hour 27 . it was not enough. we lost one this hour, and so did canada... . so much for the healing power of the morning! . only 4 teams remain intact now: hungary belgium france australia . there is a sense that the opening phase of the race is drawing to a close...

hour 26. . the backyard is without mercy. the clock stops for no one. . the number of perfect teams is down to 6. denmark lost 2 after the 25th yard. . here in tennessee under rainy skies we have one in trouble. he finished 25 just seconds before the final whistle and...

hour 25 . we have made it around the clock. everyone is back to the time they started. new zealand and australia are deep in the desperate hours of night. the next 5 or 6 hours will be a critical time for their teams. . japan and the southeat asians are heading into...

hour 24 ' this is the big hour, finally! . everyone who finishes this hour will have guaranteed themselves a spot on the at large list for the 2022-2023 season. . it looks like only 9 teams will make it to 24 hours unbroken, as sweden lost one in hour 23. i am making...

hour 23 . quick and short update this hour as i am hoping for a short nap... . according to the scoresheet iceland is clinging to their 6 yard lead, but are down a man to second place finland. finland is down a man to third place norway. austria is a single yard...

hour 22 . so we have our first team reaching the end. mauritius is down to one this hour, julien law hin chin; mauritius' national record holder and number one seed has only to complete the 22nd hour to secure the first golden ticket of the 2022 satellite...

hour 21 . at last we are beginning to close on that first 100 miles. . the small team competition is reaching a critical stage. any team that could stop the losses would move up rapidly, but the casualties continue to mount. . iceland's lead looked vulnerable when...

hour 20 . down to only 10 unscathed teams at most... . australia and sweden are late checking in, so it could be less. . portugal lost their number 2. . at this point 18 teams have lost 2 or fewer runners. . back in the small division iceland had a tough hour 19....

hour 19 . so the number of intact teams is down to 11. spain finally lost a runner. . it had been my thinking that the small country competition would provide excitement to help me survive the long first night. and indeed that has turned out exactly as expected. ....