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...
THE LAST ANNUAL VOL STATE ROAD RACE 314 Miles
Dorena Landing, MO to Castle Rock, GA
Twice daily tracking will be maintained, and runners wishing to drop will be transported back to their vehicles. Finishers will be shuttled with their vehicles to motels near the finish for a safe sleep before getting behind the wheel. There is no greater freedom than being totally alone on the open road, relying only on your wits, your skill, and your physical ability to cover ground in order to reach the finish line.
Come experience it for yourself.
July 10-20, 2025
Laz’s updates
vol state update: 120 hours (halfway)
vol state update: 108 hours (grinders)
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...
vol state update: 96 hours (fog)
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...
vol state update: 84 hours (its gonna do what its gonna do)
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...
vol state update: 72 hours (the meat wagon is hunting me)
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. ....
vol state update: 60 hours (family)
if you want to renew your faith in humanity do a journey run . the most special thing that happens at vol state is the way the people who live along the course embrace the vol staters. . i think the...
vol state update: 48 hours (the long ragged line moves on)
the second night always starts to shake things out at the front. everyone has had to establish some sort of rest/run pattern. those who are able to survive on minimal rest are rising to the top. the...
vol state update: 36 hours (will)
today was supposed to be more of yesterday. yesterday was the day that a lot of newbies thought was hot but the veterans understood was not… . today got hot for real. . the temperature wasnt...
vol state update: 24 hours (debauched)
after a night of riotous revelry on the road the innocent faces are no more. everyone who saw the sun rise from the road this morning is now a veteran. there is still a lot of seasoning to be...
ABOUT
The Vol-State is not just another ultramarathon. It is much more than that. The Vol-State is a journey, an adventure, and an exploration of inner space. It begins with a ferry ride across the Mississippi River, from Missouri to Kentucky, and finishes at “the Rock,” high atop Sand Mountain in Northwest Georgia. What lies in between are 314 miles of the great unknown. From the time the Vol-Stater steps off the Ferry until they reach the Rock, they are totally reliant upon their own physical and mental resources. For the next four to ten days, in the face of the heat and humidity of July in Tennessee, the Vol-Stater must make their way on foot, along highways and backroads, from one small town to the next, over hills and across rivers, up mountains and down long valleys, all the while accounting for all of their most basic needs; “what will I eat?” “When will I find water?” Where will I sleep?”
Success is not guaranteed. There are no aid stations, teeming with volunteers waiting to tend to your every need and encourage you to continue. There are just miles and miles of empty road. Your friends can follow your progress from afar, but no pacers can carry your burden for you. If you do encounter another runner, theirs is the same desperate plight as your own. You will have doubts. Finishing will often seem an unfathomable dream. Your worst enemy may become the knowledge that an air-conditioned ride to your car at the finish (in the dreaded seat of disgrace”) is but a phone call away.
Many will fail. But, for those who find the steely will and muster the sheer dogged tenacity to overcome the impossible obstacles, and reach the rock on foot, the Vol-State can be a transcendental experience. No words can adequately describe the sense of combined relief and amazement to be experienced at the Rock. No one can explain the regret that this incredible journey has actually come to an end. Former King, Barry Crumrine probably summed up the Vol-State experience as well as it can be put into words;
“I found in myself something that I never knew was there.”