I enjoyed the privilege of spending the afternoon & evening this past
Friday out on US RTE 20 with Laz & Steve, hosting them & then spending all
day Saturday hiking west with Laz.
As several people have reached out to me for Lazcon operational details,
I’m remiss for having not posted this already.
Laz has his journey planned out incredibly well, in both his daily
operations and the entire trip. While this is his first TRANSCON, he’s done
plenty of southeastern multiday journeys like this and he’s very good at it.
7 Hours of sleep per night. That’s the pillar of all the planning around
Laz’ daily segments.
Laz knows he needs to get 7 hours of sleep to hold his target pace of 2.5
MPH for 28-31 miles per day. Towards that 7 hour target, Laz ends each day
by 7PM, hopefully at the mileage marker or landmark he planned on being at.
He then moves thru evening chores- hygiene, laundry if available, eating,
information posted to Facebook and the ultralist, and hopefully in bed no
later than 8, or maybe 9PM latest. Hosted ot Hotel, these are the planning
guidelines he holds to. Then back up by 4AM, foot & gear preparation and
back to the road where he stopped the night prior.
Laz told me he wants to meet as many people as possible during his Journey,
and that’s one of his favorite aspects of this entire endeavor. Anyone is
welcome to come out and walk with him as long as they understand they’re
self-supported.
When I linked up with Laz Friday PM, his friend Steve Durbin had come up
from Knoxville, TN to crew Laz for the week around Memorial Day weekend.
Pat McHenry and his mom June McHenry had been on the road all day with Laz
with Steve doing vehicle crew duties, on a particularly difficult stretch
from Cazenovia to Marietta, NY. A wonderful young lady named Jessica had
come 3 hours one way from western NY to help crew Laz that day as well.
Steve headed back to Tennessee late Monday. I hope Laz continues to have 2
to 3 people show up daily to crew him and walk with him as that really aids
well. His pack weighs 28 pounds and when he’s uncrewed, 28 lbs is not easy
all day every day.
The best situation is at least 2 people and 1 vehicle, splitting the
crewing and pacing duties while continually bounding the vehicle forward.
With the Lazcon 2018 Facebook page and Laz’s Excel planning tracker posted
there, it’s pretty easy for anyone wanted to join in, to both link up on
the ground and start communicating with those planning to host Laz thru
Facebook. Those folks are all added to the tracker. Chris Hobart hosted Laz
the day after I did and we were communicating directly Friday, Saturday and
Sunday. All of that helps Laz to a huge extent.
Personally, walking with Laz and Steve was some of the best time I‘ve spent
personally in a long time. We discussed everything from the early history
of ultrarunning, sports in general, conspiracy theories, Life It’s Ownself,
and, of course, all the details of Laz’s 2018 trip. I, for one, am sure Laz
will make Newport, OR and his goal to reach the Pacific and probably right
on schedule too.
Life is Good.
If anyone has specific questions about this or questions they think I might
be able to answer about Lazcon 2018, please don’t hesitate to ping me
directly.
Tim Hardy
tlh1058@gmail.com