HOTS update after 3 days
beverly abbs is in trouble.
she has passed clarkrange
but after 204 miles her back pain has taken a turn for the worse
and she is considering dropping from the race.
.
she is still 8 miles from the bounty of services at the interstate crossing before crossville
where she could get a room and try a serious rest break
and trying to reach that before making a final decision.
but it does not look good right now.
.
john clarke has made up 3 miles during the night
and is between grimsley and clarkrange
already closing the gap to under 10 miles.
no word on what issues he is facing,
but after 3 days everyone has some demon they are fighting…
.
most have many demons.
.
brian trinkle is coming onto jamestown.
now holding on to a 3 mile lead over henry lupton
who has opened up a 3 mile gap on kimberly durst.
both of them passed james turner during the night.
.
robert mueller and jeremy suwinski have just reached tennessee,
but suddenly find themselves not that far from contention.
3 days in nothing has been decided.
.
after a cold night this sunday morning has dawned on a wide open race
and no one can predict which way things are going to turn.
.
thru it all,
the long line of road warriors continues to inch across appalachia.
.
more than 100 miles behind the leaders another drama is unfolding.
the battle with oprah.
a fight just to stay in the race.
.
diane taylor has lost the margin she opened up night before last.
and once again is in lockstep with the queen of quit.
gina kimrey is clinging by her fingertips,
5 miles behind.
she needs a strong daylight half of day 4,
or she will be gone.
pamela smith has fallen back to 8 miles behind again,
her race is on life support.
.
a new member of the ranks of despair is timothy okeefe.
he had a safe margin until last night
when 12 hours without moving has dropped him behind the cutoffs.
this is a race where such an extended break is possible
in hopes of recovering enough to stay in the game.
but at the moment we do not know what demon tim is facing.
and we do not know what his prospects are of continuing.
we only know that he did check in this morning
which is an action that indicates he has not surrendered.
.
jennifer maddock and karina purcell did drop during the night,
leaving only 69 runners to face day 4.
all of them with their own demons to fight.
.
this is not an easy game.
and for most it is not even halfway over!

Categories: HOTS