keith vangraafieland returned from yard 40 and did not finish it.
this left 50 athletes to reach 40 hours.
just another number with nothing to compare it to…
.
we have retired 1/3 of the runners
i wonder if that means we have covered 1/3 of the distance?
.
camp is pretty quiet as we approach midnight on the second night.
crews are either sitting around the campfire trying to stay warm
or sleeping in their tent between hours.
the runners filter in
gradually filling the still active campsites (most of them)
until the shrilling of the whistles set everyone to preparing for the next loop.
the rush to the corral early is a thing of a couple of days ago.
now most of the field gets in the corral between 30 seconds and 2 seconds to go.
.
then the bell sounds and all the runners head out into the night
leaving the camp strangely empty looking
with the crews gradually meandering back to their places
to await the arrival of their runner.
everyone is tired.
no one here has probably had an uninterrupted hour of sleep since friday night.
a backyard at this level is not easy for anyone involved.