Sorry for the late start. I had a half this morning and just got a chance to catch up. Looks like it’s been a wild day for the VS500K runners. Check out below to see what happened during the day and check back for any updates.

And don’t forget, you can always:

See what Joshua (@bayou) is up to on twitter or search the tag #VS500 on twitter.

Check out The Last Annual Vol State Road Race page on Facebook.

Or check out this map to see where all the runners are. The runner’s locations are marked with “stickpins”. The map is updated twice per day and shows their last location.

http://www.tinyurl.com/VolState2012

Carl Laniak is adding photos to his album if you’d like to check those out as well:  Vol State 2012 Album

Naresh is at the Vol State now and taking photos! He’ll be adding to it over the weekend. Check it out:Naresh’s Vol State 2012 Album

So far today:

Posted by Joshua at 10:52 pm

Posted by Joshua at 10:50 pm

60 Hour Update of runner status from Laz at 8:46pm

vol state update 5: it’s all downhill from here
the front end has turned into a desperate struggle.
whoever takes home the crown will have earned it the hard way.

1) paul lefelhocz 161. thru hampshire and running
2) dan fox 158. running
3) juli aistars 156. natches trace. running.
4) joshua holmes 151. struggling at times, but moving forward.
5) jay dobromowski 150. stopped at walmart in hohenwald to cobble together blister kit. lost 4 places doing it. back running.
6) thomas mikkelson 149. stopped for a rest break.
7) sulaiman sericki 142, entering hohenwald. he has a heel blister that looks like a crater. says he no longer feels it thru the pain in his knee. moving.
8 ) richard westbrook 130. on the way to hohenwald, moving.

there are several at various points in rest breaks at 125 (commodore hotel in linden):

9-12) charlie taylor, sal coll, psyche winberly, sherry meador

13) john price 124, in linden, not stopping
14) dusty hardman 124, in linden, stopping at 125
15) fred davis 115, crossing the tennessee river. moving.

16-18) holed up at the pine tree motel on the wrong side of the river: rita barnes, shannon burke, jan silverman

19) erika matheny and adam venn relay team 108 and taking a break
20) abi meadows 100 and dropped.
21-22) mike melton and diane taylor 92: gone to earth in lexington days inn.
23) marvin skagerberg: 90 and taking a break. briefly caught taylor and melton earlier today. gunning for them tomorrow.
24) oprah 89

besides the deluges (parts of the course are now under a flash flood watch)
the watchword of the day is pain.
everyone is hurting somewhere.
the constant moisture is destroying feet.
the constant running and walking is breaking bodies and crushing wills.
and there is still so far to go.
dont let all the people on evening breaks fool you.
the breaks are short. the days are long.
while you sleep the footwarriors fight on.

the score in the battle between the sexes:
women, 1 doused cellphone, two lost chargers. 1 drop.
men, all cellphone systems intact. full field intact.

just saying.

laz

Email from Laz at 4:50 pm

all hell is breaking loose
and the heavens are opening up.

no more showers for the vol-staters.
today the rains steadily increased in frequency and strength,
until we saw some monumental deluges.
conditions are terrible,
with deep puddles covering the roads,
as the rain came down faster than it could run off.

we wont know for sure, until call in
(we couldnt locate dobronewski)
but it looks like lefelhocz has seized control,
with about a 4 mile lead on fox.
(both have passed the halfway point, and are running strong… not walking)
paul made us promise again not to reveal his position to his wife.
good thing he can trust me & carl.

juli looked like a strong maybe third, coming out of hohenwald
and joshua holmes is experiencing one of those special times,
but still moving in 4th and at about 145, in hohenwald.

laz

Update from Carl at 12:36 pm

Driving thru the course, we can update that reports of Rita Barnes’ demise were greatly exaggerated. She is on course and moving into Parsons.

Carl

48 Hour Update of runner status by Laz at 8:53 am

Vol State Update 4: emerging from the mists
while most of you slept, the vol-staters trudged onward.
it took 2 days, but the competition is taking shape….
and the competitors are becoming clear.

too many people are too close together to do any serious handicapping,
but the number of serious contenders for the crown has shrunk considerably.

we can scratch abi, out after 100 miles with gastric distress.
we can scratch rita, down at 92 and talking drop with ankle issues.

joshua holmes surged back into the lead last night,
but paid the price for those fast miles and bailed for some sleep, short of hohenwald at 140 miles.
not so his pursuers, who have already had their rest breaks…
if, indeed, they are taking any.

jay dobrodrewski has pushed his way into 2nd, past linden at 128,
followed closely by uncrewed runners dan fox (127)
and paul lefelhocz (124)

juli aistars (117)
and thomas mikkelson (115)
had also crossed the tennessee river,
and cannot be counted out as a potential leaders before day’s end.

behind them, the peleton strung out between parsons and the river.
in a section of endless hills, runners made their way down the road in seeming isolation,
unable to see the runners but one hill ahead or behind:
7) psyche winberly 109
8 ) sal coll 107
9) charlie taylor 106
10) sulaiman sericki 105
11) sherry meador 104
12) richard westbrook 103
13) jan silverman 102
14) abi meadows 100 (and out)
15) john price 97 (leaving lexington)
16) fred davis 96
17) dusty hardman 93
18) rita barnes 92 (and wavering)

not yet to the turn in lexington:
19) shannon burke 88
20) the erika matherny/adam venn relay team 85
21) mike melton 69
22) dian taylor 68
23) marvin skagerberg 67
24) the relentless oprah 66

look for today to be another day of fruitbasket turnover,
as a long lunch break might cost a half dozen places.
the good news is that it is only supposed to be a little warmer than yesterday.
the bad news is that the thunderstorms are expected to continue.
all that wet weather has created some nasty foot & blister issues very early in the race.
i think a lot of folks would prefer the heat!

laz

Posted by Joshua at 6:43 am

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