Run It Fast®

Day 3 of The Last Annual Vol State has come to a close with Run IT Fast members continuing to be relentless and driven towards The Rock. We did lose Rachael Howard at mile 102 in Darden.

At the top of the race Grant Maughan continues to pull away and is now at mile 239 at 72 hours. Second place currently is held by Regina Sooey at 213 miles, followed by RIF’s Andrea Kooiman at 211 miles as those two women along with Rhoda Smoker, currently at 196 continue to put down nearly identical miles daily and have been basically tied at ever evening check-in.

Kooiman last night battled wild dogs, coyotes, her shadow, and at one point picked up a wild kitten and put in her pack for several miles before having her super-crew Jill Williams returning it back to where she had picked it up.

The Top unscrewed runner remains race veteran Alan Abbs who is at 198 miles.

Overall Top 3 Men
1. Grant Maughan – 239 miles
2. Alan Abbs – 198 miles (uncrewed)
3. Brian Trinkle – 194 miles (uncrewed)

Overall Top 3 Women
1. Regina Sooey – 213 miles
2. Andrea Kooiman – 211 miles
3. Rhoda Smoker – 196 miles

72 Hour RIF @ LAVS UPDATE (tracker):
Andrea Casella Kooiman – 211
Cathy Downes – 164
Lisa Van Wolde – 158
Steven Smith – 158
Seth Crowe – 145
Juli Aistars – 142
Chris Clemens – 136
Cary Long – 136
Sherry Meador – 130
Kendra Fields Schoffstall – 123
Sharon Carver – 121
Sal Bill Coll – 113
David Oglesby – 113
Beth Ann Russell Hosick – 109
Diane Durden – 96
Diane Taylor – 92

The Diane’s continue to push this field forward from behind and are ahead of the cut-off pace.

Cary Long, who has been battling severe chaffing to his coin purse has resorted to placing Maxi-Pads on them and he swears it’s been the cure-all of all cure-alls. He swears by them now.

“I saw an armadillo get squished by a car that had to choose between the two of us. Blood and leprosy squirting everywhere”

“We, along with about 20 other runners, unofficially adopted a black lab as a companion running dog. Of course, he almost got us killed as he ran into the road, and a trailer truck swerved to miss it and nearly took us out instead!!”

Keep this group in your thoughts as they continue to battle the elements, wildlife, former wildlife, and their own demons to push on towards The Rock.

Day 2 – Vol State 500K – Run It Fast Members Update (2018)
Day 1 – Vol State 500K – Run It Fast Members Update (2018)

Day 2 is always brutal at the Vol State 500K. The excitement and adrenaline is gone, the sun is hotter and brighter, and the miles are slower….and slower…and slower. It even had a shocker as 3x King of the Road RIF Greg Armstrong dropped from the race at mile 113 just past Parsons, TN. This left the Australian Grant Maughan with the lead and at the end of day 2 (48 Hours) Grant had accumulated 162 miles.

On the women’s side there was a change overnight as Regina Sooey, who was 1 mile behind of Andrea Kooiman, at the 36 hour check in, took over the lead at the 48 hour check in with 159 miles. Amazing performance so far as she seems to be getting stronger and is second overall to Grant just by 3 miles.

Kooiman had a strong second day as well putting down 63 miles and currently resides at 154 miles for 3rd overall/2nd female.

Other notable mentions are Cathy Downs who put down a very strong 50 miles on day 2 and is currently at 117 miles and is 5th female. Steven Smith continues to use his VS experience to move up the leaderboard as does former King Juli Aistars.

Cary Long, despite his comedy show tapings of death, continues to impress with actual numbers as he is at 107 miles. The Double D(iane)’s keep pushing the field forward from behind with 70/71 miles. If Seth Crowe would have had a few more dimes for Sandy he might be a bit further down the road as well. However, without Sandy he’s put down an impressive 105 miles.

David Nichols is at a cool 102 miles as well after some Armour from RIF Kevin Gerteisen, who after DNFing has remained on the course to help and crew other runners. Bravo!

The Double Diane’s (D’s) Diane Taylor and Diane Durden continue to push the field from behind with 71 and 70 miles.

Sadly we lost Tom Orr to the Meat Wagon this morning. That leaves 18 of the 21 RIF members who started the race in contention for The Rock.

Run It Fast Members @ LAVS
48 Hour Totals (miles) – tracker
Andrea Casella Kooiman – 154 (3rd overall/2nd female)
Cathy Downes – 117 (5th female)
Steven Smith – 113
Lisa Van Wolde – 113
Juli Aistars – 107
Cary Long – 107
Seth Crowe – 105
Rachael Anderson – 102
David Nichols – 102
Chris Clemens – 99
Sherry Meador – 92
Kendra Fields Schoffstall – 92
Sharon Carver – 82
Beth Ann Russell Hosick – 82
David Oglesby – 82
James Tom Orr – DNF 82
Sal Bill Coll – 77
Diane Durden – 71
Diane Taylor – 70
DNF’s: Kevin Gerteisen 57, Greg Armstrong 113, Tom Orr 82

The road is long and hard…cleansing and rewarding. Great work by everyone that remains on the long road to The Rock.

Day 1 – Vol State 500K – Run It Fast Members Update (2018)

The brutal heat and humidity of The Last Annual Vol State 500K introduced all 114 starters to the crawl of this historic race on Thursday morning.

Our Run It Fast – Club had 21 members of the 114 that boarded the ferry to start the race including former ‘King of the Road’ winners Greg Armstrong (3x) and Juli Aistars.

After three wins crewed, Greg is running unscrewed this year and took off with the lead right off the bat. He had 66 miles at the 12 hour check in and added another 37 miles before the 24 hour check-in. He currently leads Australian badass Grant Maughan, who summited Mt. Everest a handful of weeks ago. Grant is just 4 miles back of Greg’s 103 miles.

On the women’s side Pennsylvania native Rhoda Smoker led most of the day with Andrea Kooiman less than 5 miles behind. At the 12 hour check in Rhoda was at 54 miles with Kooiman just 2 miles back. Smoker went down for sleep in McKenzie as Andrea pushed throughout the night to mile 92 in Lexington by the 24 hour check in. She is currently the female leader and 1 mile ahead of the second place female Regina Sooey.

So at 24 hours both the men and women’s race was currently led by Run It Fast members. The rest of the RIF members had a strong day as well as documented below. Last year’s runner-up Kevin Gerteisen, battling what is being reported as kidney stones, had to drop from the race at mile 57.

24 Hour RIF LAVS Update (tracking link)
Greg Armstrong – 103 (first overall)
Andrea Casella Kooiman – 92 (first female)
Lisa Van Wolde – 75
Steven Smith – 71
Chris Clemens – 67
Cathy Downes – 67
Rachael Anderson – 65
Juli Aistars – 62
Cary Long – 62
Sherry Meador – 57
Kevin Gerteisen – DNF 57 (possible kidney stones)
Sharon Carver – 56
David Nichols – 56
Kendra Fields Schoffstall – 56
Seth Crowe – 54
Sal Bill Coll – 50
Diane Durden – 48
Beth Ann Russell Hosick – 41
David Oglesby – 40
James Tom Orr – 40
Diane Taylor – 40

All members still in the race are well ahead of the minimum miles needed pace.

Day two is usually the hardest for all Vol Staters as the reality of the distance remaining sets in, the adrenaline is gone, and you feel the pain from your head to your blistered toes with every step.

Many RIF members from the area showed up on the course to encourage everyone including Dallas Smith, JR Reynolds, Danny Crossett, Jennifer Hall, Eryn Tyner, Josh Tyner, Leigh Carr, and others.

Best of luck to all 21 RIF members and all the runners still remaining on the course.