HOTS UPDATE 216 HOURS the pace quickens
.
9 days are done,
a day and a half remains.
31 runners have stood on the rock
35 are trying to get there!
.
this amounts to a finisher per hour…
.
we hope!
.
there is a virtual train of runners on the home stretch between the clarion and the rock.
.
at the back all but 8 runners have summited sewanee,
and are headed onward.
.
last night was a wild one,
with a lot of runners going thru the crack at night.
some with efficiency,
and others with a great struggle.
.
the ones who remain are not the fastest.
not the youngest or strongest.
but their desire is no less.
.
many of them have paid a higher price that the leaders
(you cant learn from your mistakes unless you make mistakes!)
.
every one of them has written an epic story over the past 9 days.
the only chapter left to write is the final one.
the one that ends with success or failure.
.
for some of them that outcome will be determined on the forested slopes of sand mountain.
maybe even in a tiny gap in a sandstone bluff called the crack.
.
for all of them the clock is running.
and it never stops.
the math is easier on paper
because paper does not take into account the physical cost they have already paid.
the math on the road is hard.
because they have already gone so many miles.
they are tired and sore
their bodies have long since told them to stop.
today there are some lonely warriors
digging deep
and looking for that something extra.
searching to find the strength in their mind
to push broken bodies to the finish.
.
it is game time.
Categories: HOTS 2025