I spoke with Steve late last night, and while he sounded energetic, he admitted Day 3 was rough. He started off feeling low on energy and said he had to push himself through every mile. The last six miles were his lowest yet.

    Julia: What made today worse than the past two?

    Steve: I felt like I didn't have enough juice, and there are a lot more hills in Iowa than I knew! We also lost our camera today, and spent an hour running around Des Moines trying to find it. That was      discouraging.

    Julia: How did you lose your camera?

    Steve: Well, someone left it on the roof of the car and drove off. Not a great moment and it really cut into our momentum. We had taken out one tape though, so at least all the pictures weren't lost.

    Julia: How is your team doing?

    Steve: Well that's the good news. My wife ran all day with me yesterday and finished her first marathon. She's run 16 miles before but never the full 26, so that was really neat to share that with her. In all honesty, she kept me running through those tough miles today.

    Julia: Steve, I know you've trained for this, but have you ever ran 26 miles day after day after day?

    Steve: Well, that's the thing. I've never run like this consecutively before. I've done 20-22 miles a couple days in a row, but never like this.

    Julia: What's the reception been like?

    Steve: We stopped at Campbell's Nutrition and there were folks everywhere. Sometimes it was preaching to the choir, but there were a lot of curious people who just wanted to know what all the excitement was about. That really filled me with a renewed sense of energy.

    Julia: Steve, what do you say to people who think the problem is just so overwhelming and they don't know where to start?

    Steve: Well, not everyone can afford an electric car, but they can buy something organic. Buying organic products is a great first step, and it really is about taking baby steps - keep it simple so you don't scare people away.

Steve is hoping for a laidback pace today and plans to spend the night in Lake Red Rock. He has nothing planned, other than the marathon, so hopefully he'll be able to recharge his batteries and enjoy some of the lovely weather in Iowa right now.

If you want to catch up with him tomorrow, he'll be stopping at Gene Moore's Organic Farm near Keomah Village and spending the night at Lake Keomah.

The Lazy Environmentalist shouted out to Steve on Friday, and we agree - Steve Shriver ‘IS' the real deal.

Check back later for more updates.

Julia Rosien,
Nomadik Editor