This was someone’s drop bag at the aid station.  Once we realized it had two key locks, we kept an eye on it waiting expectantly for its runner to return.

Our crew had thousands of aid station volunteer hours between us, and none of us had ever seen a locked drop bag. What could possibly be inside???

We had fun speculating. Jewels? Donuts? (Because they’d heard I was working the aid station and were worried I’d eat them.)  Weapons?

Time passed and we got distracted filling people’s tiny water bottles and frying up bacon. Thankfully, someone noticed a runner sitting on the box a couple of hours later.

“He’s here!” “He’s here!” we whispered.

Soon we were all watching as he opened the box, necks craned. Eliot and Brian moved closer — trying to look casual.

Here’s what we saw:

4 small bottles of Mt. Dew

1 bag of beef jerky

1 pair of socks

1 pair of shoes

1 small towel

1 large bag of pretzels

1 glass jar of dill pickles

1 phone

1 phone case

No donuts.

He changed shoes and phones, relocked the box and headed off down the trail.

But there’s more! When he came back through the aid station, he picked up the box and carried if off down the trail with him. Look at the size of that thing!  It was three miles to the next aid station. I almost ran down the trail to question him, but he looked pretty intense, so I stayed with the bacon.

Running: 80 minutes with pickups