In May, on my way to meet up with the BPR team, I stopped in Denver, Colorado to visit my family. Now, three months and 15 countries later, I am back in Denver. Over lunch near the baseball stadium with Team Yellow and my brothers, I suddenly had the feeling that I had in fact circled the globe. Amazing.

Heiko and I were chosen for the NBC Channel 9 interview, so at 5:15am on August 14th, we headed to the studio. Staff brewed about, as if it were mid-day, and we were ushered to various rooms, offered coffee, slapped up with makeup and then hurried into the newsroom. We had about 15 seconds to attach our mikes and confirm with Susie, the anchor, that no, we were not from the BPR foundation, but rather two runners. This made me slightly nervous, given that this was LIVE, and that she had probably prepared questions which someone from the BPR foundation would be more equipped to answer. But, the camera rolled, and Susie’s questions were general about the run and life on the road, which we answered with ease.

Later that day, I joined my brother for dinner at his friend’s family’s house, where we swam in the pool and enjoyed a home cooked meal, my first in three months. Sitting on the outdoor patio, I realized that it had been quite some time since I had spent time not in a hotel, restaurant, or lobby, but in an actual home. It felt nice.

A short restless sleep, and then we took off to start the 3am shift. Surprisingly, Lansing cruised in singing with a guest runner (who had joined them at 1:30am), and we had more lined up for the rest of the night. By 4:30am, we had a crew from the American Water Works Association Research Foundation (AAWARF). They jumped in and out of their support vehicle to run along both mine and Paul’s leg. At one point, I had four running companions, a refreshing change from the solitary runs I’ve become accustomed to. Their company was especially great on this high altitude hilly 10 mile stretch. We trudged up a long stretch of dirt road, enjoying the forested scenery and finally views of the Rocky Mountains, and then headed downhill towards Golden.

At the 9am exchange point, night and day pilots changed shifts, team Yellow handed off to team Silver, at least 5 guest runners took off with Emmanuel, and even my brother Kevin was there to see the commotion. We also discovered an odd coincidence-- Kevin had in fact done landscape work on Executive Chief Dill’s house in Vermont six years ago, back when Ignition had just started. It turns out that Kevin will be joining the BPR team as a substitute driver this weekend for the remainder of the trip; it will be great to have him out on the road.

Later that morning, on 16th Street and Arapahoe in downtown Denver, we were greeted by a dozen kids from Youth Venture, clad in blue BPR t-shirts, and busily making pancakes, handing out shirts and stickers, sharing news about the water crisis and about BPR. Music played, people milled about, photographs were taken, a pancake eating contest ensued, and even local Rotary club members came to join the festivities. Certainly, one of the best exchange points yet. To top our day off, team Yellow acquired David in order to help cover extra miles. Then we headed back to Golden to catch some sleep before our 1am departure for Day 2 of the 3-9.