Dallas and Laz 2013 Last Annual Vol State 500K
The runners are starting their 3rd day today at the Last Annual Vol State 500K! There was a lot of running going on through the night and Joe Fejes laid down some big miles – 58! Everyone else is moving steadily along. It’s going to be another warm and humid day out there. Wish them luck!
Make sure you check back throughout the day to see how things are going out there!
Links you might find fun/useful:
To catch up on previous days: Day1 Day2
Last Annual Volstate 500K Spreadsheet & Map – for runner tracking (updated twice a day).
Carl’s 2013 Last Annual Volstate 500K Album.
Twitter:
RunItFast: @runitfast
Joshua Holmes: @bayou
Shannon Burke: @s4121burke
Dallas Smith: @smithbend
VS500: #VS500 or #VS500K
Facebook:
UltraJoshua – Facebook page for Joshua Holmes
Last Annual Vol State Road Race – Facebook page for VS500K
So far today:
Lisa: Carl’s email is a good way to end this blog so that’s it for day 3’s live blog! I hope you’ll come back tomorrow and follow along on day 4. It should be an interesting day!
Email from Carl Laniak at 11:20 pm:
Re: FW: resilience (2.5 days)
I will just add that the second half of the race is quite remarkable.
There is no despondency in these runners. They are positive to a fault.
Whether they are nearing the half way mark, or still looking for a 100 mile split, they are pushing forward and upbeat.
(at least that is what I see when I stop to say hello…perhaps a friendly face in the middle of a rough afternoon is skewing my perception?!)This year’s weather is a special occurrence, and the runners are really taking advantage.
-PS RUNNERS-
i believe we’ve confirmed that there’s a slight typo in john’s book, the first gas station in hohenwald is 4-5 miles further than stated. Runner’s headed that way, stock up at the gas station where hwy 100 splits to the left and the course goes right. If I am wrong (i don’t have my book in front of me) it won’t hurt too much to be stocked up there.well done!
carl
Email from Laz at 11:08 pm:
resilience (2.5 days)
I have been relegated to the same view of much of the field,
as the people at home.
the race has become so strung out that carl and I had to split up.
I got to see the people at the front.
carl is witness to the mayhem in the back.with fewer people to see,
I got to spend more time talking to them.
one thing stood out,
both in the screwed runners’ comments,
and in the descriptions of the crews.the successful vol-stater must have remarkable resilience.
everyone has gone thru dark periods;
yet somehow come back. (again and again)this is one reason for the fruit basket turnover we see
every time the standings are updated.abbs was, at one point last night,
reduced to scouring a construction zone for partially consumed water bottles,
and drinking what was left.
the old man relay team saw him staggering down the road,
seemingly near his end.
an hour later he was running again.I missed fegys entirely,
as he was sleeping behind a tree when I passed….I see in the standings that he not only returned to the road,
but has closed back in on those in front of him.schick said of fejes;
“he will look like he is absolutely on his last legs,
then he lays down for a short while,
and comes back as strong as he was on the first day.”I see we had a third drop today.
37 of the original 40 are still on the road
(altho several are locked in a life and death struggle with oprah)if everyone who had been thru a period of hopelessness had dropped;
no one would be left.I went and scouted the finish line,
preparing for the first relay to come in some time tonight
(and fejes sometime in the morning)the big mudhole in the woods has reached record size.
(no one is getting past that sucker dry this year)
the recent monsoons have left the roads on castle rock ranch virtually impassable.
those who survive the first 313 miles have a real treat in store.laz
Email from Carl Laniak at 11:04 pm:
vol state day 3 photos
from hohenwald back thru the field.
Lisa: Crazy weather. wild dogs, Road Angels…yep, they are getting the full VS500K experience!
Tweet from Josh at 9:34 pm:
Lisa: Here is the Top 10, Top 3 Women, and Team standings as of the 60 Hour check in:
Top 10
1. Joe Fejes – 230 miles
2. Alan Abbs – 185 miles
3. Sung Ho Choi – 184 miles
4. John Fegyveresi – 178 miles
5. Joshua Holmes – 152 miles
6. Jim Ball – 151 miles
7. Ray Krolewicz – 148 miles
8. Tim Purol – 145 miles
9. Jeff Kasal – 145 miles
10. Sal Coll – 144 miles
Top 3 Women
1. Sherry Meador – 132 miles
2. Psyche Wimberly – 128 miles
3. Dusty Hardman – 110 miles
Team
1. Team Stinky Feet – 280 miles
2. Team Two Step – 200 miles
3. Team Dancing Bears – 196 miles
4. Team Country Gentlemen – 190 miles
5. Team Saturday – 57 miles (they started today)
There’s been one more drop from the VS500K – Robert Woodall dropped at 82 miles. There are now at 37 runners and 5 teams out on the Tennessee roads.
230 miles! Joe is a beast! Will Joe’s legs hold up? Will he have another big night? Tune in tomorrow morning to find out!
Email from Carl Laniak at 8:57 pm:
Re: Vol State – 60 Hour Update
the folks i marked at 91 miles are all in the Days Inn in lexington by 7:30….just so everyone understands…
I will post all my pics from this afternoon in a little bit (most of them were sent out already)
Email from Mike Dobies at 8:52 pm:
Vol State – 60 Hour Update
Tracking Sheet:
http://www.tinyurl.com/Volstate2013
Instagram post from Josh at 8:05 pm:
Lisa: Great to see Road Angels at work today for the runners out on the course! FYI – A Road Angel is a stranger that offers help to the runners. If a runner is uncrewed (or Screwed), they must carry everything they will need or buy it along the course and cannot except help from anyone they know but they can accept the kindness of strangers. Of the 40 runners that started the race, 7 runners were using crews and 33 runners were Screwed. Can you imagine running 314 miles uncrewed? What an adventure!
Tweet from Dallas at 7:50 pm:
Email from Carl Laniak at 6:32 pm:
Diane B – back on road and lookin good
Email from Stu at 5:48 pm showing more good will towards the VS500K runners:
next to the bench of great joy
this is waiting for you in culleoka!
stu
Instagram post from Josh at 5:11 pm:
Email from Carl Laniak at 4:17 pm:
Holmes and ball nearing hohenwald
Email from Carl Laniak at 4:12 pm:
Rayk at 143.5
Gifted some pizza by generous folks from union city who saw the runners Thursday in union city and “really admire what we’re doing out here!”
Carl
Tweet from @keithdunn at 3:02 pm:
Facebook post from Phil (Diane Bolton’s crew) at 2:43 pm:
Email from Mike Dobies at 11:12 am:
Re: Vol State – 48 Hour Update
Just an fyi:
When two runners are at the same mileage, the pins will have the exact same coordinates and only one will be visible on the map (the other is beneath the first). If you click the name on the left margin, then you will see where the hidden icon is on the map.
Thanks for pointing this out Josh.
I’m adding the Course Record (Unaided) pace information to the Tracking Sheet and map now. This record is also being seriously challenged.
Lisa: Here are the Top 10, Top 3 Women, and Team standings thru 48 hours:
Top 10
1. Joe Fejes – 196 miles
2. Alan Abbs – 154 miles
3. John Fegyveresi – 145 miles
4. Sung Ho Choi – 143 miles
5. Joshua Holmes – 133 miles
6. Ray Krolewicz – 127 miles
7. Jim Ball – 124 miles
8. Joes Gat – 124 miles
9. Joseph Nance – 120 miles
10. Sal Coll – 117 miles
Top 3 Women
1. Sherry Meador – 107 miles
2. Dusty Hardman – 92 miles
3. Psyche Wimberly – 83 miles (didn’t check in at 48 hours though)
Teams
1. Team Stinky Feet – 229 miles
2. Team Dancing Bears – 150 miles
3. Team Country Gentlemen – 145 miles
4. Team Two Step – 144 miles
Just a reminder that the course record is 3 days 17 hours 42 minutes and 12 seconds. Joe certainly looks like he’s on target to beat that! I wish I was there to see it too. Like Laz said: “the real fun is just beginning.”! Stay tuned!
Email from Laz at 10:33 am:
fegys v choi update
choi was, indeed, on break at 48 hours.
he was at 143 miles, so fegys had moved into third (145).choi is back on the road and has retaken third at this time.
more later.
laz
Email from Laz at 10:21 am:
it is a multiday now (vol-staters pass 48 hours)
fejes put on one of those fabulous stretches
that will be spoken of at the last suppers for years to come.58 miles between 36 and 48 hours.
he barely missed 200 in two days.
I feel privileged to be here to see his race.carl and I discussed this morning,
the possibility that he might put on a surge
that carries him past 300 miles within 3 days.
however this ends,
it is going to be something to see.and it isn’t like abbs is not putting on a performance for the ages.
people have discussed for years,
whether it is possible for a screwed (crewless) runner to break 5 days…at 48 hours, abbs was only 3 miles over 4-day pace.
with choi’s whereabouts unknown at 48 hours
(assumed to be taking a break)
fegys might have moved into third.holmes had put some distance between himself and the k during the night
(133 to 127)
but holmes was just starting an extended break at 48 hours.it is a safe bet that k is taking over 5th place as I write this
(if he has not already done so)gat (124), ball (124), and nance (120) have emerged from the pack
to threaten moving into the top 6.we are starting the third day.
this thing is now officially a multiday.
the real fun is just beginning.with 38 runners on the road,
every time someone takes a nap,
they are going to lose multiple places.laz
Email from Mike Dobies at 9:40 am:
Vol State – 48 Hour Update
Tracking Sheet:
http://www.tinyurl.com/Volstate2013
Tweet from @keithdunn at 9:27 am:
Tweet from Josh at 7:24 am:
Lisa: Overnight happenings…
Tweet from Josh at 4:21 am:
Tweet from Josh at 2:40 am:
Facebook post from Dallas last night:
Day’s highlights: A lone pigeon cooed in the dark beams as I passed under a bridge at 5 a.m. At 6 a.m. the sun was barely up. It cast my shadow 50 yards long across the rows of a low soy bean field. That thin wafting shadow measured my puny motion in precise 32-inch intervals. There was the Korner Kafe in Gleason where I had eggs and bacon – and caught four competitors. Finally, the road angel, a high-school-age young woman who drove up and with the help of who I took to be her young brother gave me a snack and a frosty bottle of water just when I needed it.
Main strategy tomorrow: Minimize damage.
