11/23/2006 4:00:00 AM AGONY OF
DE-FEET A punishing test of running endurance among
the things Prescott's Thomas Arnold is thankful for
Sitting on a tree stump near his yurt in the heart of Prescott's environmentally conscious "EcoHood," Thomas Arnold pauses in the warm afternoon sunlight and reflects on his weekend attempt to run 115 miles to the top of San Francisco Peaks.
"My whole purpose in this is to suffer," he said.
That statement may seem odd to those who know nothing about the 30-year-old or why he would attempt such a feat. But this is no ordinary man.
Arnold lives a simple life absent of modern-day conveniences. Residing in a yurt a teepee-like structure that originated with the nomads of Mongolia he tries to raise money to buy fruit trees for communal use. He finds ways to give back to the earth.
One of those ways is to run. Boy, does he run.
In the wee hours of this past Saturday morning, Arnold left on a journey to protest Snowbowl Ski Resort's plans to introduce artificial snow made from treated wastewater. But he never made it to the Peaks. Instead, Arnold's run ended at Sycamore Canyon.
That's where the suffering comes in.
"Maybe I didn't suffer as much as the native people and the desecration of their sacred sites, that's suffering," Arnold said. "I have sore legs and some scratches, and that's just in the physical body. These people suffered for whatever thousands of years."
Arnold, running in his Chaco sandals, and a group of fellow Harvest Run participants got started in Prescott at 3 a.m., on Saturday. The runners and bicyclists caught the sunrise in Chino Valley and followed the old railroad grade to Perkinsville Road. At the 40-mile mark, they came upon the Verde River.
It took a little longer to reach the west side of the Sycamore Canyon region. By this time, Arnold was the only one of the original group continuing on. A friend with backcountry experience in the canyon joined him.
"It was a little ambitious to take on the canyon at night and I kind of knew going in that it was going to take a little bit longer than I thought, so I made a choice there," Arnold said.
Arnold could've continued north on Perkinsville Road to Williams and avoided Sycamore Canyon. If he'd gone that route, he probably would've made it to the top of the Peaks.
After dropping into the canyon, darkness enveloped the pair.
"We were on the trails, but the trails are not very good at Sycamore Canyon for the most part; they're rarely used," Arnold said. "We dropped down in one canyon and ended up Š doing some climbing and canyoneering, weird stuff like that."
At this point, Arnold ceased becoming a runner. The trip evolved into one of survival in a pitch-dark canyon on a moonless night. Disaster could be one wrong step away.
Arnold's knee started to hurt, his leg swelled up. He wasn't sure what was wrong.
"So, we got through there nice and slow and steady. We pushed it until about 3:30 in the morning," Arnold said. "At that point, I was pretty worked. I was mostly just scared of falling off."
Without communication to the outside world, the pair built a fire and rested before continuing on at first light.
"It took a while to get through the canyon. It involved a lot of navigation," he said. "We found a trail out to the rim and got out by sunset."
At that point, Arnold's partner had more energy and hurried to a support truck waiting at a designated checkpoint. Arnold himself began to show signs of hypothermia.
"I just decided to sit down, made a little fire and waited," he said. "They came and got me."
Arnold was disappointed at first. Still, he was happy to hear that his group as a whole completed the trip. Bringing awareness to the issue still occurred despite the outcome of his run.
"As a group, we touched the earth from Prescott to Flagstaff," he said. "A common thought went through all these different people."
In all, Arnold traveled about 90 miles over 40 hours through running and hiking.
Scott Farnsworth, who is on the physical education staff at Yavapai College, served as the trainer for a successful Roughrider athletics program and was a member of the medical staff for the U.S. team at the 2000 Summer Olympics, said preparation is key for runners who cover such long distances.
"The trick is in the training. The preparation to be able to do it intelligently enough to get your mileage in, and give your body time to recuperate and rest," he said.
Farnsworth compares long-distance runners to a finely-tuned car.
"You just can't run your car without checking oil and tires and then go from here to New York," Farnsworth said. "It's one of those things where you have to keep the tire pressure up and have the proper fluids to run optimally. Something a little off can cause a problem."
Through reflection and thought, Arnold pushed aside his initial disappointment and realized that it was his purpose to suffer, just like the ancient tribes of the Southwest. He maintained a connection on his journey to the natives, wearing a Navajo crystal and thinking about the Hopi gods that live in the mountains and create snow.
"I realized I was suffering, about as much as you can in 40 hours," Arnold said. "I was successful in that Š it was one of the hardest things I've ever done."
Arnold, a Colorado native who first became involved with Native American issues when his high school in Arvada changed its nickname from Redskins, first ran competitively at age 20. Over time, he decided that races held little meaning for him.
"I got out of competitions a few years ago," he said. "I decided this was the way to do it. It's more of a communal and spiritual endeavor."
With his three dogs trotting around the yard and a light breeze starting to pick up, Arnold takes a few moments to answer a question about what he's most thankful for on this week of Thanksgiving. He mentions the friends and associates who have supported him through these causes, and shows appreciation for the Prescott-area landscape that he's come to love.
But most of all, he's thankful for having the ability to accomplish significant feats of physical endurance that in some way can bring attention to important issues.
"I think what I'm most thankful for is my own body," he said. "It's some gift I've got to be resilient. I'm just blessed to be in this body so I can do all this."
