A couple of years again, when my spouse Shelly and I drove out to Arizona from our earlier dwelling in Pennsylvania to start out our new lives within the desert, I assumed it will be our final transfer for a protracted whereas. In spite of everything, Shelly had an amazing distant job with Bucknell College, I used to be settling right into a second profession in running-related pursuits, and each of us actually take pleasure in Arizona as a house.
I developed a tremendous working group within the space and obtained to take part in lots of memorable occasions, together with the 2025 Cocodona 250 Milethe low-key 2025 Circle of Hell Runa number of editions of the Hotfoot Hamster timed occasionand the 2024 Javelina 100 Mile. However alas, as has been the case so many instances in our lives, we have now as soon as once more realized that there aren’t any positive issues in life. We’re on the transfer once more.
AJW heading into Sedona, Arizona, at mile 162 on the third day of 2025 Cocodona 250 Mile. Photographs: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
Final week, after a comparatively fast interview course of, Shelly began a brand new job as Director of Scholarship Items at Oregon State College in Corvallis, Oregon, and in consequence, we are actually within the means of shifting there. Shifting is nothing new to us, as my three-decade profession in training has led us to relocate a number of instances from Arizona, California, Idaho, Virginia, Arkansas, and Pennsylvania. Moreover, a transfer to Oregon isn’t altogether shocking, because the state is acquainted to us. Shelly’s mom and brother stay there, as does our youngest son, Tully. Nonetheless, packing up and leaving a spot, particularly a spot one loves a lot, isn’t straightforward.
Residence Is The place We Run
Through the years, the stress and pressure of shifting have been tempered via working. In every place we’ve moved, working has allowed me to regulate to my environment and discover a dwelling in a brand new place, even whereas eager for the outdated one. The teachings realized alongside the way in which have given me the energy and abilities to adapt — each to life and working — in methods I’ll not have achieved in any other case.
AJW having fun with his 500-meter laps on the 2024 Hotfoot Hamster. Photograph courtesy of Andy Jones-Wilkins.
In California, the expansive rolling hills of the East Bay and the hovering redwoods within the trails above Oakland gave me perspective and confirmed me how really huge the world is. Surviving the chilly, darkish winters of Idaho hardened my resolve and gave me an opportunity to resist difficult situations with hope relatively than frustration. In Virginia, the traditional, stately Appalachian Mountains offered me with a every day reminder of how quick life really is and the way essential it’s to savor day by day. And whereas right here in Arizona, working within the sizzling, dry Sonoran Desert served to simplify my life and allowed me to try to take pleasure in each second.
As I sit on the precipice of this subsequent transfer to Oregon, I have no idea what classes are ready for me on the market within the U.S. Pacific Northwest. Whereas I do know the working group is vibrant and the forested trails are plentiful, the unknown and thriller of a brand new place is concurrently thrilling and nerve-racking. What I do know is that there’ll come a day once I lastly settle into my new life in Corvallis, when I’ll get up within the predawn mild, lace up my trainers, and head out for a run. Whereas working, I’ll you’ll want to open myself as much as all my new dwelling has to supply and let working via area do what it has all the time achieved by offering me sustenance and revelation, in addition to a lesson or two from which I can proceed to develop and evolve as a runner and as an individual.
AJW working the nighttime part of the 2024 Javelina 100 Mile. Photograph courtesy of Andy Jones-Wilkins.
Bottoms up!
AJW’s Beer of the Week
This week’s Beer of the Week comes from Filth Highway Brewing in Philomath, Oregon. MX-Fashion Vienna Lager is a novel Vienna lager brewed in a Mexican fashion. Crisp and barely candy, MX-Fashion blends the perfect of each worlds to supply a splendidly refreshing and drinkable beer to be loved nearly any time.
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