we got to debrief with king bob over supper tonight.
truly amazing stuff.
the ability to rework plans on the fly,
while maintaining that incredible pace.
hell, the ability to run an *extra* 25 miles before taking a break
when there is no place to stop in the sun!
the mental agility to recalculate pacing to break the record
again on the fly.
truly amazing stuff.
.
i will leave the details for bob to tell.
it is his story
it was his race.
and it was a race for the ages.
.
but like all victories at the vol state,
we, the staff, only get so long to enjoy it.
already our focus has turned to bev and the flori.
.
over the past couple of days they have separated themselves from the pack behind king bob.
the flori have been attached at the hip from the beginning.
daniel’s parents crewing during the day
and ariela’s taking the night shift.
.
it became apparent after the first night that the flori were not just going to be a flash in the pan.
when they were still running strong going into the second hundred miles we knew they had come to play.
there has been a lot of back and forth with bev all during the race,
with both building leads of up to 5 miles
before the momentum swung back the other way.
.
coming out of monteagle
this is the intriguing matchup.
bev is tough and competitive.
.
the flori have shown their mettle to be in this battle after 274 miles.
even tho they have shown up together in distance on several check-ins
including this one
i dont think they have run together at all.
.
so we have a race across the cumberland plateau and down jasper mountain heading into the 13 miles down the sequatchie valley to sand mountain.
a race between a team of crewed runners and a solo screwed runner,
sure you would expect the screwed runner to be at a huge disadvantage…
.
but after king bob do we really think anything is impossible?
.
every 12 hour update has something to wait for anxiously.
if they are still neck and neck when they hit sand mountain,
it will be a nasty hard fight to the finish.
that is no place for an exhausted runner to have to go to the well.
.
that isnt the only drama playing out with immediacy.
there is a lot going on back in the bitter struggle with oprah.
.
the mchenri (patrick and kimberly) are teetering on the brink.
a few years back we watched with horrified fascination
as kimberly took a terrible beating
while hanging on with her dad for 314 tortured miles.
fighting back from behind the smiling celebrity
time after time,
they pulled out a finish with a desperate final 70 miles.
.
i doubt they came back with an intention to repeat any part of that experience except touching the rock.
but here they are again.
fighting for survival from check-in to check-in.
.
terrie wurzbacher and edward brumby are ahead of oprah
but she close enough that they can smell the caviar on her breath.
they are hanging on.
but they have to have a good night tonight to stay alive…
.
if surviving to face the same struggle tomorrow is what you call a good night.
.
while all of you rest easy in your beds
the vol staters are fighting the battle that never ends.
they have no nights or days,
just another hill to climb
another city to reach
and a bottomless well of pain to draw from.
