Remember the story about the guy going on some 210 mile run through the woods? If you do, he’s been back for about a week, and here’s part of the story. If you don’t, he’s been back for about a week, and here’s part of the story:

A Beaverton man is back at home today after running the 210-mile length of a Boy Scout trail from Midland to Mackinaw City.

Jeff Christian, 33, finished in four days, seven hours four minutes. He started from the trail head in Mills Township at 4 a.m. Friday and reached Mackinaw City about 11 a.m. Tuesday.

Christian, who specializes in ultra marathons — runs of more than 26 miles — said the first leg of the trail was the toughest because it was so overgrown and marshy. The cut grass, which has thin, sharp blades, was terrible, wrapping around his legs and cutting them, he said.

At one point in the trail through Gladwin County, he had to reroute.

“I literally bushwhacked down through this thick, mucky stuff,” he said. “It was so slow going. There were a couple of times I got mad. I wanted to quit after 30 miles. But I kept going, I kept plugging away.”

He got back on the trail but, because of flooding, he had to trek through waist-deep water.

Boy Scouts repair the trail section by section. In some places, planks from bridges made by the Scouts were floating in the water because beavers had dammed flooded areas, Christian said. Flies were so bad at one point that he wrapped a shirt around his head and added a hat to keep them from buzzing around his ears.

On the positive side, Christian saw great blue herons, Kirtland warblers, two bears and lots of deer, and he dodged a porcupine in the middle of the trail.

Although a crew of three came to run with him in shifts along the way, he did much of his running alone. One member stepped in a hole and hurt herself; another needed to leave early because of a personal obligation. All three had left by Saturday night.

More at ourmidland.com

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