vol stare toad race
random update
.
the darkness grows.
.
outside the sky is growing dark and threatening.
the heat is still stifling.
but the still air is filled with anticipation.
the first rumbles of thunder have not yet been heard
but there is mayhem brewing.
.
being july some runners are watching the sky turn ugly
and wondering where they will seek shelter
while others are seeing nothing except blue hell overhead.
.
the weather is an allegory for what is going on inside the vol staters.
.
while some are locked in competition
trying to come up with the winning formula for the home stretch
most are strung out on the endless 412
so far from the finish that they can no longer imagine it.
.
their souls are as black as the sky here in kimball.
the pain.
the heat.
the hunger
the thirst
the fatigue.
the sleep deprivation.
the loneliness of the open road.
every runner will go thru periods of such despair
you cannot imagine.
it is not made better by having a ride a phone call away.
.
in the crucible of the vol state
every small thing is enormous.
a bottle of water from a road angel
can bring tears of gratitude….
.
missing closing time at your last chance to eat for the day
(even if it was only to be filling station food)
can bring a depression as deep as the mariana trench.
.
and this is the battle the runners must fight
if they are to reach the rock.
it is not the incredible distances
the heat
the hills
none of that.
the body will answer if the mind demands.
.
but to stay focused on the goal
in the face of all those obstacles.
in the face of so much difficulty still ahead.
in the face of disappointments
and stress.
it is the darkness inside that is the greatest challenge.
.
every runner will have moments when they do not believe they can make it.
to continue
when all seems hopeless….
.
this is the battle they face
when the darkness grows.
.
deep inside
they have what it takes
there is a hidden wellspring of strength in all of us.
if we call on it.
.
most of us never will.
.
right now.
today
or tomorrow
maybe the next day.
somewhere along that endless road
the vol staters must call on that hidden reserve.
.
or the darkness will win.