This is the swag the finisher’s of the Big Butts 50K received on July 27, 2013 in Clinton, Mississippi.

I don’t even know what to say about this…but tighty whities, a mug, a cigar, and matches sure make for a great conversation starter. Not one I’d usually associate with a race though.

Congrats to RIF #280 Suzy for her 50K PR there!

MORE PHOTOS OF MARATHON/ULTRA MEDALS AND BUCKLES

[Medal submitted by RIF #280 Suzy Spiceland. Follow on Twitter @bookaroo32]

RIF #190 John Kent Leighton

New Leader RIF #190 John Kent Leighton!

Here are the June Extreme Racer Standings and there is a new leader this month. RIF #190 John has taken over the lead from RIF #159 Diane! Congratulations John! The race between 1st and 2nd is still close but RIF #190 John Kent Leighton is in the lead with 1009.2 points, followed by RIF #159 Diane Bolton in 2nd with 980.7 points and RIF #279 George Southgate in 3rd with 849.37 points.

On the Women’s Leaderboard, Diane is in 1st, followed by RIF #287 Carol Earles in 2nd with 626.9 points and RIF #217 Elaine Bickel Green in 3rd with 528.5 points. On the Men’s Leaderboard, John is in 1st followed by George in 2nd and RIF #1 Joshua Holmes in 3rd with 745.4 points.

In the last 6 months, our RIF Club Members have raced 17,589.65 miles! That total is made up of 816 races, including 315 marathons, 14 100 Milers, 17 50 Milers, 45 50Ks, 102 Half Marathons, 134 5Ks, 38 10Ks, and 151 races of non-traditional distances. And that’s just from 72 of the 289 club members reporting in! In total, 74 RIF Club members have submitted points and/or monthly miles so far for 2013 (only points count in the standings so only 72 Club members are listed below).

Here are the full standings through June:

Top Ten Overall
1. John Kent Leighton – 1009.2 (RIF #190)
2. Diane Bolton – 980.7 (RIF #159)
3. George Southgate – 849.37 (RIF #279)
4. Joshua Holmes – 745.4 (RIF #1)
5. Carol Earles – 626.9 (RIF #287)
6. Hideki Kinoshita – 608.2 (RIF #88)
7. Elaine Bickel Green – 528.5 (RIF #217)
8. Rob Distante – 524.63 (RIF #259)
9. Carol Goslin – 503.6 (RIF #218)
10. Kerri Haskins – 502 (RIF #261)

Men’s Leaderboard
1. John Kent Leighton – 1009.2 (RIF #190)
2. George Southgate – 849.37 (RIF #279)
3. Joshua Holmes – 745.4 (RIF #1)
4. Hideki Kinoshita – 608.2 (RIF #88)
5. Rob Distante – 524.63 (RIF #259)
6. Denis McCarthy – 496.3 (RIF #263)
7. Danny Staggs – 399.4 (RIF #186)
8. David Wingard – 333.9 (RIF #101)
9. Billy Cannon – 306.8 (RIF #169)
10. Jeff Le – 293.96 (RIF #248)
11. Anthony Ohrey – 293.6 (RIF #27)
12. Houston Wolf – 282.6 (RIF #254)
13. Nicholas Norfolk – 238.9 (RIF #116)
14. Kevin Brandon – 203.7 (RIF #214)
15. Eric Waterman – 198.1 (RIF #289)
16. Mark Watson – 194 (RIF #173)
17. Nathan Bass – 179.9 (RIF #174)
18. Jeff Liu – 178.6 (RIF #275)
19. Rodrigo Jiménez – 158.32 (RIF #203)
20. Steven Reagan – 147 (RIF #157)
21. Mark Ogletree – 137.5 (RIF #247)
22. James Krenis – 126.8 (RIF #67)
23. Dennis Arriaga – 122.7 (RIF #140)
24. Josh Liggett – 122.6 (RIF #147)
25. Bill Baker – 106 (RIF #196)
26. Nikiah Nudell – 94.8 (RIF #234)
27. Charles Carmen – 89.63 (RIF #255)
28. Kevin Ronayne – 89.1 (RIF #11)
29. Robin Robbins – 81.4 (RIF #33)
30. Rick Thiounn – 79.5 (RIF #111)
31. Stephen Griffin – 60.3 (RIF #48)
32. Neil Dryland – 57.2 (RIF #252)
33. Jason Scott – 55.5 (RIF #265)
34. Naresh Kumar – 50 (RIF #2)
35. Stewart Crouch – 29.3 (RIF #89)
36. Brian Wooldridge – 26.2 (RIF #141)
37. Chris Haynes – 26.2 (RIF #223)
38. Daniel Escue – 22.4 (RIF #187)
39. Austin Coates – 22.4 (RIF #241)

Women’s Leaderboard
1. Diane Bolton – 980.7 (RIF #159)
2. Carol Earles – 626.9 (RIF #287)
3. Elaine Bickel Green – 528.5 (RIF #217)
4. Carol Goslin – 503.6 (RIF #218)
5. Kerri Haskins – 502 (RIF #261)
6. Katrina Mumaw – 399.5 (RIF #268)
7. Heather Zeigler – 397.8 (RIF #246)
8. Suzanne Spiceland – 378.6 (RIF #280)
9. Christy Scott – 356.6 (RIF #231)
10. Michelle Walker – 317.5 (RIF #124)
11. Laura Raeder – 311.3 (RIF #20)
12. Lisa Gonzales – 289.96 (RIF #5)
13. Sandy Staggs – 274 (RIF #220)
14. Robin Mancinelli – 264.6 (RIF #134)
15. Heather Shoemaker – 261.8 (RIF #44)
16. Shannon Burke – 236.8 (RIF #171)
17. Michelle Lenahan – 192.08 (RIF #283)
18. Alicia Eno – 185.1 (RIF #126)
19. Donna England – 169.8 (RIF #277)
20. Marj Mitchell – 159.3 (RIF #4)
21. Amanda Staggs – 144.5 (RIF #210)
22. Melanie Kayal – 144 (RIF #202)
23. Donna Pittman – 127.5 (RIF #181)
24. Michelle Mitchell – 127.4 (RIF #133)
25. Christy Bowers – 125.5 (RIF #60)
26. Beth Hosick – 116.2 (RIF #219)
27. Jennifer Wood – 91.7 (RIF #243)
28. Jennifer Whitley – 82 (RIF #160)
29. Leigh Marsh – 61.7 (RIF #192)
30. Jill Hassen – 57.2 (RIF #242)
31. Natalie Torres – 55.5 (RIF #72)
32. Marlene Deem – 52.4 (RIF #189)
33. Martine Kincade – 26.2 (RIF #260)

July was another big month for at least 2 of our RIFers that I know of…who ran a little 500K race across TN…so the standings could change next month! I hope John and George did some racing in July or they are going to be caught!

This month’s random drawing winner is RIF #72 Natalie Torres! We will be sending her a Gone For A Run sign. Don’t forget to submit your points/monthly miles next month for a chance to win! Anyone who submits races or miles or even to say they didn’t race/run because life got in the way is eligible for the drawing. We just want to hear what everyone is up to! We are nosy that way. 😉

Details on joining Run It Fast – The Club

[Extreme Racer points are rewarded per each racing mile completed. Example: marathon = 26.2 points, half marathon 13.1 points, etc.]

[photo from Joshua Holmes]

This is the finisher’s medal for the Vermont 100 Endurance Run that was held on July 20-21, 2013 in Windsor, Vermont.

Interesting choice for the 25th Anniversary. Not a buckle but it does double as a bottle opener!

MORE PHOTOS OF MARATHON/ULTRA MEDALS AND BUCKLES

[Medal photo submitted by RIF #134 Robin Mancinelli. Follow her on Twitter @robinmrr2]

This is the finisher’s medal for the Centro Médico de Especialidades 10K that was held on July 21, 2013 in Juarez, Mexico.

MORE PHOTOS OF MARATHON/ULTRA MEDALS AND BUCKLES

[medal photo submitted by Kel Varnsen – follow on Twitter @gargaholio]

These are the finisher’s medals for the Zombie Survivor 5K that was held on July 20, 2013 in Calgary, Canada.

Congrats to RIF #270 Kevin for surviving the Zombie Apocalypse! Sadly, RIF #244 Susan was infected. 🙁 And she was so nice too… 😉

MORE PHOTOS OF MARATHON/ULTRA MEDALS AND BUCKLES

[Medals submitted by RIF #244 Susan Warcholak and RIF #270 Kevin Warcholak. Follow on Twitter @dothingsalways]

This is the fun finisher’s medal for the Bolt To the Q 5K that was held on July 21, 2013 in San Diego California.

It’s part of the NFL Run Series and took place at Qualcom Stadium and finished on the 50 yard line. Fun football shaped medal! But probably more fun if you are a Chargers fan.

MORE PHOTOS OF MARATHON/ULTRA MEDALS AND BUCKLES

[Medal photo submitted by Loreen vS. Follow her on Twitter @allyant]

This is the finisher’s medal for the 22K Monza Power Run that was held on July 20, 2013 in Monza, Italy.

MORE PHOTOS OF MARATHON/ULTRA MEDALS AND BUCKLES

[Medal photo submitted by Claudio G. Follow on Twitter @troprunner]

RIF #1 Joshua Holmes and RIF #101 David Wingard

I don’t know about you guys but I’m exhausted! Kidding! I had the easy part and it was fun watching the race unfold the past 9 days. Today is the last day of the 2013 Last Annual Vol State 500K. It’s been quite a ride! There are still 6 runners out there trying to make their way to the rock before the Grim Reaper gets there. I hope you’ll send them lots of luck and Run It Fast wishes today.

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   Day3   Day4   Day5   Day6   Day7   Day8   Day9

Last Annual Volstate 500K Spreadsheet & Map – for runner tracking (updated twice a day).
Carl’s 2013 Last Annual Volstate 500K Album, Day 2 Drive Thru, and Day 3 Photos

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: Well, that’s it for this year’s Last Annual Vol State 500K. We hope you enjoyed our coverage of the race…and maybe inspired you to give it a try next year! Congratulations to all 33 runners and 5 teams that completed this year’s VS500K! Way to Run It Fast!

Lisa: Holy cow! What a finish! Congratulations to Brian for completing the Last Annual Vol State 500K! I gotta say…I am relieved he made it under the cut off. I kept waking up when I heard an email come in and would look to see if there was any word. After 10 days and 314 miles, still so much excitement and drama…and that’s what is so great about this race!

Email from Carl Laniak at 6:54 am:

9:23:08:40 – Brian Curro

Email from Carl Laniak at 6:11 am:

Drama at Vol state

Message from Curro:
“Help, I am totally lost, have been wandering around this hill for hours.
I’m delirious, I was talking to trees last night.”

There are now less than 90 minutes left. We think we ascertained his location and have directed him. If his description was accurate, he’s got 3 miles to go…..

Carl

Email from Carl Laniak at 5:14 am:

Brian Curro

If you read this, we suggest you drop that giant backpack and run.

Carl

Email from Carl Laniak at 5:10 am:

Vol state suspense 

There are less than 2.5 hours til the 240 hour cutoff at the volstate.

Brian Curro last checked in nearing the Tennessee river crossing, 11 miles from the finish.

That was more than 6.5 hours ago…..

Word is, he lost his maps early yesterday. His last checkin included the tidbit that his phone was malfunctioning.

At 7:31 this morning, we’ll know whether he makes it or not.

Go Brian!

Carl

Lisa: Congratulations to Joe and RIF #276 Diane Taylor for finishing the VS500K! This was Diane’s 3rd finish of the Last Annual Vol State 500K. Just one runner left now…

Email from Carl Laniak at 2:32 am:

Diane Taylor – 9:18:44:23

Email from Carl Laniak at 10:43 pm:

9:15:08:12 – joe kowalski

Wow

Carl

Lisa: Here is John Feyveresi’s VS500K race report (it’s a great read!): Lakewood’s Wanderings and Scribbles

Lisa: So now there are just 3 runners left on the course! At 7 pm, this is where they were…

Joe Kowalski 306 miles
Diane Taylor 300 miles
Brian Curro 295 miles

Just 12 hours left! They should all be in by the time I wake up in the morning. I will update this post with their times.

Lisa: Mike added a race report tab where the links for this year’s race reports will be gathered. John Fegyveresi is the first to have his written up.

Email from Mike Dobies at 7:56 pm:

Vol State – 228 Hour Update

Tracking Sheet:
http://www.tinyurl.com/Volstate2013

Map:
https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=200687420624110668378.0004e1fafd1b000ee49ad&msa=0&ll=35.775486,-87.40448&spn=1.994288,4.22699

Email from Carl Laniak at 7:06 pm:

9:11:29:54 – Paul Heckert

Email from Carl Laniak at 6:16 pm:

Jan Walker – 9:10:11:42

Email from Carl Laniak at 5:30 pm:

Re: Who will finish?

Jan is in the woods. Paul is in Alabama.

Kowalski, Curro and Taylor to follow…?

Carl

Lisa: I missed Marcia’s finish. She reached the rock in 9 days 2 hours 26 min 29 sec. Congrats Marcia!

Lisa: Here’s a recap of the race so far…

• 5 relay Teams (2 w/men only and 3 mixed) and 40 runners (31 men & 9 women) started the 2013 Last Annual Vol State 500K.
• 32 runners were Screwed (un-crewed).
• All 5 teams finished along with 27 solo runners…so far.
• 7 runners dropped out.

Top 3 Men
1. Joe Fejes (with a new course record of 3 days 8 hours 10 min 16 sec)
2. Alan Abbss (with a new Screwed course record of 4 days 11 hours 31 min 27 sec)
3. Sung Ho Choi (4 days 13 hours 39 min 52 sec)

Top 3 Women
1. Sherry Meador (7 days 2 hours 42 min 52 sec)
2. Diane Bolton (7 days 14 hours 13 min 5 sec)
3. Psyche Wimberly (7 days 23 hours 14 min 59 sec)

Top 3 Teams
1. Team Stinky Feet (2 days 19 hours 14 min 17 sec)
2. Team Country Gentlemen (4 days 4 hours 5 min 46 sec)
3. Team Two Step (4 days 12 hours 29 min 12 sec)

Tweet from Dallas Smith about the VS500K menu…maybe:

Lisa: Final day! Marcia should be finished by now, I think, and all the rest should be able to finish if they keep putting one front in front of the other. Let’s hope they don’t run into wild weather or anything else to hold them up. Also, apparently, blogging while running is not suggested:

Tweet from Dallas with great advice for future VolStaters:

Email from Mike Dobies at 10:27 am:

Vol State – 216 Hour Update

Tracking Sheet:
http://www.tinyurl.com/Volstate2013

Map:
https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=200687420624110668378.0004e1e8a03a66d4541d7&msa=0&ll=35.773258,-87.401733&spn=3.618637,5.152588

Email from Laz at 9:15 am:

day 10

with 9 days in the bank
we settle in on the rock
to watch the final stories unfold.

these are the ones who have fought the longest.
day after day, for 9 days,
they have watched oprah in their mirrors;
counting the miles,
measuring their reserves.
doing what it takes to achieve the impossible.

now it all comes down to one final push.

some will coast home.
marcia and jan have proven worthy warriors;
gaining strength with each passing day,
burying oprah in the distance.
they will come home “easily” within the time limit,
and deserving of accolades given to athletes
who have achieved their potential.

others will face,
in this final day,
all the pressure of the race,
knowing that one bad stretch without water,
one unleashed fury of nature
(a thunderstorm, blazing sun, or suffocating heat)
can erase the safety margin
and leave the reward for their long hard struggle
out of reach.

and then there is giant back pack.
he has the added burden
of overcoming the time lost when he was detained by the police last night.

and what is the reward for all they have endured?
to run the final mile in solitude,
thinking the thoughts
that only those who have come from the ferry to the rock can understand.
to find the finish line still open.
(pity those who see us driving away as they enter the beanfields)
to look out over the sequatchie/tennessee valley.
to feel the feelings that champions feel,
when a great opponent has been vanquished.
for these are champions,
vanquishing heat, hills, humidity, and their own human frailty.

all hail king joseph,
and his worthy minions.

laz

Email from Carl Laniak at 8:31 am:

216hours

Diane 275
Curro 279
Kowalski 282
Heckert 290
Jan 295
Marcia 309

Carl

RIF #159 Diane Bolton and Lazarus Lake

Yesterday, we saw 6 runners and 2 teams finish! A few more finished overnight and sadly, I hear there are 2 more runners who dropped. But there are still runners on the course though so this race isn’t over yet!

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   Day3   Day4   Day5   Day6   Day7   Day8 

Last Annual Volstate 500K Spreadsheet & Map – for runner tracking (updated twice a day).
Carl’s 2013 Last Annual Volstate 500K Album, Day 2 Drive Thru, and Day 3 Photos

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: TJ did drop so we are down to 6 runners. Here’s where they were at the 204 Hour Update:

Marcia Rasmussen – 279 miles
Jan Walker – 278 miles
Paul Heckert – 277 miles
Brian Curro – 268 miles
Joe Kowalski – 266 miles
Diane Taylor – 266 miles

Joe and Diane are .9 miles behind the Grim Reaper but are steadily moving forward. They have less than 36 hours to get to the rock now. Like Laz said in the email below, “I am anxious to see where they will stand when the sun next rises.”

Email from Mike Dobies at 9:23 pm:

Vol State – 204 Hour Update 

Tracking Sheet:
http://www.tinyurl.com/Volstate2013

Map:
https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=200687420624110668378.0004e1e810fbc145f67ed&msa=0&ll=35.163143,-85.757217&spn=0.520363,1.056747

Email from Laz at 9:18 pm:

FW: Now the real fun begins!

for me, the race remains as compelling as it has been for the past 8+ days.
I find the challenges faced by people who are stretching the limits of their ability
and competing to the end
equally compelling,
regardless of their level.

we have one last pack of runners on the course.
with only a tiny distance separating the last 6 heroes,
I am anxious to see where they will stand when the sun next rises.

I have watched these people compete for more than a week;
I have seen them in their moments of weakness,
and I have seen them rise to the challenge.
I have come to feel like I know something of them,
from how they have faced the demons.

I cannot wait to see the great victories to be won tomorrow…
and tomorrow night.

and great victories will be won.
anyone who does not back down,
who gives their all,
is a great champion.
whether they finish 1st,
or 40th.

Lisa: Having been at the back of the pack in a few races, I can appreciate that email!

Email from Frank Lilley at 6:42 pm:

Now the real fun begins!

Not to take a single thing away from all the unbelievable achievements of Vol State finishers to this point . . . but now it starts getting REALLY tough! These next folks to finish are my peeps!!!

These folks have been out there suffering away, every day with no notoriety! Everyone rightly focuses on Joe Fejes and Alan Abbs and Bruce Sung Ho Choi and Ray Krolewicz and Psyche Wimberly and all the others that have finished already. What they have done is awesome!

But here come my peeps!

I love the back of the packers! The folks that are slow and not all that gifted when it come to speed and endurance. See . . . I am siure that part of our performance is a genetics gift! Oh . . . those with the “gift” . . . they work hard at excelling I know. But there is love in my heart for everyone else!

Us slower, maybe undertrained, maybe overweight folks who just “try.” Those people that know they will be the tail of the dog . . . and they just don’t give a rat’s ass! They are there just simply to see if the can do it! Period.

Finishing is not an absolute given for my peeps! This is a gut wrenching testament to pure desire! The desire to accomplish the seemingly impossible!

So I honestly do love all you guys and gal that have already achieved greatness by finishing Vol State . . . but here come my peeps!!

frankenlilley

Lisa: There is no medal or prize for finishing this race but a couple of runners had these souvenirs made. Pretty cool, huh?

Tweet from Dallas Smith that shows a couple of his souvenirs:

Email from Joel Gat at 3:02 pm:

Texas Jeff – 8:07:26:06

“It was long… if my feet hadn’t been blistered, it still would have been long.”

Lisa: Great clip of RIF #79 Dallas finishing the VS500K (thanks to @bayou for sharing!): https://vine.co/v/hmFQZgOBhET

Lisa: Congratulations to David and Dallas! This is the first Last Annual Vol State 500K for both of them and they did it uncrewed! Love that Dallas sprinted at the end! 🙂

Email from Joel Gat at 1:10 pm:

Dallas Smith – 8:05:34:11

“Whoa! Slow down!” – as Dallas charged at a sprint to the finish…

Email from Joel Gat at 12:26 pm:

David Wingard – 8:04:48:43

Lisa: Pics from life on the road at Vol State 500K…

Photos from RIF #1 Joshua Holmes:

RIF #79 Dallas Smith with 1st time finisher RIF #159 Diane Bolton

RIF #79 Dallas Smith

With RIF #101 David Wingard

Tweet from Dallas at 9:40 am:

Email from Joel Gat at 9:52 am:

Becky Lockard 8:02:09:55

“I did this because I didn’t know if I could.”

Email from Joel Gat at 9:48 am showing a sleeping RD:

But what about us? 

The runners come in at all times of the day and night, so Carl and Laz have slept a total of about 6.5 hours since Sunday. That’s been one 4 hour sleep and a few 15-45 minute snoozes.  This one lasted about five minutes…

Lisa: It looks like Jeff Stephens is a definite drop. And rumor on the list is that TJ Nagies is a drop too though he’s not listed as that on the spreadsheet. He is, however, still at the same mileage he was for the 180 Hour Update. 🙁 Here is where the rest of the runners were at during the check in:

Becky Lockard – 303 miles
David Wingard – 300 miles
Dallas Smith – 300 miles
Jeff Venable – 290 miles
Jan Walker – 267 miles
Marcia Rasmussen – 266 miles
Paul Heckert – 258 miles
Brian Curro – 256 miles
Joe Kowalski – 252 miles
Diane Taylor – 250 miles
TJ Nagies – 201.5 miles

It looks like we should have 3 more finishers very shortly including two of our RIFers – RIF #101 David Wingard and RIF #79 Dallas Smith!

Email from Mike Dobies at 9:46 am:

Vol State – 192 Hour Update

Tracking Sheet:
http://www.tinyurl.com/Volstate2013

Map:
https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=200687420624110668378.0004e1de5957d190f0809&msa=0&ll=35.775486,-87.40448&spn=1.994288,4.22699

Lisa: Congrats to Jeff and Psyche! We are glad Psyche found her way to the rock! W

Lisa: Here’s what happened overnight…

Email from Carl Laniak at 6:50 am:

Psyche – 7:23:14:59

An epic struggle the last 2 miles….

Carl

Email from Carl Laniak at 5:44 am:

From laz:

This is the longest Monday if my life.

The sun keeps coming up and going down, while runners are fed out from Kimball at regular intervals. I spent this last dark period smoking camel filters and listening to “let’s kill all these morherf#ckers,” by Lair of the Minotaur.

Psyche found a way to buy time for the next runner to start by getting lost at mile 312 (of 314).
She’s now laying in a ditch a half mile off course, refusing all offers of assistance, while regrouping for another attempt to locate the state of Georgia.

I’m entertained by the view from the rock, 4 acre lily pads in the ocean below. I may be hallucinating from lack of sleep…..

They call it the volstate.

Laz

Email from Carl Laniak at 1:09 am:

Jeff McGonnell – 7:17:32:38

RIF #159 Diane Bolton shopping during the VS500K

Thanks to RIF #286 for sharing this photo of Diane shopping for antiques yesterday. It’s not all about the grind out there! I think it’s more about the little moments. At least, it seems that way reading the emails from the ultra list about this race. Something must keep them coming back every year. They can’t all be masochists for the pain, right?

I hope you’ll check back here throughout the day to see all of today’s happenings!

Links you might find fun/useful:

To catch up on previous days: Day1   Day2   Day3   Day4   Day5   Day6   Day7

Last Annual Volstate 500K Spreadsheet & Map – for runner tracking (updated twice a day).
Carl’s 2013 Last Annual Volstate 500K Album, Day 2 Drive Thru, and Day 3 Photos

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:

Email from Mike Dobies at 12:18 am:

Vol State – 180 Hour Update

Tracking Sheet:
http://www.tinyurl.com/Volstate2013

Map:
https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=200687420624110668378.0004e1d640b50ee4dcbac&msa=0&ll=36.011339,-87.426453&spn=1.988357,4.22699

Email from Carl Laniak at 11:37 pm:

Scott Krouse – 7:16:01:53

Lisa: Here is where the runners still out there were at the 180 Hour check in:

Scott Krouse – 300 miles
Jeff McGonnell – 299 miles
Jeff Stephens – 297 miles
Psyche Wimberly – 295 miles
Dallas Smith – 293.5 miles
David Wingard – 290 miles
Becky Lockard – 290 miles
Jeff Venable – 283 miles
Paul Heckert – 252 miles
Marcia Rasmussen – 252 miles
Jan Walker – 247 miles
Joe Kowalski – 235 miles
Diane Taylor – 235 miles
Brian Curro – 233 miles
TJ Nagies – 201.5 miles

Looks like there will be a bunch of finishes tonight too. Don’t think Laz and Carl will be getting much sleep again.

Lisa: Both Team Saturday and Team Dancing Bears (Patrick) also finished. I don’t have their times yet but will post those as soon as I know. It’s just 15 solo runners left on the course now.

Lisa: Woo! This was her first time running the VS500K! We are so proud of her! Congratulations Diane!

Email from Carl Laniak at 9:55 pm:

Diane Bolton – 7:14:13:05

Lisa: Apparently flavoring was an autocorrect. LOL! But then he let us know that she had just a mile to go about 20 minutes ago! The waiting is killing me!

Facebook post by RIF #1 Joshua Holmes:

Email from Carl Laniak at 5:32 pm:

Joseph Nance – 7:09:56:26

“That’s some good stuff”

Carl

Facebook post by Diane Bolton’s crew RIF #286 Phil Min showing the “cool” weather on today’s course (as if running 314 miles wasn’t hard enough!):

Lisa: Here are 2 great photos that RIF #1 Joshua Holmes shared as he wanders the course cheering on runners:

Josh with RIF #79 Dallas Smith

Josh with RIF #159 Diane Bolton

Lisa: There are no ties at the VS500K and because they want runners to enjoy their time at the “rock”, they set up a sprint line 30′ from the rock so whoever gets to that line first, gets to go to the rock first. Congrats to Johnny and Charlie! Way to Run It Fast! Here’s a great quote from RIF #2 Naresh Kumar about Johnny and Charlie’s finish:

Just amazing how a 314 mile race ended up to be a sprint finish for two runners. Epic!! Congrats CT and Johnny! Way to finish it. ~Naresh Kumar

Email from Carl Laniak at 2:36 pm:

correction – Johnny Adams – 7:05:30:36

Sorry, sleep deprivation at work…Johnny was ahead of Charlie

Carl

Email from Carl Laniak at 1:07 pm:

Charlie Taylor – 7:05:31:03

Johnny won the sprint to the finish-order-line, so got the right to approach the rock first. It was closer than the 30 second finish difference. A true sprint.

Carl

Email from Carl Laniak at 1:05 pm:

Johnny Adams – 7:05:31:03

Sprint finish!

Carl

Email from Mike Dobies at 12:36 pm with the solo runners finishing rates since 2009:

For solo runners:

2009 – 75% (12/16)
2010 – 43% (6/14)
2011 – 68% (13/19)
2012 – 61% (14/23)

2013 – 40% (16/40) so far, with 19 still on the course (almost 3 days remaining)

Tweet from Dallas at 11:38 am sharing some of the views from the road:

Lisa: And here is a great tweet from the Awesome RIF #79 Dallas Smith earlier this morning:

Lisa: Here’s a great quote from the 2012 Last Annual Vol State 500K winner Dan Fox:

It’s just that Vol State is so huge that it can contain a lot of life’s vicissitudes.

It’s big enough to go to hell and back, and still have time left over. ~Dan Fox

Lisa: Congrats to Roy and Sherry! Oh, and Sherry is the 1st Woman to complete this year’s VS500K! Woo!

Email from Carl Laniak at 10:20 am:

Tamez & Meador, 15 & 16

Roy Tamez – 7:00:42:51
Two hours later…
Sherry Meador – 7:02:42:52
She wants a yoohoo.

Carl

Lisa: There are now 21 runners and 2 teams out on the course. Here’s where they are:

Roy Tamez – 310 miles
Sherry Meador – 304 miles
Joseph Nance – 296 miles
John Adams – 296 miles
Charlie Taylor – 296 miles
Team Saturday – 296 miles
Team Dancing Bears – 291 miles
Jeff Stephens – 291 miles
Jeff McGonnell – 274 miles
Scott Krouse – 274 miles
Psyche Wimberly – 274 miles
Diane Bolton – 272 miles
David Wingard – 265 miles
Becky Lockard – 265 miles
Dallas Smith – 262 miles
Jeff Venable – 259 miles
Paul Heckert – 235 miles
Marcia Rasmussen – 233 miles
Jan Walker – 230 miles
Joe Kowalski – 217 miles
Brian Curro – 213 miles
Diane Taylor – 213 miles
TJ Nagies – 197 miles

I guess Team Dancing Bears is back on the road as Patrick has decided to continue on his own. Two more runners should be finishing any minute now and more are very close. Sadly, 4 runners are behind the Grim Reaper (219.8 miles which is the daily avg miles needed to complete the VS500K in 10 days). 🙁 But like Brad mentioned in his email below, they all are determined to make it so send them all the Run It Fast vibes you can today!

Email from Mike Dobies at 8:34 am:

Vol State – 168 Hour Update

Tracking Sheet:
http://www.tinyurl.com/Volstate2013

Map:
https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=200687420624110668378.0004e1c933660745f7095&msa=0&ll=35.619349,-89.01123&spn=1.998196,4.22699

Lisa: Here’s what happened overnight… 3 more runners finished in sub 7 days! John Price finished in 6:15:36:26, Jeff Kasal finished in 6:22:03:21, and Tim Purol finished in 6:22:03:22! Congrats to John, Jeff, and Tim!

Email from Carl Laniak at 7:33 am:

Kasal and purol – done

Sub 7 days.
They finished alone at the rock.
Race management had been up for 2 days and somehow didn’t make it to the Rock. Glad they stopped at the finishline.

Carl

Email from finisher Brad Compton at 6:53 am:

Driving home

Getting breakfast in Pelham – Harry & Ollie’s.  seen several runners.  No look of “quit” in any of their eyes; just grim determination.

Email from Laz at 12:16 am:

RE: John price – done.

06:15:36:26…

in the rain.

Email from Carl Laniak at 11:39 pm:

John price – done.

Time to follow

Carl