big dog’s backyard ultra 20 hours:
this yard will be the turning point of the night for the US team.
when we hit 20 hours it will only be 4 hours to reach 100 miles.
three more hours run in full darkness
the 4th hour the sun will come up.
canada will get sunlight about an hour ahead of us.
in south america they wilrange from that to starting to get light now.
(regardless of how the map looks, south america is almost entirely east of the american east coast.
africa and europe are already in daytime.
the day ranges into the late afternoon in japan, and early evening on the east of australia….
and the new zealanders are just getting into their night.
we are all running thru the same cycles,
they just fall at different parts of the race.
during hour 19 we lost three of the irish team.
considering what they are running in,
team ireland has done a spectacular job.
i cant help but wonder if this weather system has the UK team in its sights next?
whatever the conditions
whatever the time of day
the backyarders keep moving towards that first hundred miles.
we started
all of us;
the athletes,
the crews,
the staff…
me,
just wanting to get thru the first hundred miles
to reach the next hundred.
and i think the first hundred is the worst.
because, you see, running 100 miles is hard.
really hard.
just staying up for a day is hard.
and no matter how you cut it,
nobody gets much rest.
and even less sleep.
and in the back of your mind there is no way not to think;
“if it is this hard just to get thru one day;
how will i ever survive the next?”
and the next, and the next, and maybe even the day after that.
this is a brutally difficult game we are playing.