vole stare toad race: 60 hour update
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after 2 and a half days on the road,
the vole stare toad race has become many different races.
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at the front we have chris varnadoe against addison hendricks.
these guys are now in the final stages,
making the last push to the rock.
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chris built a huge lead between 12 and 36 hours,
at one point 31 miles ahead of second.
addison has been aggressively trying to reduce that lead for the last day,
but as the old multiday saw goes;
it is hard as hell to catch someone who keeps moving.
and chris just has not given addison enough down time to make any real inroads.
he has made up a total of 4 miles in the previous 24 hours.
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and what will make it even harder to mount a charge,
chris now has a dead reckoning on bob hearn’s course record.
he needs to cover the final 63 miles in 16:09 or less…
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this is a long shot,
faster than he has gone the last three 12 hour splits.
but not beyond the realm of possibility.
tomorrow morning check in will be eagerly anticipated.
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the second race is in the setup stage,
not yet to the 200 mile mark in lewisburg
these runners are both jockeying for position
and trying to set up their final rest.
there is a huge advantage to getting a jump on the final push.
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wedtlandt is in control at this stage,
with a 9 mile lead over bird and briggs who are taking a rest break in columbia….
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the question is, is this their last break?
does wendlandt have down time coming between now and the end?
it is hard to catch a moving target,
but a stationary target’s lead can evaporate quickly.
redfern and hagan are longshots at this point.
they are 10-15 miles down
and have taken a lot of punishment.
but this is the vol state
and you can never be sure what might happen.
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the third race extends from hohenwald all the way back to lexington.
the name of this race is survival.
plans extend no further than the 12 hour period they are in.
much of the time the plan extends no further than:
the next town,
the next angel station,
the next hill….
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or the next step.
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there is one thing that has happened over the last 2.5 days.
there are no more virgins in the field.
a couple of days ago half the field was hovering on the edge.
tonight most of them have moved out of imminent danger of getting pulled.
many have been winnowed from the field
but the ones who remain have been hardened.
they know what they are doing now
and will not go down easily.
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the final battle is the war with oprah.
there are four runners living on the bubble.
several have already been pulled when oprah got too far ahead.
those who are still in her vicinity are on notice.
they can not afford a single bad 12 hour segment now.
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and so the vol state moves on into the third night.
Categories: Vols2024