Hots Update…. 216 hours
.
it’s not always rainbows and unicorns
.
the good news is the rain has stopped and the sun is out.
the bad news is the rain has stopped and the sun is out.
.
this is the time of year the sun is closest to the rock.
and right now it feels as if it is closer then the fig tunnel.
there is a video put out this morning by Beth Budden
and i am going to try and link it here,
because nothing better captures the experience of the 24 runners still plying their slow and painful way to the rock.
.
there is nothing left to drive them on towards the rock
except the sheer will to get there
(and the fervent desire to never do this again)
.
they are in a place beyond pain
beyond fatigue
and beyond human endurance.
yet, somehow,
that incredible wellspring of strength
that is the human will
propels them forward.
.
those just ahead of the reaper have been collecting
like a pile of snow ahead of the blade of a snowplow.
they were going as fast as they could
when the reaper came up behind.
and now they have dug deep and found something more
to stay just ahead.
.
looking at the tracker so many of them show up on the same mile
that it is easy to picture them coasting home in a giant party
doing just enough to reach the finish.
.
the reality is;
in ones and twos
each is fighting for every step
in their own little private pocket of hell.
.
this is the heart of the warrior.
what was possible has long been done.
the road from here to the rock
can only be covered by doing the impossible.
this is hell.
this is hard beyond imagination
and painful beyond comprehension.
this is what they came for.
today (and tomorrow) they must find something inside themselves
that they never knew was there.
.
that is the only road to the rock.
and when they arrive
they will feel a joy that few will ever be willing to earn.
.
the heart of the south is the generosity and kindness of the strangers along the road
who provide brief moments of hope
on the long road of despair.
whose support gives strength to the weary and beaten.
east tennessee has answered the call
the volunteer state once again proving the goodness of the people who live there.
.
the heart of the warrior
they must find in themselves.
Categories: HOTS