three days are in the bank.
things went better last night than they might have.
the storm veered to the east and picked up speed.
it did not drop tornadoes and all that other nasty stuff,,,
.
just a whole lot of rain.
a whole lot of rain.
and it is still intermittently raining on most of the field
sometimes heavy rain.
.
still, the toll was not as bad as it could have been.
we lost 6 more.
.
53 battered survivors battle on.
.
each round we whittle away another layer.
each round the ones that remain are tougher.
leather skinned, hard eyed, warriors.
battle tested and unbending.
.
we have no green troops left.
if they were green when they touched the giant peach
they are seasoned veterans now.
.
the tail end will be entering the mountains today.
what they had been thinking were hills will seem like speed bumps.
the body of the field is in the mountains now.
pushing their weary bodies up monster climbs
then battering their already hammered legs on screaming descents.
at least 40 of them are now past halfway…
.
HALFWAY
.
they have been through so much.
and yet there is so much more to come.
the worst is yet to come.
.
the leader was on the approach to kimsey mountain highway at check in
nothing he has done so far will compare.
if he can survive the next 12 hours,
he will be hard to catch.
kimsey is the lynchpin of the 2021 course.
at least he did not have to face it at night!
.
god help those who do.
.
jim winn and curtis barton are trailing by 26 and 29 miles.
they are on pace to be on the kimsey when darkness falls.
kimberly durst has fallen back to 7 miles behind…
.
on pace to hit kimsey in the dark.
her choices are simple.
she can lay over in ducktown
wait for day to face the kimsey
and let the boys leave her behind.
or she can face her worst fears
and try to chase them down in the dark…
.
on the kimsey mountain highway.
.
she knows the score.
her mind has a lot to ponder today.