HOTS UPDATE 132 HOURS: what goes up must come down… else how can it go up again?
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if you ask me there are not enough stories like this right now.
is it stupid and pointless to run 400 miles?
surely…
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but oh, the things you get to see.
the experiences you get to have!
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do you run into a few a-holes?
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of course…
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but more than that
you get to see what most people are really like.
if you want to renew your faith in humanity
do a journey run.
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the acts of kindness outweigh the negative experiences 1000 to 1.
just look at how the people along the course have responded.
sure, the fast runners at the front can cover the distance between services,
but most of the runners in this field are not elite.
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they are just regular people
like anyone else;
except with a hunger for adventure
to live at the edge
to try things that are impossible…
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for them the road angels
the people who live along the course
the people who embrace the adventure
offering encouragement
sharing a drink
or offering some food,
those are the best parts of a great adventure.
the goodness of people is a source of strength far greater than the physical sustenance they share.
they provide nourishment for the soul…
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they are “the heart of the south”
and the race is named for them.
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this is the lesson of the hots.
individually, we can accomplish amazing things.
together we can accomplish anything.
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we need more stories like this.
all of us do.
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so, back to the actual race;
ken and crystal continued on through the heart of old winchester
around the square and out the highway to cowan.
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after cowan came the first REAL ascent of the race.
a 1,000 foot climb up to sewanee on the cumberland plateau.
at sewanee they cut across the rolling terrain of the plateau
to the oldest route down the mountain.
originally this was part of the nikojack trail connecting the cherokee villages in what is now the chattanooga area
to the elk river valley on the other side of the mountain.
having been located on the main transportation artery from the sequatchie/tennessee river valley across the cumberland plateau
used by native americans for thousands of years,
this trail was the route of pioneering expeditions in the late 1790s
later becoming a stagecoach road,
before ultimately being replaced by first the main US highway 41
and today interstate 24.
on the west side of the plateau the nikojack trail descended through the great stone door (far north of where we came up, just off the vol state route that it spawned!).
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today the old route has morphed into a screaming 1300 foot descent into battle creek,
that will shred quads
destroy feet
and break hearts.
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battle creek was the site of a fort used by both the confederate and the union armies during the civil war,
defending what was then the only way across the plateau into southeastern tennessee.
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after 5 and a half days, zemach and wheatley were across the interstate and headed for kimball,
and the home stretch of the race.
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after everything they had been put through over the past 5 and a half days,
is it possible that the worst is yet to come?
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oh yes, anything is possible at hots.
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stay tuned.
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behind the leaders,
addison had followed up a 7 mile 12 hour split
(the assumption being there was some serious sleep involved)
with a 52 mile half day.
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this was enough to put him back into 3rd place within 23 miles of the leaders.
but geography was not his ally,
as he was still in cowan,
with the cumberland plateau left to cross.
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not exactly the place to close a deficit.
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he had passed back by dudley and redfern
(oddly enough still separated by 3 miles)
but they were still in easy striking range.
and not coming off a 52 mile split.
it is going to be interesting to see what happens on the mountain overnight!
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back at the back,
way, way back;
177 miles back as a matter of fact,
michelle chauvin and derek murphy head into the night 7 miles behind the angel of death.
mary hosbrough is not much better off,
trailing by 5 miles.
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tonight they battle,
once again,
for the right to continue the struggle tomorrow.
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that is pressure.
Categories: HOTS 2025