Construction

Vol State 2018 – 228 hour update – inevitability

Here we are. Up on The Rock one last time. A half marathon on a Saturday evening. That’s what Richard Westbrook and Juliet Brundige have to do, to close out this year’s volstate. At some point for each volstater, the path forks. They either spiral downwards towards crashing and burning and calling the meat wagon…. Or their desire and effort creates enough momentum towards the rock that a finish becomes inevitable. The funny thing about Read more

By Carl, ago

i come to fill the reservoir

so here i sit in northwest nebraska waiting on another storm to pass over. this is the 5th time it has rained on me in this state. if i moved here it would turn into a tropical rain forest. i thought if i could get far enough west the chance of rain would be almost nil. i mean, everything is brown and parched. but i have brought more than rain. yesterday morning i heard this Read more

By Laz, ago

Vol State 2018 – 216 hour update – a hard rain’s gonna fall

With 36 hours to go, things were looking pretty Rosy here at volstate. We hadn’t had a dropout in a couple days, and the remaining runners looked to be hurting but steady. I guess someone felt the field deserved a break from the carnage of the first 6 days… But that break ended last night. Just before dark, we got word of a tornado watch encompassing all the remaining portions of the course. Without the Read more

By Carl, ago

one more

july 21 day 73 28 miles total 1,911 miles i had a sneaking suspicion that 1900 wasn’t the magic number. 2000 is too obvious. if i can reach 2000 this will be a legitimate attempt. 1900 is nice. but, if you have not done 2000 you have not done anything. i came out pretty well pleased with my day. at daybreak it looked like i was locked in on 27. after the last few disappointing Read more

By Laz, ago

Vol State 2018 – 204 hour update – whirlwind

Today saw a ton of finishers…. And we’ve got 10 between the blue bridge and the rock right now… With a severe thunderstorm and hail warning for the next 5 hours. Runners still in town are urged to check the weather and consider holing up til this system has passed. Runners on the route are urged to plan for shelter. If you need to knock on a door, take care of yourself! Runners on sand Read more

By Carl, ago

sand hills

july 20 day 72 26 miles total 1,883 with the long commute i had an hour less than yesterday. but i only got one mile less. so it felt like a success. at least an improvement. i know the night was amazing. i never saw so many meteor trails. they came from every direction. big ones smaller ones some dazzling bright one that appeared to be sizzling and one that left a smoke trail. the Read more

By Laz, ago

Vol State 2018 – 192 hour update – 8 days a week

(yes, we missed an update, last night was a bit busy) The eighth day saw 18 finishers up on The Rock….and perhaps just as importantly, ZERO drops. In fact, as of the 8 day check-in, we haven’t had a drop in over 37 hours! This despite one of the most epic volstate navigation errors in recent memory. Bernadette and Natalia had linked up several days ago with similar paces and goals. They somehow managed to Read more

By Carl, ago

slow dance

july 19 day 71 27 miles total 1,857 i really thought i was killing it last night. got an on-time start (almost) and kept up a steady effort. no dancing with thunderstorms this time altho the nightly nebraska light show was more spectacular than ever it was all to the east leaving a fantastic night sky straight overhead with some memorable shooting stars… the slow-moving, long lasting kind that end in a flash of light. Read more

By Laz, ago