the clock continues its relentless progress.
the yards pass by one by one.
the sun continues its slow journey across the sky.
soon it will start approaching the horizon.
this time of year the golden orb has moved far south in the sky
and the temperature will drop much sooner than it did during the summer.
the runners from northern climates will be grateful.
those from near the equator will start bundling up for the night.
one of the grateful runners will be torborn (toby) gyllebring from sweden.
toby is another of the old timers.
he ran here in the 2019 championship and was shocked by the trail.
athletes are athletes;
instead of discouraging him
the disappointment left him hungering for another shot.
in 2021 he qualified,
but was another victim of the travel ban.
toby never lost sight of his goal
and qualified yet one more time for 2023.
.
this is almost certainly his last shot.
an athlete can only stay at the top for so long.
it would be awfully hard not to pull for the grizzled viking.
yet another favorite in the field.
