What I Learned From "Walking the Rock"

In August 2018, I and a dozen of my friends took on the ridiculous challenge we called "Walking the Rock". What does that mean exactly? It means we were dropped off at a friend's house in Little Rock, Arkansas, stayed the night, woke up at 6:30 AM, and left on foot at 7 am for our hometown of Conway, exactly 30 miles away. Were we crazy? Were we insane? Were we out of our minds? Was it grueling? Did it nearly kill us? The answer to all of these questions is yes. Well, maybe not the last one. We all survived.

At first it was fine. walking together as a pack in the early morning in a nice part of Little Rock by the river was nice. The weather was good, nature was doing its thing, other people were out exercising. It was a good time for the first 3-4 miles. We crossed the Big Dam Bridge over the river and into North Little Rock. It was fun.

Soon, however, the August sun would begin to come up, everyone's legs would begin to be sore, we'd all get hungry and tired and around the time we hit Maumelle (about 10 miles in) it was starting to get difficult.

However, when we got to Maumelle, we were able to stop at the glorious eatery known as Chick-fil-A. We were a third of the way done, we had all eaten our chicken, and we were hyped to get going again. After all, the first 10 miles wasn't all that bad, right? All we had to do was do it two more times.

It was bad.

We trekked the rest of Maumelle and got into unincorporated Pulaski County. The city was gone and we were in the country with little to look at but road, trees, and each other.

But then we hit mile 13 and the Bibleway Apostolic Church. Out in the middle of nowhere stood an African-American church holding a picnic, to which they invited us in. We stayed for a little bit, ate some food, got some fuel, and prayed, then we were on our way again.

This is where it got really hard.

We were ready to be home, but we weren't even halfway there yet. We continued our journey, walking along the backroad, eventually hitting the border of Pulaski and Faulkner counties. out in the middle of nowhere at the border of a wet and dry county stood a peculiar intersection with a liquor store, a church, and a cemetery, followed by more nothing on either side.

At mile 17 we began to lose men. And by that I mean they got picked up because their bodies weren't able to take it anymore. Approaching Mayflower, 3 of the guys in the group had to catch rides home. but the rest of us carried on.

2/3rds of the way in we reached the Sonic in Mayflower, where we ate our dinner. After this it was only 10 miles to go.

Those 10 miles felt like much more.

The sun was beginning to set, we were all in pain, and we were getting to the point of taking breaks every few hundred feet. At miles 28 and 29 we lost more people who simply could not make it to the end. But the rest of us trudged through until finally, at 11:00 pm, we made it to our final destination, the Chi Alpha house on Donaghey Avenue in Conway.

This was probably the hardest thing I have ever done. Even today when I'm doing something difficult, I often think "if I walked 30 miles, I can do this". And every time I can do it.

From this ridiculous experience I learned that not only am I able to do things, but it is always best to do them with the people you love. There is no way any of us would have made it through this journey had we not been doing it together. I also learned that God always comes through, often when you need it the most. I was reminded of this especially when we randomly came across the Bibleway Apostolic Church.

We walked the rock, and we did it together. Would I do it again? With better training and with my friends, sign me up.