Life Outside Summer 2018 - 37

Skiff had recently faced some disappointing MRI
results. He had severe osteoarthritis in his hip and
a femoral head fracture. The doctor said his trail
racing days were over.
Skiff was shocked. Trail running was how he spent
his weekends. Mountain Junkies racers had become
his friends, his community. What now?
Show up to the course and help out in whatever
way he could.
"It was definitely an eye opener for us," Skiff says.
In past races, "we run real fast, we get an award, we
go home. [This time we saw] there's a lot of people
out there that come across that line and there's no
one there for them."
Skiff and Paderick embraced their roles as cheerleaders, support staff, course cleaners.
If runners are struggling, Skiff says, "I want to
make sure they're okay. Get them to laugh about
something. If they say they can't do this or that,
we tell them to take it one step at a time. We walk
with them. We're there for them. We let them know
they're not alone."
Paderick poked pink course flags into her outfit,
as she cleared the trails. Skiff wound race tape into
a soccer-sized ball. The two danced across the finish
line to cheers and applause.
"There's no better way for us to spend our day
than with the Mountain Junkies," Paderick says.
"It's healing for us to do it together, to be able to
give back to people who have given so much to us."
The two say, though the Trail Nut race was their
first time sweeping, it won't be their last.
"Even if we can't run next year," says Paderick,
"we'll try to be at as many races as we can."

Q

See nyou
i
Clifton
Forge!
Open At
11am
Seven Days
A Week
For Lunch,
Dinner and
Lots Of

Fun!

across from Amtrak Station, downtown
Brewery tasting room open on
the weekends
Multiple craft beers on tap!
Full lunch/dinner menu
Gameroom is always open
Happy Hour Mon-Fri 4-6 p.m.

LifeOutsideMag.com // Summer 2018

37
http://muddyaccerace.com http://jackmasonstavern.com/ http://www.LifeOutsideMag.com
Life Outside Summer 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Life Outside Summer 2018
