big dog’s backyard ultra starting hour 43:
.
i get so caught up in scouring the leaderboard every hour
that i am confused why it seems like everyone has gone to bed.
how can you stand to miss a minute?
i can see all these teams
in all their cool locations.
i can envision in my head the sun traveling around the world
and see what teams are emerging from the darkness into a new day,
and another team is at midafternoon
and another just watching the sun set.
the venezuelans in muggy heat
and the icelanders altering their course because of an ice storm.
.
and then to follow the ups and downs of the competition.
this team catching that team
and the fortunes changing as runners drop out from first one team
and then another.
.
right now i am absorbed in watching team iceland close on team netherlands.
seeing the once huge gap whittled away over long hours.
.
i do sometimes wonder, do they know?
is someone watching the leaderboard like i am
and telling the team what is happening.
does the team press forward with greater enthusiasm.
.
i know the big countries do,
but the small ones i have no idea.
.
anyway,
i love watching the hundred small competitions play out.
i dont see how anyone could sleep with all this going on.
.
and so,
back to the latest fray i am obsessed with;
iceland is now within 8 yards of netherlands.
i thought that lead was insurmountable at one time,
.
i am also watching belgium with astonishment.
they still havent lost anyone,
and now it is morning there.
if no one quit during the wee hours last night,
surely no one will stop during the day.
.
they are pulling away from the usa every hour
and we are going thru the depths of the night right now.
we have to hope we can meet that sunrise without losing anyone else!
.
australia and new zealand are in front and behind us.
and they are just going thru the early evening.
they still have the whole night to go thru
while we get to do our day.
will they lose someone,
so we have a chance to move up or increase our lead?
,
and i am watching japan with great interest
as they do it again;
lose some people early and fall off the pace,
only to stick at a certain number
until they have more runners than the teams around them
and make some insane charge.
.
but then,
every country in the backyard i feel a connection with.
working with the race directors, the team managers,and the runners
in my mind every one of those places is special.
so i care about what happens.
maybe that is why i dont want to miss a minute!
