today the vol state flexed its muscles.
with heat indexes of 105-110 degrees
and a sun like a convection oven
yesterday’s “cool” temperatures were a distant memory…
.
survival became the top priority for many of the first time vol staters,
and a lot of low totals were turned in this last 12 hours.
.
some of those represent runners who decided to hole up somewhere until tonight
and switch from running days to running nights.
others represent runners who were brought to their knees by the heat
and will not be on the road when the sun rises tomorrow.
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it only takes a glance at the tracking sheet to see how many runners are in trouble.
how many have already fallen.
.
morning check in will tell us who is still in the fight.
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meanwhile at the front:
chris varnadoe has quietly put together an amazing run.
quietly might not be quite the right term to use,
but he has been so far ahead that we barely noticed just how fast he was going….
.
let it be noted now,
that he has gone 160 miles in 36 hours.
over half the race done at under 3 day pace….
.
we are watching now!
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addison rode his charge all the way into second place,passing paul hagan at mid-morning.
but the race never stops.
shawna has caught up within 3 miles (126 to 129) as they are both past linden and fixing to start up the infamous 16 mile hill to hohenwald.
the battle for second tonight could be ugly.
will briggs continued his steady rise from last night,
catching paul hagan just before they crossed the tennessee river the first time.
paul has sustained an injury,
and is just holding on hoping to finish.
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matthew bird was about 7 miles back,
just reaching the tennessee river.
he has been running strong for the past 24 hours.
michelle leduc is about a mile behind him.
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after all that has happened the past day and a half,
only one runner has reached the halfway point.
and for many of the ones who make it
there are still 8 and a half days of this to endure…
.
and the weather?
it is supposed to be progressively hotter for each of the next three days.
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Categories: Vols2024