Day 518 – US – North Dakota [Jamestown to Valley City]

04/09/21

55.5km

  From Jamestown (North Dakota) to Valley City (North Dakota)

North America

A straight line run on the Interstate, beautiful weather… and a powerful encounter

Sunrise of Jamestown, North Dakota

The day started off beautifully on the Interstate, with red hues of the sunrise and running past the “biggest buffalo [sculpture] in the world”. Traffic was light, temperatures were cool and the skies were blue. Again as is often the case (lucky me) this equated to perfect conditions for a longer run today.

One of the many lakes by the roadside today

I’m in waterfowl territory now (ducks and geese). There are many little lakes (or swamps) by the side of the road. I see ducks a plenty, and frogs and all sorts of water friendly animals. Unfortunately though, running by the roadside, that means a lot of roadkills too. In spite of this, the landscapes were still really pleasing to the eye, making for a wonderful mix of colours and luminosity.

Then something quite amazing happened. I was about 10km away from Valley City when a car pulled ahead of me on the safety lane. I ran past and stopped my stroller. The driver was Pamela, she was alone in her car. As I approached her, she started talking. Her eyes welled up as she told me her story.

Pamela the grieving mother

Pamela lost her son exactly one year ago. She told me she was having a particularly hard day today, struggling to cope. She took her car out for a drive, waiting for a sign, something about life being worth living. And then she spotted me on the road. She turned back to be able to catch up with me. And then she realised I’m the woman running around the world, the story of whom she’s read in the papers. She was extremely moved, crying and her hands started shaking. I was totally taken by this mum and her story, her grief and how she thought I was the sign she had been waiting for today. I gave her a hug and talked to her so she calmed down a bit, she was extremely emotional. She insisted she wanted me to have something of her son that I could carry on my journey around the world. She handed me a printed tissue with her son’s birth and death dates on it. Her tears had turned to a smiley face by the time I left her.

It’s quite strange for me to see the impact my journey has on people. I have seen quite a few people with tears in their eyes, over the past 1 year ½, as they met me and learnt about my journey. It seems to relate to something very universal in all of us. Setting a goal, living freely and putting everything on the line… or something like it.

Check out today’s flyover video: https://www.relive.cc/view/vrqDdN9nDLq

Check my daily run GPS data on or

Here is the map of today’s run: