Construction

veronica johnson is out.we dont know why…..she was at mile 216.she needed 2 miles in 12 hours to stay ahead of the cutoff.probably 8 or 9 to reach a place to hole up..but everyone out there is stretched to the limit.physically exhausted, sleep deprived,hungry, thirsty….hurt.and still so far away from the rock.sometimes the voices in your head(which have been trying to convince you to quit for a week)drown out the call of the rock..veronica had Read more

i know this report is early.but there is no way something more interesting happens before morning…..the chris clemens and henry lupton battle has taken a turn..chris left the clarion without sleeping and seized a big lead over henry.henry took time to sleep,.it remains to be seen which strategy will pay off..because right now chris and henry are wandering the back roads of northeast alabamain a test to see which can find their way to the Read more

michael carson and matt barker ended their suffering in under 5 and 1/2 days.our long ordeal is just beginning,as we are here hoping to catch a little sleep.chris clemons has picked up his trackerhenry lupton is only 3 miles behind….the slow motion battle between the two seasoned veterans will continue to the very end..there is an 8 mile gap between them and a trio of runners,and behind those three there is just a continual stream Read more

so the time is beginning when updates are even more dependent on where the runners are.updates have to wait on runners finishingthey come after transportand food.and they are far behind sleep(which will be something that we have less and less time for)updates will even have to wait for showers(if and when there is a chance for another).christine tokarz made her way to the rock in the wee hours.she reached kimball in the darktook a short Read more

the vol state belongs to the grinders. not the fastest or the strongest, but the ones who relentlessly plug along. . 4 and 1/2 days in everyone is hurt. it isnt the thoughts of quitting that plagues all the first time vol staters out there. it is the thought that they cannot finish. the finish is unimaginably far away. . they are headed into the 5th consecutive night on the road. exhausted sunburned living off Read more

morning checkin after 4 days. we still have 103 on the road! . i dont know the schedule yet, it is still being hammered out. but the casualties from yesterday will be brought forward soon. this was the first night we lost no one new. but the sun will be seeking out the weak ones not everyone still on the road is going to make it to the rock. . during the night all of Read more

vol staters have been wishing for a break from the blast furnace heat apparently someone found a bottle with a genie in it, because they got that break… . but it did not end up being an improvement. . afternoon thunderstorms had been on the forecast but as the steamy morning wore on clouds piled up in a dark and ominous fashion. . then dozens of small but intense and fast moving storms sprang up. Read more

they live day to day at the back. we lost donald cagle and jim barnes during the night. jim made it 87 miles at 87 years old. donald was, tragically, a mile from the turn when the clock ran out. . for the ones who survived the night, made the hard cutoff at the turn but still trail oprah, the challenge is greater today. tomorrow morning’s cutoff is at the commodore in linden 123 miles. Read more