HOTS update…. 168 hours (2)
.
this is the time to start taking a different look at the 50 (or so) runners still on the course.
for the runners also
it is time to start taking a serious look at the challenge in front of them.
starting at the back:
odie hestnes and john price
behind the buzzard.
only at niota at check in
still a long way from dayton mountain.
.
they just got hit with a huge storm.
status:
endangered.
it will take a miracle.
.
lonnie camp, matt burke, ed "the beekeeper" masuoka, mary hosbraugh, derek murphy
between 235 and 244 miles,
they were strung out between athens and the other side of i-75 at check in.
to keep hopes alive they had to be well past i-75 by the time the storm hit.
if they made it, they had reached an area with no place to take shelter.
that is good (sort of)
they no longer have time to take shelter.
and they still have dayton mountain way out ahead of them to climb!
even if this 12 hour stretch is a disaster they will still be alive
but the grim reaper is not going to slow down for the weather
nor when she hits dayton mountain….
.
after all they have been thru,
they do not want to have to race grim to the finish!
.
status: threatened
things could go south in a hurry
.
nicolas van der veen and michael brower.
they were just coming into decatur at check in.
they would have been in the heart of ABSOLUTELY NOTHING when the storm hit.
they probably had to climb the second overpass in heavy weather
(or take shelter in the rocks underneath.
and they still have dayton mountain to climb!
.
they have plenty of time.
but the question is how much more of a beating are they willing to take?
.
a large mass of runners had accumulated in decatur
michael and nicolas probably joined them.
mute testimony to the desperation of their situation.
there was nothing for miles before decatur
and nothing after except the undepass climb right before dayton.
(and dayton mountain after)
alexis and the jessicas, sylvain willaim cooper and ashley, and the buddens.
they were all in the singular oasis of decatur at call in.
all have run exemplary races.
but none of them have built up a huge margin on the relentless reaper.
they have been together in various combinations for a week.
teaming together
breaking up
each locked in their own struggle.
and now they are all in one boat.
and that boat is not big enough to hold them all.
.
how did they survive the storm?
nobody knows but them right now.
but we do know one thing.
they still have about 3 days left on the road.
and when this rain finally breaks
we will get normal june weather
90 degree type days with a brutal sun
the one difference?
the humidity is still going to hover between 95-100 with all the water on the ground.
status: at risk
they have come a long way.
but there is still a long way to go.
.
for some the race has already ended.
for others it goes on.
for these poor souls
it is now a struggle for survival.