big dog’s backyard ultra hour 21:
.
we are all in this together now.
teams fighting to keep the full roster intact;
15 of them.
.
teams fighting to hold on to reach 24 hours,
to make the winner eligible for the individual championships next year.
.
the irish having their race terminated by the weather.
they kept their team intact until the last hour
even in the face of horrendous conditions.
.
mauritius, whose race has now ended,
leaving 56 teams still fighting….
.
55 when the irish finally have to give it up.
.
guatemala, (240) who is running away with the small country division
still 5 members strong
leaving zambia (-16) and uruguay (-17), each with 4 members,
battling it out for second place.
slovakia, iceland, and the netherlands,
the only clean teams in the mid-size division,
each trying to be the initial leader when the real fight begins.
.
vietnam, who lost 5 team members right before the start.
the 10 who came
came to play.
they have not lost a single runner.
with a full team they would have been in the thick of the fight.
.
ukraine,
left with a short team by circumstances we all know
6 of them still running for their homeland.
.
up and down the line,
every athlete has a story
every team is a story.
.
on and on they go;
the whistles blow
the bells ring
and the runners run.
.
muscles ache
tendons stiffen
feet grow sore;
but on they go.
.
it is ugly, dirty, hard…
.
and magnificent.
but we are all in this together
as members of the backyard family.
