vol stare toad race;
.
12 hours update:
it is easy to forget that there is a race at the front.
there is a different breed of humans
for whom running 314 miles is not in and of itself the achievement of a lifetime.
they come to race..
.
it takes a few miles for things to sort themselves out at the front.
when the smoke settled,
it was oregonian john wright in the lead.
he was past mckenzie and well on the way to huntingdon at 61 miles.
johan steene and peter schroder (the two swedes) had held a decent edge at 20 miles,
and johan was still in second after 12 hours
just leaving mckenzie at 57 miles.
peter, running with no crew, had lost a lot of ground with a long stop at the gleason fire dept to recover from temperatures not seen in sweden so far this year…
.
or ever!
,
still, he had come back strong in the fading daylight
and was now only a mile back of johan in mckenzie at 56 miles along with georgian peter strickland.
.
the competitive aspects require some background for these early results to have meaning.
and really,
it is the next 12 overnight hours when the race starts to take shape.
i will try to explain the parameters for interpreting the standings more as the race goes on,
but right now i am in a mexican restaurant racing a dying battery on my hot spot to make an update that is not hours late.
.
things like sleep cycles, experience, pacing, and individual race strategies pretty much guarantee that it will take at least a day to get a feel for what the standings actually mean.
but, as with any sport, if i had a choice i would rather be ahead than behind!
also still within reach of being in contention:
pail hagan (michigan)
steve troxel (tennessee)
leonie van den haak (a dutch lady living in singapore who is plenty heat acclimated) all with more than 50 miles…
.
then i have to mention matt cantrell (indiana) with 48,
because he is a cousin (seriously… ok, i think we are 9 generations removed, but still the shared dna has to be the reason he is running so well!))
.
my battery still has a little juice.
hopefully enough to post this update!
Categories: Vols2022