There are only 5 runners left on the Vol State 500K course. Some so close and a few with a long way to go still but they continue to keep moving forward. I saw a post on Facebook about how a lot of the running websites/blogs follow a race just until the front runners come in. Forgetting the fact that there are runners out there until the very end, whether it’s a 48 hour cutoff or a 10 day cutoff. Run It Fast isn’t just about being fast. It’s about pushing your limits and going farther…and sometimes faster…than you’ve ever done before. It’s about seeing what you are made of and the runners in the Last Annual Vol State 500K certainly embody that. They aren’t in it for the comfort of a cool, flat, fast marathon. They are there to face their fears and weaknesses and find out what strengths they have inside.
Please join me in sending a TON of Run It Fast vibes to these hearty runners who are giving it their all to reach the rock!
Once again, I probably won’t be adding as many updates but check back later just in case. 
If you didn’t get a chance to read the live blog for any of the previous 8 days, you can check them out here:
Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 Day 8
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.
-Check out the Vol State 2012 Map to see where the runners are (updated 2x per day w/ last location).
-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! Check it out: Naresh’s Vol State 2012 Album
So far today:
Email from Shannon at 8:38 pm
#12 Shannon Burke
8:13:13:36
Carl can you please post to ulist (laz is taxing my abilities- finish the race and report my own results)
Email from Carl at 8:35 pm
Re: Vol state update 17 – 8.5 days – still running
Correction; just heard from psyche, she’s at 297, not 300
Carl
Email from Stewart at 8:00 pm
8pm report
marvin is on sixteenth model road (can anyone tell me the actual way ninth model and sixteenth model roads got their names, authoritatively, accurately, without making up or repeating bullshit?) four miles from rte 41.
i think we are going to get a motel in manchester, then get a one am start. i think he is about ten miles off pace, holding steady there. i might start pushing gently tomorrow.
Update of runner status at 8:00 pm
Vol state update 17 – 8.5 days – still running
As another mammoth thunderstorm rolls in to make sure the runners get a full measure of fun…..
With most of the miles covered, we ALL wish it was us….
12) Shannon Burke 311 (it feels real now, atop sand mountain)
13) Psyche Wimberly 300 (a little while ago, not sure if still moving)
14) Diane Taylor 272 (monteagle til early morn)
15) Marv Skagerberg 242
16) Oprah 241Carl
Email from ultrarunningmom at 6:35 pm
#11 – Dusty Hardman
8 days, 11 hours, 4 minutes, 47 seconds
Email from UltraJohn at 2:15 pm
Re: vol-state update 16- 8 days (the heart of a warrior)
At 1:45pm Dusty Hardman was just leaving Kimball and had passed the interstate and started the short climb to South Pittsburg and the second crossing of the Tennessee River!
Shannon Burke had just reached the turn in Jasper to head to Kimball and looks to be on pace for a 8 to 9pm finish! Sure beats making a wrong turn at 124 mile and quiting like last year 😉
I’m heading back in the car in a few to find Psyche and see her progress I’m betting she is either off the mountain or nearly so!
John
Email from Stewart at 12:02 pm (Come on Marvin!)
on the road again
marvin is moving again, through shvl
it took him seven hours last night to make ten miles, so we bagged it at three am.
i woke up when gary called me and can only hope i made sense
the chemo headache kicked in, and i kinda just lay there until ten, when marvin started rustling
i opened the door to go out to the car and find something to eat and drink, which woke marv up
we drank the motel coffee (which is not coffee, and none of the ingerdiments are listed…it is ersatz, postum) ate a bagel and salami and swiss cheese sammich, and hit the road.
marvin redressed his foot, put on copious sunblock, and started trudging from the inbound shevil sign. he is rested, and ok i think. we will see what happens.
i am waiting at the kangaroo station, wher the gas is cheap and the ice is twice the normal price.
there were two dead horses along the way to svl yesterday. this is a terrible thing to do to a lavs runner. maybe they were walking horses and when they saw the lavs walkers, they figured out the logical consequences of this walking stuff, and just died.
we are on the road again
wntr
Update of runner status from Laz at 8:35 am
vol-state update 16- 8 days (the heart of a warrior)
five lonely figures move alongside the road.
the kings and queens have basked on the rock,
and left for home and work and all the trappings of “normal” life.they will long for the simple days,
when a single peach could be a treasure,
and a drink of cold water the stuff of dreams.
when indoor plumbing stood alongside air conditioning,
as man’s signal achievement.
voice-mail boxes long filled,
e-mail accounts with pages of unread messages.
their 21st century lives have called them back from a simpler time.
when the heart of a warrior was the only thing.fancy cars and prestigious jobs meant nothing.
big homes and social status afforded no mercy.
the stuff of life was water, food, and shelter…
and perseverance.
the skills of living were stark.
the skills that stood between those lonely figures beside the road,
and an ignominious ride to failure.
treating blisters, finding food and water,
sheltering in the fiercest storms and staying alive in blistering heat.
these were the measures of a man…that and the heart of a warrior.
for there is no easy path from the ferry to the rock.
all must pay the price to walk thru the corn.the vol state is a race with winners,
but no losers.
even those who ride off in the “seat of dishonor” have something.
they showed the courage to face the lion.
and as they sit at home and read about the few warriors remaining on the road,
they tell theirselves;
“that could have been me.”
most will ride the ferry again,
and find their way to the rock.but for today, 5 lonely figures move slowly down the road.
their dream drawing ever closer,
the dream of the ultimate reward….being able to stop.
11) dusty hardman 282- beyond tracy city. aiming to reach the rock tonight.
12) shannon burke 280- entering tracy city. aiming to reach the rock tonight.
13) psyche winberly 275- past monteagle. she is so hurt we are afraid to mention the rock just yet. but she fights on.
14) diane taylor 250- getting up from breakfast in manchester. tomorrow night calls.
15) marvin skagerberg 225- hammered by yet another storm, taking refuge in shelbyville.
he is back on the road as time grows short in his quest for “one more big thing.”the odds are against him.
marvin has a lot of skins on his wall. he had proven himself as a warrior in times long past.
before the memories of this generation of ultramarathon warriors.
the years have stolen the speed from his legs. his vision has dimmed and his hearing faded.
but the heart of a lion remains, and he continues his relentless pursuit of “one more big thing.”
is there an old-timer who can keep from following his progress?
he may fail, but he will not lose.
the clock might catch him, but it will find him fighting to the end.16) oprah 224- everyone keeps asking; “who is oprah?”
you know who oprah is.
she is the spectre that trails the pack at the vol state.
she is the “real” world. where celebrity is the most important thing,
and there are no lonely figures alongside the road, chasing dreams.laz
