michael carson and matt barker ended their suffering in under 5 and 1/2 days.
our long ordeal is just beginning,
as we are here hoping to catch a little sleep.
chris clemons has picked up his tracker
henry lupton is only 3 miles behind…
.
the slow motion battle between the two seasoned veterans will continue to the very end.
.
there is an 8 mile gap between them and a trio of runners,
and behind those three there is just a continual stream of vol staters
stretching all the way back to team oprah,
just this side of hampshire.
.
its a funny thing this vol state.
only a week ago i did not even know 2/3 of these people.
i would still have difficulty recognizing a lot of them,
but after the next to last and last supper.
the bus ride,
the ferry,
11 checkins,
and a thousand facebook posts
i feel like i have come to know the foot soldiers of the 2025 vol state.
every name conjures up the image of a warrior
and the many trials and tribulations they have survived.
at this point every drop will feel like a personal loss.
.
this has been a tough field
there have been casualties,
but they have not gone down easy….
.
we still have not had a single drop in the second half of the race!
.
there isnt any way not to identify more and more
with the class of 2025.
.
can they keep that second half record clean?
it seems unlikely.
far too many runners have been dancing with oprah
for far too long.
as soon as someone slips up,
they will be gone.
.
dancing with oprah is not the key to success in this race…
.
but it can be done.
.
however, out of all the runners still on the road,
who can be under more pressure than brandi davis?
not only has she been locked in mortal combat with oprah for days,
i think her whole county has embraced her.
i have never seen such an outpouring of support!
they must all heave a sigh of relief every 12 hours
to find her still on the tracker
still hanging on.
.
and now i am one of them.
if i am still coherent in the wee hours of sunday morning
i am looking forward to handing brandy davis a sticker with “314” on it.
never give up!
.
now to try for a short nap.
who knows when i will get another chance?