It’s time, once again, for one of the craziest ultra marathons in the United States to take place. This race takes place in the middle of July, every summer, and covers most of the great state of Tennessee as it toasts most who decide to conquer it.
The description of ‘The Last Annual Vol State 500K Foot Race’ from it’s Facebook page describes the race like this:
This is the original vol-state road race, going back for over 30 years. ACCEPT NO SUBSTITUTES!! The last supper will be held at Ryans in Union City, TN on Wednesday july 13. The ferry ride from Dorena Landing (MO) to Hickman (KY) will take place on Thursday, July 14… The first ferry leaves MO at @ 7:30 am. Most of us will ride to the start from KY on the 7:00 am ferry. The race distance is 500km (actually a hair longer) and the race will finish at Castle Rock (GA). The last 1/2 mile is on trails! Time limit is 10 days (50km per day) The course record of 3 days 17 hours is held by DeWayne Satterfield of Alabama. Relays are allowed… if we ever get enough relay teams, we will start them on sat morning, and let them run down the solo runners!! Two solo divisions, aided and unaided. Unaided runners can leave their vehicles at the finish, and we will have transportation to the start. (314 Miles)
Read More on the History of The Last Annual Vol State 500K
This is the weather advisory that The National Weather Service issued the following warning for Union City, TN (where the race runs through in the early stages) today:
HEAT INDEX READINGS… 105 TO 111 DEGREES SUNDAY AND MONDAY.
* TIMING… PEAK HEAT INDEX READINGS ARE EXPECTED BETWEEN 11 AM AND 6 PM EACH DAY. LITTLE RELIEF IS EXPECTED AT NIGHT WITH OVERNIGHT LOWS IN THE MID 70S TO LOWER 80S.
* IMPACTS… PROLONGED EXPOSURE TO THIS HEAT CAN BE DANGEROUS IF THE PROPER PRECAUTIONS ARE NOT TAKEN.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
A HEAT ADVISORY MEANS THAT A PERIOD OF HOT TEMPERATURES IS EXPECTED. TAKE EXTRA PRECAUTIONS IF YOU WORK OR SPEND TIME OUTSIDE. WHEN POSSIBLE… RESCHEDULE STRENUOUS ACTIVITIES TO EARLY MORNING OR EVENING. KNOW THE SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF HEAT EXHAUSTION AND HEAT STROKE. WEAR LIGHT WEIGHT AND LOOSE FITTING CLOTHING WHEN POSSIBLE AND DRINK PLENTY OF WATER. CHECK UP ON RELATIVES AND NEIGHBORS.
TO REDUCE RISK DURING OUTDOOR WORK… THE OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION RECOMMENDS SCHEDULING FREQUENT REST BREAKS IN SHADED OR AIR CONDITIONED ENVIRONMENTS. ANYONE OVERCOME BY HEAT SHOULD BE MOVED TO A COOL AND SHADED LOCATION. HEAT STROKE IS AN EMERGENCY… CALL 911.
The only thing more intimidating than the weather is the trash the VS500 veterans talk on the email threads regarding this race.
Here are the maps for the 2011 race via John Price’s ultra running website:
2011 Vol State 500K Road Maps & Turn Sheets
- Vol State 500K Start to Finish Maps
- Vol State 500K Cities Maps
- Vol State 500K Mileage Sheet w/ Hotels/Convenience Stores
- 2008 Vol State 500K Turns Sheet
A VS 500K record of 22 runners have signed up so far for the race this year.
List of runners who have committed to the 2011 Vol State 500K: (as of July 8, 2011)
Self Supported Runners
Sal Coll
Fred Davis
Stu Gleman
Lynnor Matheney
Erika Matheney
Sherry Meador
Abi Meadows
Michael Montgomery
Kumar Naresh
Joe Ninke
Mike O’Melia
John Price
Marvin Skagerberg
Diane Taylor
Crewed Runners
Ray Baum
Shannon Burke
Joshua Holmes
Joe Judd
Mike Matteson
Fred Murolo
Don Winkley
Trixie Smith
Ways to Track the 2011 Vol State 500K Race:
- John Price’s Google Map (View Here)
- Live Blog Updates Here on Run It Fast (Home Page)
- Joshua Holmes’ Facebook Page (View ‘Like’ Here)
- Joshua Holmes on Twitter (Follow Here)
- Vol State 500K Facebook Fan Page (View ‘Like’ Here)
You can donate to Joshua and Naresh’s charity:water effort to raise $5,000 to build a water well to provide clean drinking water to a community of 250 people (Click HERE to Donate).
Thanks to all of our friends and family that have donated so far in an effort to reach our goal. It means a lot that you’ve taken the effort to support us in this race and our vision of hopefully being able to build this clean drinking well.
What’s 314 Miles? I’m in for The Last Annual Vol State 500K Race
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