way off
.
a little over 4 hours ago the forty one 400 milers were unceremoniously dumped from a tour bus on the side of a highway in south carolina.
.
armed only with a map of a route they have never seen,
they have set off to return to their cars,
parked in a hayfield
on a remote mountaintop in north georgia.
even in the early morning
the humid air settled on them like a hot, wet blanket.
.
an hour and a half later an additional 46 assorted multiday runners set off on the 350 mile fun run.
.
everyone was smiling and festive the last time we saw them…
.
if reality has not yet set in,
it is at the minimum buzzing around their head like a swarm of buffalo gnats.
.
today and tomorrow are all about acclimation.
the effective temperature today is expected to be 102,
with this only the opening salvo of a four day heat wave.
.
while many of the athletes have heat trained,
there is a difference between training in heat,
and living it.
.
and god help those who have come from arid western climates
or from, basically, anyplace that is not a daily steam bath.
.
the race now revolves around surviving
until the body adjusts to living in a pressure cooker.