vole stare toad race
5 days update
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well, the womens race ended much like the mens…
after abby mccarthy had taken the lead two days ago
and appeared to have the race in hand at 300 miles…
.
she collapsed after crossing the blue bridge.
she lay there on the ground until the next runners caught up to her.
the next runners being the flori!
.
that brought her to her feet
and she ran with them a short while
and then watched them pull away,
taking the women’s win with them.
ariela was the first woman to reach the rock in 2022.
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terrible things are happening on no hope road.
two races lost
and runner after runner just disintegrating over those vicious foothills
leading to the boogie man that they call sand mountain.
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perhaps no one suffered a worse fate than peter schroder.
after a race filled with extreme ups and downs
the gritty swede made one last charge up thru the field.
making an all out attempt to win the screwed division.
.
between the hotel and the base of sand mountain he passed every runner save one,
paul hagan (who would end up with the screwed title)
.
he had dropped his pack at the hotel when he picked up his tracker
then ran on with only shorts, shoes, his phone (and the tracker)
the phone died first.
otherwise he might not have missed the turn up sand mountain.
.
the tracker lived.
and thanks to it we saw him charge past sand mountain
and across the causeway
headed for chattanooga..
by the time he was 4 miles past the turn it was freezing cold
and heavy rains were moving in.
carl went to find him lest he freeze to death….
.
i am telling you the truth,
after a week of baking in the sun
70 degrees feels like a meat locker.
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peter was found in a ditch.
starving freezing and delirious.
carl fed him, gave him a garbage bag to wear as protection from the rain and cold.
(oh to have a way to put that picture up)
armed with handwritten instructions in a baggie
and clad in a black garbage bag,
peter
(actually now as far from the finish as when he left the motel)
started back to find sand mountain.
not only having lost the screwed title he came so close to winning
but having been passed by several others.
.
even now he has only just reached the end of castle rock road.
we are praying he turns.
.
the trackers are a blessing
and a curse
(and sometimes pretty unreliable)
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so the story of this years vole stare so far
is carnage on no hope road.
.
the lost races are only a part of the story
no hope seems to be haunted by some malignant force
as runner after runner is suffering a complete physical and mental shutdown
between the blue bridge and sand mountain.
be ye afraid
all who dare to go there!
.
meanwhile here at camp
i weathered one big storm this morning already.
the only casualties were carl’s million dollar chair
and the big lighted tent.
the chair might be saved.
the tent is a goner.
fortunately the electronics and finishers book are intact!
i am not going to get cocky just yet
as the frigid sub-80 temperatures have me shivering
and foreboding clouds are all around.
.
the ceiling over the lake is actually lower than up here on the rock.
and with this race only half over
there is a lot of mayhem to come.
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for the moment all looks well.
peter schroder turned on castle rock road!
the rock is only two miles away….
.
trust me.
Categories: Vols2022