The Four Forty Four
Spende geschützt
The Natchez Trace is a 444-mile stretch of road that begins in Nashville and ends in Natchez, Mississippi. To date no one holds the record for the fastest known time completing the southbound journey on foot. This adventure is exactly what I am going to do this September — Suicide Awareness Month — to bring attention to the issues of mental health and suicide among Veterans.
After coming home from Iraq I fought my own battle with mental health leading to suicide attempts. Out of desperation I found running. At first I could barely run a mile, but within five months I found myself in the middle of a forest, two-thirds of the way into my first 50K. I wasn’t running a marathon on harsh pavement; I wasn’t surrounded by thousands of people. I was alone with myself in the middle of the woods. No cell phone, no communication, and the only way to get back was to follow the path. On that uneven terrain I found I had muscles I had never used in all my years in the military or on the road, and they all hurt. I had never felt this pain before. And what I found with this new version of pain was that it didn’t kill me — I could feel it, and keep moving.
I realized if I could do that with my physical pain, I could do that with mental pain. That physical pain I experienced in the 50K let me feel again. It gave me a way to experience feelings and try them on in a challenging but safe environment. It allowed me to run with it. To sit with it. To hold it, and finally, to work with it. As I ran over the next 16 years, the pain began to lose its power and I began to re-create my life.
The darkness of pain held its own kind of light. As I began to feel again, I built a new identity: a person who could find that light, find the rainbow in the rain. The darkness became just one chapter of my story — a story I was already rewriting. Running shaped a path I could follow. And I understood I would have to continue to move if I wanted to continue to change. There was no way out but through.
Running the 444 is my way to inspire Veterans and anyone who dares to dream, to start their own journey towards healing, to write a new chapter, to create an identity for themselves outside of the military or that box.
As the first to run the Natchez Trace southbound, I am rewriting my story in real time — reclaiming it, sharing it, and inviting others to start their own.
The funds will go to help cover transportation, lodging and food. All extra proceeds will be donated to Band of Runners, who you can check out with the link below.
https://www.bandofrunners.org/
You can find more info about me here:
https://unbridledrunning.com/the-four-forty-four/
“You don’t have to wait til you feel better to move. You move to feel better”. -Phil
- Dates: September 20th 2023 through September 30th 2023. 
After coming home from Iraq I fought my own battle with mental health leading to suicide attempts. Out of desperation I found running. At first I could barely run a mile, but within five months I found myself in the middle of a forest, two-thirds of the way into my first 50K. I wasn’t running a marathon on harsh pavement; I wasn’t surrounded by thousands of people. I was alone with myself in the middle of the woods. No cell phone, no communication, and the only way to get back was to follow the path. On that uneven terrain I found I had muscles I had never used in all my years in the military or on the road, and they all hurt. I had never felt this pain before. And what I found with this new version of pain was that it didn’t kill me — I could feel it, and keep moving.
I realized if I could do that with my physical pain, I could do that with mental pain. That physical pain I experienced in the 50K let me feel again. It gave me a way to experience feelings and try them on in a challenging but safe environment. It allowed me to run with it. To sit with it. To hold it, and finally, to work with it. As I ran over the next 16 years, the pain began to lose its power and I began to re-create my life.
The darkness of pain held its own kind of light. As I began to feel again, I built a new identity: a person who could find that light, find the rainbow in the rain. The darkness became just one chapter of my story — a story I was already rewriting. Running shaped a path I could follow. And I understood I would have to continue to move if I wanted to continue to change. There was no way out but through.
Running the 444 is my way to inspire Veterans and anyone who dares to dream, to start their own journey towards healing, to write a new chapter, to create an identity for themselves outside of the military or that box.
As the first to run the Natchez Trace southbound, I am rewriting my story in real time — reclaiming it, sharing it, and inviting others to start their own.
The funds will go to help cover transportation, lodging and food. All extra proceeds will be donated to Band of Runners, who you can check out with the link below.
https://www.bandofrunners.org/
You can find more info about me here:
https://unbridledrunning.com/the-four-forty-four/
“You don’t have to wait til you feel better to move. You move to feel better”. -Phil
Organisator
Philip Parsons
Organisator
Nashville, TN