5 days under their belts.
the last 24 hours in periodic thunderstorms.
we lost mike delang and diane taylor overnight.
12 and 13.
with bob’s finish yesterday afternoon
that leaves 68 runners out on the road.
john price is now tied with the grim reaper…
not a good place to be,
the reaper is undefeated so far this year.
if he catches you,
your days are numbered.
the rain is a great ally to the reaper
and right now no end is in sight.
some sort of low pressure system is sitting in the middle of our course just south of knoxville
and the atmosphere of the entire southeastern US is rotating around it in a counterclockwise direction.
it is amazing to watch on weather radar
as it gathers moisture in the gulf and atlantic
then transports it around a big circle thru florida, georgis, the carolinas, virginia, and kentucky and across tennessee to dump it on the runners.
rain is probably the greatest enemy of the journey runner.
worse than heat
worse than cold.
worse than anything!
the humidity is sitting around 95%
and after a whole day of this nobody will have anything dry…
especially their feet.
pity their poor feet.
for the runners,
especially the poor souls just now passing thru knoxville
(the last two should pass the halfway mark this morning)
the race has become about wound care
because everyone’s feet have to be in pitiful condition.
for those with 5 days to go
it is a question of how long they can stand to walk on those butchered feet?
and will that cursed low pressure point move?
as long as it sits where it is,
the rains will continue.
the ocean is a limitless source of more moisture!
thomas jackson was at 318 this morning,
with 31 miles the past 12 hours
we figure he will finish this afternoon before the evening check in.
john clarke is 13 miles back
and addison hendricks (who has been moving up the last couple of days)
is 13 miles behind john.
after that there are runners every few miles.
if these people can endure the rain
we will not get to leave the rock for about 4 days.