Here’s the view from my window:

We had a quick meeting that evening and then we all hit up the Hard Rock Cafe for some dinner. It was cool kickin it with my team. They’re all from Westchester County New York so I only saw them on training days. I’m not all that talkative when I’m running, that shit is mad laborious to me…I’d rather just zone out with my music on…but yeah so it was cool to crack jokes with all of them and such.

Oh yeah I forgot to mention that I’d checked in to my room and I had a roommate but up until then I hadn’t seen him yet!

Finally after dinner I met Nick from Ohio. He has Crohn’s and he was a runner…diagnosed with Crohn’s in 2007. He actually used to run competitively but had to give it up due to the disease. He and I probably don’t look like two people that would hang out together but it’d be an understatement for me to say he was the coolest person I didn’t know that I ever roomed with! Shouts to Nick for putting up with me being on the phone and coming in late every night. Much appreciated big homey! You guys will meet Nick in a second…

First off BIG BIG BIG shout out to Mauikai! She looked out for me mad times over the course of the weekend. And while she didn’t wake her ass up to come see me run like she said she would…(jokes sis)…she def held me up once the sun set. So shouts to her…I’ll tell you more about her in the minute….

But here’s a video of us from that night:

We went over to the De La Soul show at the Delano then back over to the Jazid and we got up with the bol Parable. Shouts to him to for getting me a quick little situation during the party.

Gah lee…I’ma supastar!

Nobody really cared but it’s all good it was fun. Chopped it up with some heads. Bodied Maui in a quiet game of billiards and just chilled at the spot prolly longer than I should have since I was supposed to wake up at 7am to go run with my team. Then Maui dropped me off and I passed out after my first night in Miami.

The weather was incredible and I was already loving it.

Of course I didn’t wake up at 7am to run. That had me kinda worried because truthfully I hadn’t run since the day Pack and I raced…I was real worried about my calf tightness coming back in full force…so I wanted to see (before the race) if the warm weather would make a difference.

Now mind you I coulda just went and run somewhere by myself. You think I did that?

Nope!

That day I just went to the Expo to get my running materials. My bib and all that stuff. I was number 13559. My lucky number is 13 so that was good enough for me. haha! Picked up some dope orange shoelaces.

After that I went and copped some new socks…man when I grow up I only want to wear new socks everyday…new sock feeling is the shit! Anyway..new socks…and a new pair of basketball shorts to run in. Everything was matching – they see me shining!

Then I got all my stuff ready so I wouldn’t have to worry about it in the morning. We did the pasta party thing. It was tight because when we came in it was a line of people cheering for us and taking pictures. It was like walking down the red carpet! We stuffed our faces with pasta and THEN Mauikai scooped me up and we went to our show.

Shouts to Lex One! They were shooting a video so there was a shortage of time…but let me first say this was the first time I’d seen Maui rock…and just like I told her I’ma tell y’all…I had NOOOOOOOOO idea. She’s mad good hahahha. Here’s her rocking my favorite song of hers that I’ve heard…Negative Space:

Yeah she ripped it. Then eventually I got on and I bodied it real quick. She helped me out on “Oh Yeah” It’s wild how much better it sounds with somebody that can sing for real hahaha. The night was fun. Lex One had on a 4 finger ring made out of the Legend of Zelda 64 cartridge and a chain that had the Zelda from NES cartridge on the end of it. That boy’s wild hahaha.

Ok so I get back to the hotel a lot later than I should have and I had to put together my playlist for my iphone so I could listen to it while I ran. So I did that and fell asleep prolly at about 1am?

Aaaannd just like that I was back up at 4am.

My roommate Nick was up before me. I kept hearing my alarm and normally I would have went back to sleep but almost instantly I realized that the day is finally here! What I set out to do…what I trained extensively for…what I raised money for…has arrived! And I leapt into action hahaha.



I was in my running gear with my long sleeve “I run with iCON” shirt on over it to keep warm (the sun wasn’t up yet). I ate my breakfast of champions…a bagel and a banana and some water haha…and then I went up to see my mom in her room to give her my camera and make sure she was awake in time to see root for me!



Headed for the lobby to meet up with my team. They seemed surprised that I was so energetic and happy THAT early in the morning. Sometimes I wonder myself where my bursts of energy come from. Dos-Noun would give me a very technical answer but I say they come from my heart.

So we take team pictures and such and then headed to the starting line. My mind was a swirl of imagination, wonder, emotion, and possibility on the way there so I popped my phone out and sent a kite that needed to be sent and then I got my head back in the game.

The way it works is you get corraled based on what you think you’re time is going to be and the number they give you tells you which corral you’ll be in. I said it would take me two hours so they put me in corral E.

It seemed like an eternity between when I got there and when the gun went off. Well I would never hear the gun or most of the festivities before the race because I was listening to the voice that would carry me across the finish line in my headphones.

BUT! I forgot to mention I got to the starting line and I prepping my iphone to play and the playlist I spent so much time on the night before WAS NOT THERE!!! You see since the Iphone only holds 16 GB you have to pick which playlists to sync and I made the playlist and forgot to click it under the sync menu. DOH! So I spent like 10 minutes standing there making a new playlist on the spot. And I did. And it was perfect.

So finally the gun goes off and everyone starts moving. Giving their watches the 0:0:0:0 as they crossed the Starting line. And I’m off!

I was overwhelmed by the “WOW! I’m actually doing this!” feeling. Trying to remember all the tips people gave me along the way. Pace yourself. Be patient. Run at your own pace. Stop at every gatorade/water stop. Alternate gatorade and water. Etc etc.

A couple miles in and the sun is up and I’m hot as HELL in my long sleeve t-shirt. It’s only a matter of minutes til it gets throw into the guard rail of the bridge…(which is funny because then I see it there later when we go out to celebrate).

Then it’s smooth sailing. This is about mile 2 and a half.

Actually it’s not smooth sailing at all…

because…

now..

I HAVE TO GO TO THE BATHROOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How ironic right?

So why didn’t you go before the race iCON? I didn’t have to! I tried but I didn’t have to hahaha.

So here I am running trying to get in my groove and now all I’m thinking about is a bathroom!!!!

Mile marker 3 where’s the bathroom? No bathroom. There’s gatorade and water though. Ok can’t skip that!

Ok I can hold it…

No I can’t.

Yes you can!

3 1/4 – Where’s the bathroom? Damn man I might have to stop and walk. I came so far.

No no walking!

3.5 – Ahhhhhhhhhhh!

3.75 – Oh it’s all good I can run the whole race…

3.8 -ahhhhhhhh!

3.9 – Nah I can do this

Mile 4 – BATHROOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I finally found one and handled that and then jetted back out trying to make up the time.

There were people shouting “TEAM CHALLENGE!” our team mates and various people involved in the CCFA with signs the whole way and that was a great boost for me. I’d give em a good fist pump as I passed by.

Then I found my stride and I just focused on what was in front of me and the music I was listening to. I kinda put my body on automatic and just got lost in thought. Only really snapping out of it when I saw someone I recognized. I kept imagining what awaited me on the other side.

That is until my teammate good ole Brian Studwell showed up. He gave me a couple words of encouragement I snapped out of my trance shouted “YEAH!” slapped him 5 and we would be teammates for the balance of the run. It became a “I won’t stop if you don’t stop” type thing. We ran side by side counting off the miles and cracking jokes until about Mile 12.

We grabbed gatorade and water. Yo gatorade…when you’re running like that…it feels like you’re a gun and you are ingesting bullets. That’s the best way I can describe it. I felt almost lethal for about a half a mile. It took me about 6 miles before I figured out a way to drink and run effectively but I did it hahaha.

Straight from Mommy B Cam

At mile 11 I saw my mommy! She was waving “Go iCON!” and “EARLY!” signs. It was tight hahaha. All the sudden I found a burst of energy from that and there we were zooming down the street.

Then around Mile 12 I was feeling very fatigued and I realized I had some sort of granola bar or something in my pocket and I’m like word! Energy!

Dumbest thing I could have done. Not only was it mad dry and all that but all the sudden my body wanted to come to a dead stop. I think I needed to grab water/gatorade twice before I truly washed it down.

So Brian went ahead because I lost steam…but I knew I was nearing the end so I kicked it up a notch somehow and got back in it!



Now this is where we have the real problem. As long I’ve run…I’ve always sprinted at the end. No matter where I end up…it’s always a sprint finish for me hahah.

You’re thinking “what’s the problem with that?”

Well I wasn’t exactly sure where the end was…and there was some deceptive things that make it seem as though the thing right in front of me was the finish line. So I sprinted.

Yeah it wasn’t the finish line.

HAHAHAHHAA!

So here I am….I did my sprint…it wasn’t the finish…I have absolutely nothing left and probably about a half-mile left.

Remember what I said about energy? Yeah I don’t know where it came from…but I got it back and was in full stride again…..

And you know what I did?

I SPRINTED ACROSS THE FINISH LINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My time was 2:22:07
Here’s the rest of it for people that know anything about competitive running:

..
..

Next time (yes there will be a next time) I’m gonna crack 2 -hours.

I got my medal and then I needed food. I found my mom and my team and I chopped it up with a lot of the people there. A lot of the people in the organization know about me and my music due to the publicity that Audible Treats ran for me (once again shouts to them!) so they all came by to chop it up.



After that I kinda just sat and reflected….and I just felt like a new person.

There was something missing though..so…I turned my phone on and boom there it was.

Here’s a video of everything up to this point:

I went back to the hotel and just chilled. Me & my roommate laid on the floor with our legs up on our respective beds to keep from getting too sore. It worked marvelously.

Then my mom and I went to some really dope restaurant at the recommendation of Mauikai and it was amazing! So amazing we couldn’t finish the food hahaha…but yeah it was fly. I forgot the name…Maui what was it again?

I was obviously mega tired…but it was time to celebrate with the team. So I head down for the dinner and I eat a little bit because I had just ate basically and we’re dancing partying…and then Brian and Glenn tell me they got reservations at the Delano…a couple girls from our team roll too and we just have an all around good time. I’m still rockin my medal cuz that’s just the type of dude I am hahahah…and please believe I was bent.

I started drinking when my mom and I were at the restaurant…and I didn’t stop until the show that night.

But yeah we chillin at the Delano just having a good time. Then I realize it’s time to head back to Miami from Miami Beach and right when we are getting in the cab Maui hits me to say she as the hotel waiting for me.

So I’m telling the cab driver be quick!

Finally we get back to the hotel and roll out to the show. Glenn is riding with us. We get there..the drinks keep coming…and boy am I gone. Like how am I still walking toasty.

But even though I’d just run 13.1 miles and was probably on the verge of alcohol poisoning I still rocked it. Where did that energy come from?

Yeah I’m sure of it now…It comes from love.

Almost immediately after my set though I passed out on a couch. It was a very accomplished and satisfied sleep.

Maui dropped me off for the last time and I bid my sister farewell! Thanks so much yo….You were an amazing hostess.

Then I went upstairs and went to sleep.



You see some people go on long pilgrimages. They walk the road to santiago. The appalachian trail. Do the Haaj to Mecca. They come out on the other side and they’re not the same as they were when they went into it.

My thing certainly was nowhere near as epic as any of those but nonetheless I’m not the same person that came out of the MIA airport that friday afternoon. Shit I’m not the same person I was at the starting line. It’s like when you’re running for the train and you’re carrying a lot of stuff…you’re bound to drop some of it. Or like how when space shuttles come back down to earth from outerspace…they lose all the excess stuff and only the important stuff remains.

With that said. Sometimes when something is late it is really right on time.

There is so much more to come y’all.

I want to thank everyone. There’s way too many of you to thank here but I will personally hit each and everyone of you up and thank you soon…I’ve just been INCREDIBLY busy and then sick lately. But know that I thank all of you from the bottom to the top and all the sides of my heart. Thank you!

I gotta run though. I got so much stuff to do and catch up on!

peace

-iCON
i.b. i-fly

p.s. Nick left me a note that really hit the mark. Best of luck to you too homeboy!

First of all where is here? I’m not even sure. I read some reviews and write ups about me and people use descriptions like “Philadelphia legend” or “underground staple” and then I go elsewhere and read things that are much less flattering.

I honestly can’t answer that one for you but I can tell you I’ve lived a lot of my dreams getting to this point. I’ve also taken a lot of risks and thought outside of the box to get myself here. One of my most talked about but never disclosed risks was the Greyhound Ameripass scandal.

From discoverypass.com:

“See the USA and Canada by Greyhound. Travel both countries with a name you can trust. It’s one of the most economical ways you’ll ever find to discover the sights and attractions on both sides of the U.S./Canada border. With attractively affordable pricing, Greyhound’s North America Discovery Passes encourage you to travel far and wide. And with unlimited travel and unlimited stopovers, there is no need to restrict the distance you travel or the length of time you stay in one place.”

Sounds like their pitching to overseas heads that don’t know how awful the “Devil’s Chariot” actually is.

Towards the end of 2004 my homey Ceschi told me he had a hook up for the Greyhound Ameripass and he was using it to go to North Carolina to visit his girl all the time and I think he even took a bus to Los Angeles (Sidebar: Dos and Verbs wanted to put money up for me to go all the way there and all the way back to Philly without stopping or showering) so I was like hell yeah let’s hit up your connect and get that done.

Ceschi being one of my best friends was like yeah sure I got you and he emailed me a Word document. I was thinking we’d go to the bus station and someone would hook me up. Nope! He showed me how to edit, print, cut and laminate this document. It was literally just a white piece of paper with some printing in a font similar to Courier New. Ceschi cut it on a paper cutter in my house. It wasn’t even a perfect rectangle more like an unexaggerated rhombus. He laminated it on one of those small travel laminators. There was nothing on the back of the paper. Needless to say I was very leery…thinking to myself “there is NO WAY this is gonna work.” He told me to put it in a check book holder and put my license in the other side and kinda just flip it open like a police badge.

I can’t remember the first place I went with it. Oh I think it was from Richmond, VA to Philly after a show I did with Pumpkinhead at the Nanci Raygun. I remember standing in the line thinking this will never work but fuck it if I get caught there’s a lot of places to run. I’m very much a “no risk no reward” type. So I waited and waited until it was my turn to board the devil’s chariot. To my utter amazement the driver barely even glanced at my counterfeit Ameripass. I boarded the bus and it was not so smooth riding from there. (whoa unrelated flashback…i.b.i-fly)

I remember calling Ceschi and talking about how ridiculous it was and how the dude barely checked the pass and this and that and he explained to me how many times he’d done it and how it was always like that.

After a few more rides up and down the east coast that went just like that. Even times the pass was scrutinized closer it wasn’t that much a check. The driver would point at it and move his lips as though he was deciphering it. Some drivers were bewildered as though it was something that only existed in theory. Others asked me what I did that I traveled so much. I made up a new story everytime, just for fun I guess…HAHA! Greyhound became my car. I’d go back and forth between Philly and Connecticut just because I was bored.

Let me reinforce that Greyhound is awful!!! It is THE worst way to travel in North America. At least on the east coast. In the midwest I would find out they have much newer and cleaner buses and stations. (what part of the game is that?!) I once saw a station in Tennessee that was like a shed and the Greyhound sign was on a trash can. Greyhound attracts people that think they are too poor to fly with prices that are not much different than a flight if you plan in advance. It’s oftentimes a mobile halfway house. A lot of fat women wit all their possessions in garbage bags. A lot of dudes who just got out of prison and have on dress shirts and mismatch shoes that got nothing but a bus ticket.

It’s also never on time. Any amount of people can have a ticket to go to a destination and if there are too many people they MAY bring another bus but also they may not.

Dealing with all these things I took solace in knowing that I didn’t pay for it.

I remember the first time I showed Dos-Noun the golden ticket. It was at a Beautiful/Decay release party that he was supposed to perform at. I remember showing him and he was even more skeptical than I was. By that time I had already toured with Hangar18 and had even gone to Canada for free so the pass felt as though it was real. I looked it over and basically said “yeah go head wit that…”

…and then there was my trip to Ottawa, Ontario on the Hangar18/OneBeLo tour. On the way there I was detained for 30 minutes at the border. I had to convince them I was going to see Hangar18 because they weren’t performing in my city and the vinyl that was in my bag was “just because I didn’t get a chance to go home before the bus left.” When the border guy looked at my pass I was mortified. He kept turning it over and over. Ultimately he wasn’t all that concerned with it but I felt like it was wayyyy too much of a close call. So eventually I told them to look at the def jux site and they were convinced that that’s what I was doing. So me and my 15 copies of the IndieInBurns 12″ made our way across the border. I popped them all off at the show and on the way back I had to go through another set of self-sonning explaining to the US customs heads that I’m just the biggest Hangar18 fan in the world. I remember the guy seeing the amount of flyers I had from the show and saying “wow you must really love these guys!” after that he told me how I should get a job. To add insult to injury I came back with the illest cold ever.

I skipped a couple buses home because they were different bus companies and I wasn’t ready to push my luck just yet.

And then I perfected it the pass. I’m such a perfectionist in everything I do.

One day I bought an actual greyhound ticket, the cheapest I could find and I recreated the back of it and then printed a pass with the back on it.

That’s when everything got real!

To be continued….

-iCON