two days to go.
.
the most amusing comment i have seen was several days ago,
after addison finished in first place.
essentially it said;
“75 miles a day,
that isnt so hard.
you just have to walk 15 minute miles…
.
with lots of time left over to rest”
.
this has been the kind of calculation that prospective vol staters have brought with them for decades…
.
only to have the careful math turn to ashes
and blow away in the wind.
.
time and space are indeed related.
but that relationship has more than a single variable.
journey runs arent measured in minutes per mile,
they are measured in miles per hour.
.
and miles per hour includes a lot more than just minutes per mile.
.
there are running inefficiencies.
the distance is measured in a perfectly straight line that the foot traveler cannot duplicate.
the runner must cover more than a mile to record a mile.
as the fatigue erodes the pace,
the inefficiencies increase.
as the foot pain grows,
the directness of the track decreases as the hapless runner weaves around potholes and other “obstacles.”
under the cruel assault of solar radiation,
changing tracks to hit every possible patch of shade
adds uncounted distance to the day.
a hundred different necessities add miles and minutes
without moving them any closer to the end.
.
there is simple maintenance,
that requires going off track.
even the luxuries of angel stations require leaving the “blue line”
going to any store, restaurant, motel
any side trip is added time and distance.
bathroom stops,
rest breaks to relieve battered feet and weary legs
time is kept in a leaky container.
.
sheer mind numbing fatigue turns an “easy” walking pace
into a herculean effort.
so many variables effect time and space
and they all effect it negatively!
.
that luxurious extra time is consumed
and then some.
leaving less and less time for sleep.
and with every inadequate sleep break
the deficit grows.
an exhausted runner needs more sleep to heal and recover
not less!
.
for a runner whose normal daily training runs are easily over 4 miles an hour
two and a half miles an hour becomes a challenging goal for a 24 hour day.
.
the realities of journey math hit home last night.
.
just before midnight
6 vol staters needed a mere 10 miles in 8 hours to stay in the game.
not a one of them would find that time and distance to be even a minimal effort on a normal day….
.
on the 8th day of the vol state it was a monumental challenge.
hundreds of miles already logged,
a grand canyon sized sleep deficit,
and days of unending pressure to stay ahead of the relentless clicking heels of oprah
had pushed them all to the breaking point.
.
emily mieko went no further.
diane taylor managed another 3 miles
before collapsing onto a cot at whispering oaks
broken.
laurel smith fought to the very end
still coming up two miles short
and falling victim to the meat wagon….
.
erin dupey managed to squeeze it out
reaching the cutoff in time,
but absolutely drained her last reserve.
.
what she desperately needs is to limp out another couple of miles to a motel
and get some sleep to replenish something…
.
the problem is,
she cannot afford any time for that recovery.
time and space are running out for erin.
.
she has not yet surrendered.
but the next 48 hours loom over her
as ominous as monteagle mountain on the horizon.
erin faces the fight of her life…
.
but she is still fighting.
.
her, and brandy davis, james barry, katherine canalichio, and terri wurzbacher…
.
somehow they have to make time and space work.
Categories: Vols2025