(8.5 days to go)
Sometimes it gets worse before it gets better.
After a day of high consequence,
the HOTS field is reeling.
The sparse services and higher than usual temperatures
conspired to send a gut punch through the field
over the first 48 hours of the race.
(and they have to hang on for another 24 before any relief comes).
The sun rose and the crack team of facilitators looked at our spreadsheet.
oof.
The meatwagons are overbooked for today.
The runners have run what they brung,
and in many cases it simply wasn’t enough.
The ones still on the road are proving their mettle,
against the most challenging HOTS course yet.
They are forging ahead against unknown odds.
The middle of the pack,
(the ones who haven’t called for a ride)
are showing that surviving days one and two wasn’t a fluke.
They are still covering 20 miles or more per check-in.
They can’t slip, but they have shown they can do this.
The back of the field has assessments to conduct.
Can I get to the next resupply?
Can I stay out of the afternoon sun for a few hours?
Can I find the will?
At the front, Jim Winn appears to have put a bit of a stamp on his authority…
but 30 miles can evaporate in half a day…
Nothing is sure at the HOTS.
11 runners past 100 miles in 2 days.
16 runners on their way back home.
The remaining half, 27 runners, in the thick of it.
Today the heat is promised to inch up a tiny bit more.
The runner’s bodies can adapt…but there is a limit!
If they can hang on through just one more day,
they will have full heat adaptation, while at the same time
the temperature dips slightly tomorrow.
Can they hang on and refocus after these body blows?
Sometimes it gets worse before it gets better.