vole stare toad race: 180 hours update:
.
60 hours to go.
for us on the rock it is roughly the same length of time as the barkley remaining.
this race is not easy for anyone.
runners are erxhausted
road angels are exhausted
the race staff is exhausted…
.
and i dont think exhausted is a strong enough word for what the runners are.
37 have now finished.
over the next 5 or 6 hours the number of finishers will exceed the 40 who dropped.
.
and so we enter the 8th night for the 44 who remain on the road.
most of them are held together by duct tape, bailing wire,
and force of will!
all of them are hurt
and all of them are consumed by a single burning goal…
.
get to the rock.
and the harder it is to get there
the sweeter it will be.
.
.
from the 37 who have sat on the thrown
and told their stories from the road
there is a theme that comes thru loud and clear…
.
to run the vol state is to renew your faith in people
and to renew your faith in yourself.
.
if this was the news
i could tell you about the people who threw stuff at runners
or the ones who stole coolers.
but those are only significant in their insignificance.
only a handful of the runners had even a single negative experience with people.
and those runners dont even consider it important
compared to the overwhelming goodness of the people they encountered:
.
the road angels.
how can i express the impact they have on the vol staters.
not for the water, or the food, or the tents and chairs.
but because they care.
because they unhesitatingly give of themselves to help others.
the tennesseans who had never heard of the vol state.
you cannot imagine how many big hearted tennesseans stopped to see if the runners needed help.
almost without exception the people the vol staters met
responded with encouragement and support.
.
the vol staters may be returning home physically battered.
some will take a while to recover from the effort.
but the same race that batters the body
refreshes the soul.
.
long after the blisters have healed
and the limp is gone
the renewal of faith in humanity
and a new belief in themselves
will remain.
Categories: Vols2024