parent or a child — and you are no longer a mother, father, son, or daughter — how will you respond? When you retire, or when you are no longer able to run, how will you define yourself? Will you value yourself less? Are you really that different of a person? Are you really less valuable to the world?

The answer, of course, is you are the same person and are valuable to this world regardless of your role, as long as you do what you do well and with the understanding that things seldom last forever. Roll with the punches. Take change as it happens, because it is already on its way — whether you know it or not. Be true to yourself and you will become your true self.

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

l To make a donation or buy a T-shirt, email Dennis Lee at telcoden@yahoo.com