This Rookie’s Race Report

2019 Last annual Vol State

Death warmed over

        Getting to the Rock is the goal and dream of most ultra runners!! Well, I was no different, If you are interested in how I selected this race as a comeback race and how I approached the preparation for the race, see the previous blog entry “How This Rookie Got to the Rock”.

          It was a long year of training (rehab and comeback) and the hardest part was the last two weeks leading up to the start of 2019 LAVS… After the work is done….the hay is in the barn, it's just waiting…. Let's just do this already!!  Well, like anything else, the day finally arrived and here we go.

          Made hotel reservations early in the year. The usual Motel 8 turned out to be booked up, but I had chosen Best Western, since my wife was spending the last night in Kimball with me. I also booked two other rooms, one in Martin, TN for July 11 and one in Huntingdon, TN for July 12 (optimistic I would be at mile 68 in 36 hrs).

          Went to the Airport in Chattanooga to pick up another LAVS runner Matt Frazier from Midland, MI.  I had volunteered to pick him up since it was on my way to Kimball…sort of.  We did a tour of Jasper and Tracy City to get a feel for the course. I am familiar with Jasper to the finish since I was raised within 10 miles of Castle Rock and have been across the blue bridge many times in my life. Actually remember the ferry that existed long before The Blue Bridge.  Kimball wasn’t called Kimball back when I was a kid, it was called “Dixie-Lee Junction” where the two highways met. But, politically, you can't say Dixie and Lee anymore. After some lunch at the local Mexican restaurant we settled into our rooms waiting on the “next to Last Supper” at the Chinese Restaurant.

          Matt and I agreed to leave for Castle Rock at 0600 to have plenty of time to park, mingle and get on the buses by 0700… If you are not aware… the buses leave at 07:00 not before or after and people have and will be left again if they are not on the bus at 0700!!!! This is not a school Field Trip!! We got all parked and walked up to the gates to Castle Rock ranch which is a private ranch on top of North sand Mountain. It is a gorgeous place and the folks are very kind and gracious to allow us runners to use it as a launching point towards the start and the finish at “The Rock”.

Matt and Me hanging at Castle Rock All day!

          As we walked up to the gates, even though this rookie had never been there before, something seemed very strange!!! There were NO BUSES!!! Ahh a slight delay, they will be along shortly… Well, seems there was mix-up, but they are on the way… We all cheered when we saw the top of the first….. Fed-EX truck!!! Lol false alarm…. Time passed… more info coming in, the bus company apparently had scheduled the buses for July 12, Friday! Hmmm Laz was very patient, working with the dispatcher to rectify this problem…. Ok!!! Buses available, but, need drivers… overnight trip…. Ok…Two large buses and drivers headed our way!!!! Screech!!!!!! Call comes in, one of the buses has broken down!!!! Yikes!!! Here are roughly 100 runners standing in the sun waiting on the long bus ride to Union City for the “Last Supper” and final briefing and a few hours of forced sleep before the next bus to the ferry ride at about 06:15 Thursday Morning.  Time marches on, the buses still a no show….. People are sent to town for lunch to be back by noon…. Some stayed and people brought food and drink. The folks at Castle Rock set up a garden hose for us to drink from and picked us fresh cucumbers from their garden. Time passes…. Laz delivers the Last Supper Briefing standing in the driveway under the rows of Bradford Pear trees. No one is complaining!!! If this had been a 5k or a half or full marathon… there would have been whining and tempers and people taking their ball and going home. Not these hardened ultra folks, they took advantage of the extra time to meet and talk with all the runners!! 11 hours pass and the buses finally arrive. We stop in Kimball for dinner, The “Last Supper” was pick a place and get you something. The bus ride was to follow the course in reverse, but now it's get to Union City as quick as we can. We arrive just before midnight, now 100 people to check in a hotel and find their roommates. Roomed with Veteran Tim Hardy…. He had an amazing story (comeback) in 2018. His feet were raw and he got behind Oprah… Finished ahead of her several hours… great story!!

I got a shower and in bed by midnight. Morning came too soon!!

The Ride to the Ferry

          Got up at 0500, got my gear and headed downstairs to get some of the free breakfast, I ate sausage and waffles and the last cup of coffee I would have until Linden at mile 124. The bus was to leave at 6:15!!! Guess what time??? 0615 This was not a school field trip!! We made the ferry before the departing time of 0700. We could see where all the flood water had been and there was mud everywhere. The ferry had been closed for months due to flooding and we Rookies were afraid we wouldn’t get to ride the ferry.  But, Laz pulled strings with the controllers of the Mississippi River and had the levels lowered just in time for the race (I can’t back this info up, so I may have made it up…but it sounded good ).

          We got on the ferry, but not before Carl Laniak took $2 from each runner for the ferry ride. The ride was pleasant and everyone was laughing and having a blast. There was a small pickup truck with a family riding across on the ferry and they asked what was going on… they never dreamed of a ferry load of nuts about to embark on a 314 mile foot race!! We docked on the Missouri side at Dorena Landing. The runners let the truck disembark first, then we slowly walked onto shore and stopped about 40 yards from the ferry landing. Laz took out a cigarette and as he watched his watch for the precise moment, lit the cigarette! The 2019 Last Annual Vol State 500k has started. We all made a mad dash to the ferry….. well, no we slowly walked and got back on. We crossed back to the Kentucky side to the Hickman landing. There the ferry landed, the gates opened and then we all ran off….. well, no… some of the front runners did take off as expected. But, most of the field started walking slowly, some briskly and some a shuffle and some a jog. Everyone started according to their plan.. Mine???? Start Slow….Then Taper Off!!!

Dorena Landing at the Start

The Road to Martin

I knew I wanted to be in Martin at the 12-hour check in (7pm July 11). The first town is Hickman KY, a small rural town, several turns and hills. I didn’t worry much about the turns, the runners were close enough so that I wouldn’t get lost. I knew as the day wore on, there would be fewer runners near me to follow. I had planned on making sure my 2L water bladder was filled at a marathon gas station going out of Hickman. I didn’t fill it initially, I figured it was going to be filled, so why carry 2 L then top it off. I used an extra water bottle to get that 3 miles or so. It was at that gas station, I met a runner whose name was familiar from the list but, I never had met. Joe Kowalski (this was his 3^rd Vol State). 

Enter "The Great Kowalski"

We said Hi and introduced ourselves to each other. Little did I know later this day, that Joe, better known as “The Great Kowalski”, and I would become good friends and run LAVS the rest of the way except for a few short periods (planned) of separation. I can now attest that Joe is not right!!!  Well, what Ultra Runner is??? I cruised  along and talked and met several other runners that I would leap frog with during the course of this race, this happens and friendships are made this way! I cruised into Union City, about 16.5 miles and stopped at Subway for lunch. I ate and sat outside to address what was my first blister on my right heel. The blister was caused from a previous blister I had in training which I had popped and drained and it was fully healed. However, the callous left (should have removed before this race) formed another blister. I caught it early, this was something I wanted to try and stay upon. Unlike running a marathon or 50k, just let it happen, fix it after the race and heal at home… I want to catch these early and address them before a major problem. I popped it, drained it, put as much Maximum strength desitin in the blister as possible. I made an island dressing using gauze and rocktape and then taped over it with rock tape. I never had any more issues with this blister, and it actually healed to the point during the race, I was able to remove the tape!! I left Union City, and it was just past the subway where I met up again with Joe Kowalski. He and I ran/walked the rest of the way to Martin together. As we were entering Martin, we met up a short ways with John Price (for those who don’t know John, he has done this race at least a dozen times and twice after he finished, went back the other way and finished. He wrote the guide book that most of the runner use. It lists mileage, turns and facilities such as hotels, food water etc. A must have for the race!!) Joe and I split from John at Pizza Hut, John wanted Burger King. Joe and I got a Pizza each and headed to the Days Inn….. 12 hr check-in was 29 miles. There we met up with another great guy, Jason DuPont from Savannah…. Once we found out he wasn’t of the rich DuPont’s we cut him loose… lol We kidded him about that. We would meet Jason again for a short period. He truly was a Road Warrior and look forward to hearing the story of his great finish. We talked about leaving Martin by 0030. It was 2100 before we got into bed. I think I slept an hour and a half. It was at this point I realized that the ChafeX wasn’t working against chaffing. I had used it for months in training, but first day at LAVS, I chaffed. I had a backup, TwoToms Sports Shield roll-on. Worked great and will be with me from now on!!

John Price and Me

Martin to Gleason

We left the hotel and crossed the street to an all night convenience store for some supplies for night. I had lost my red bandana somewhere after Union City. Just so happened the store had two bandanas. A pink one and a checkered one. I pondered a moment and being a Rookie at Vol State, I could see the nickname of pink Bandana Lyda.. So I opted for the Yasser Arafat one. It would last until Linden where I lost it>>> I really like it too!! McDonalds had opened the dining area just for the runners this night. It was locked but, they let us in and we got couple of egg McMuffins. Eat one on the way and one for later. As we are leaving, we remembered what John Price had told us the night before, leave town on the right hand side of the road, there are no sidewalks on the left. We are migrating to the right side when we hear someone shout at us, it's John Price. This is the second time I've run into him not to be the last either. We traveled together a ways, and John knows all the places to rest, sleep, eat everything. We separated and Joe and I were out on the road again alone. It was about Dresen, making the left hand turn onto PikeView when I had an incredible urge to help fertilize the forest leading into Dresden. (warning: this may be TMI, lol) But, I hit the woods and did the business, instead of using my limited toilet paper I chose to use napkins and the McMuffin wrapper. The napkins worked great and the wrapper worked to lube the undercarriage. Enough about that!

          The goal (we set mini-goals along the way) was to get to Gleason by check-in. We rolled through Dresden without incident and kept going through the night. As we neared the check-in time, we saw we were not going to make the Gleason Fire station. We checked in at 46 miles (24 hr), just short of the Fire Hall.

          The Fire Station is a famous Road Angel Stop… It has cots, food, showers, mats and friendly faces. We stayed and rested about an hour or so. One note….While walking/running time passes slowly, but rest stops, the time is chewed up twice as fast!!! It is really hard to get it all in one sock to leave these places. Next time, I must work on…stopping, get ready to leave before I rest. Get everything fixed (feet, pack, water etc.) Rest, then get up and move. I feel several hours was lost at the many stops we took, gathering and starting to move!!!

Gleason to Huntingdon

          We left Gleason with the intention of getting to Huntingdon by the 36-hour check-in. Vol State has other ideas that are not revealed until you are actually engaged (or in its teeth). I had reserved 2 hotel rooms along the way, one was Martin, the other was Huntingdon. Martin, I felt that it was important to be there in the first 12 hrs, simply because past history said this is where most of the middle pack runners stop the first 12 hrs. The second, Huntingdon, I was on the fence about. Friends encouraged me to reserve it weeks in advance, I didn’t want the pressure of having to make it because of $$$. Looking back, this was the right call….stressful but, the right call.

          The hotel in Huntingdon was about 20 miles from Gleason. 20 miles in the day!! There is a small town in between, McKenzie. At the leading edge of McKenzie there is a gas station to refuel, about 7 miles of rural roads. The Tennessee July sun was doing its thing!!! This was the beginning of one of the hottest stretches of the course. A few miles out of Gleason, we ran into Jason DuPont (not from the rich DuPont’s) again. We came up on him sitting in the shade and had a young cat with him. I commented to Joe, we needed a cat. Jason, got up and joined us. About that time, some dogs came out at us barking, I was ahead of Joe and Jason and saw the dogs going after the cat!!! Jason was brilliant!! Using a cat as a decoy for the dogs!!! I have to remember this tactic next time!! Jason was running low of water, we stopped in a driveway and Jason asked a lady sitting in her yard across the road if he could fill his bottles from the garden hose. She was very friendly and happy to help, she gave him ice also. I realized my 2 L bladder was about empty!!! I had gone through more water than I had realized, so, across the road I went. I filled the bladder and she offered me ice. I declined as the lady couldn’t walk so good and it meant a trip back into the house. As my Dad always told me back working in the fields of the farm, its not that cold, but its wet… good enough for me!! We talked to another man from the house whose driveway we rested in, he said McKenzie was 3 miles (long 3 miles!!! Thought he might have been wrong, but just seemed longer) I was out in the lead again, not that I was faster, just had my head down pushing through the mid day heat. As I entered McKenzie, a couple guys came by in a truck and gave me cold water. I asked them, please don’t lie, but how far was the gas station, they said half of mile. Fairly accurate. As I approached the gas station, which also was a turn, I saw a small barbeque place. I opted to go in because it had tables and chairs and A/C. I wasn’t really big on a greasy lunch, but I did want to sit in the cool a bit. Joe and Jason caught up with me, we sat for a while. Jason ordered Barbeque, I ordered a smoked baloney sandwich with all the fixings!!! The best I have ever had (was it just Vol State??) I plan on driving there one day for lunch!!!

Best Baloney sandwich in McKenzie 

          Jason and Joe made the decision to stop in McKenzie. They started to look for hotels. They weren’t having much luck. I had one waiting in Huntingdon, another 12 miles in this heat. I had made the decision about Huntingdon, that I would not let the fact that I had $ invested push me beyond my limits. I sat a while and decided if Joe and Jason got a room, I'd try to cancel mine in Huntingdon  and stay in McKenzie. They were not having any luck. So after a rest, I pushed on alone. Joe had said, he would find a place to rest a bit and try to get to Huntingdon before I left. I left McKenzie not knowing if I would ever see my new friends again. The road between McKenzie to Huntingdon is long, hot and not a lot of places to refuel or get water. Be aware of this if you do this race!!! I was strolling along the Old McKenzie highway, I saw the New Hope Baptist Church. I saw a runner was already under the front porch. As I approached, it was John Price again. We sat a while, and he shared some info as to what was ahead (not much). He was looking forward to either the city hall or police department at Huntingdon. He left before I was ready but I would catch him again just before Huntingdon, just in time for a Road Angel who set up on the side of the road with chairs and water. The large bus provided the only shade. It was an employee at a mental health facility who borrowed the bus and had to return it at 5pm. We sat there until it was time to pack up. John and I pushed on, now it was a matter of a couple of miles now. John stopped where he was shooting for and I entered Huntingdon. It seemed like I would never get into the downtown, where Mallards restaurant was. I was looking forward to a sit down meal. On the long trek to the downtown, I came across Sergio and Tom Skinner sitting on a rock wall. I sat with them a minute or two, then I pushed on. I finally got to Mallards. It is slightly off the main course but only a building or two. I walked in, there was many of the Huntingdon residents, dressed up eating their Friday evening meal. Enters…stinky, sweaty, grungy, homeless looking man. I was greeted as if I was dressed in my finest!! I ordered steak, baked potato salad with a hamburger to go.

The Vol State Sandwich Heater

 I checked in at 36 hours in downtown Huntingdon, not the hotel as planned. Close enough! As I sat on the courthouse square checking in, I saw a runner, actually running around the courthouse a couple of times looking at his phone. I asked him, was he playing Pokémon??? He said no, he was trying to find the course. I pointed to the street to my left and the last I saw of him, he was headed that way. I migrated towards the hotel, about a mile farther. In fact it was a mile, didn’t seem far at all. I guess a good meal and cooling off helps. I checked in the Heritage Inn right behind Dallas Smith. I sat in the lobby while he checked in. The lady offered us anything off the breakfast bar since we would be leaving in a matter of hours. I got checked in, and got a text from Joe. Remember, I had left him for dead in McKenzie!!! He was on his way to Huntingdon and should be there before midnight. Great!! I set my alarm for 11 to make sure I wouldn’t miss him. He arrived a few minutes after my alarm. I had slept about 2 hours when he got there. We set the alarm again for another couple of hours. The alarm went off, we loaded up and headed out. We stopped at a small gas station in Clarksburg, as we approached, the owner came out with two cups of ice water!! He was an ordained minister, very nice, friendly man. He invited us to take as much room at the tables he had to relax a bit. We had sausage and biscuits and off we went. At the check in time of 48 hours (77 miles) we had made it a little past Clarksburg. 

Clarksburg to Lexington

          It was about this time, I realized, that my scripted plan for Vol State was falling behind a bit. I had planned on Huntingdon in 36 hours. I did that, but the next 12 hours was to find me in Lexington. I was a bit short. I really in the back of my mind hoped I could follow my plan, but in actuality, figured the first 48 hours was about a far as the plan was good for. I was right. But, this was expected, so it was not a big disappointment. We knew we had a lead on Oprah, and as long as we could neutralize her “16 miles” each 12 hour period and add a little more cushion, we would be ok. As the race went on, we played this numbers game with her. We were willing to give her back a few miles in return for some quality rest and food!

          We stopped in Parkers Crossroads and ate at McDonalds and filled upon water. There we met a couple who had quit and hitched a ride to Parker’s and spent the night in a hotel. After the rest, the girl wanted to continue if her boyfriend could crew her. They called Laz, but since they rode, they were officially "out".  As we were leaving Parker’s we ran into Clay Vick, He had quit at Parker’s and was walking back toward us, he looked great. The night's rest rejuvenated him. I wish he could have found a way to continue and not dropped. He has finished it several times.

          We had a cooler day, with some cloud cover. We made pretty good time. We heard of a Methodist Church in Lexington that has opened its doors to runners. It was organized by Beth Hosick who lives in Lexington and 2018 LAVS finisher! She knows what we needed!! It is in Lexington where the Vol Stater makes the big turn eastward in the race. This is where you feel, you are headed in the right direction. As we approached the turn, we saw dark clouds mounting. A man was in his yard clearing out a storage unit and had miscellaneous items on the curb for the garbage man. In that pile of trash, a book caught our eye!! Was this one of Laz’s tricks??? Like Barkley Marathons where each runner finds a book, tears the page # of his bib number to prove they were at that check point?? The books usually have some demonic, tortuous title!! This book title was “Where The Dead Lay” …. Coincidence?? 

We got to the church and as we got inside, the sky opened up!! Great timing!  We fixed our feet, washed off a bit, and tried to sleep. The church had opened its Family Life Center (gym). The pastor (Chris) was on hand and was very supportive of bringing in people in need. We tried to sleep, but with runners coming in and out, it was too noisy. This is where we started our association with a couple of other runners that we would run with for short periods and leap frog the rest of the race. Chris Kane, he had found a picture of Flat Jesus that another runner had started with, so Chris made it his mission to make sure Flat Jesus would make it to the rock and then returned to his rightful owner Fred Davis, III! Chris was having blister issues. Also, there was Kim Atkins. She had served in the Air Force and was doing great at LAVS. Joe and I decided to push on, it wasn’t hardly check in, so we left in a light drizzle, using our sun umbrellas for double duty, rain protection. We checked in at 60 hours at 92 miles.

I can’t remember exactly where issues of the feet arose. All I know was I wanted to be on top of them before they were critical. As I stated earlier, the right foot gave very little trouble and the heel blister healed during the race and the right foot was tape free at the end. The left foot was a bit different. The left foot along Lexington developed 3 blisters around a callous from previous training blister. I had drained it and put desitin (zinc oxide to dry it) in the blister. Along the way, these blisters along with the callous skin became so large. The callous skin became very saturated and thick and was beginning to cause further issues. I made the decision to de-roof these blisters. I took my sharp scissors and cut the roofs off of the partially healed blisters. De-roofing is not really recommended except when the roofs start creating issues. After de-roofing, I sanitized it with Benzoin tincture for two purposes. One to prevent infection, the second to allow tape to stick. I then applied a DynaDerm^TM  Hydrocolloid Dressing. It is designed to go against raw flesh and add cushion, allow healing while sealing and guarding against infection. I taped over the dressing with Rock Tape. This was the last pain or problem I had out of this cluster of blisters for the duration. I changed that dressing once more. It never hurt or slowed me. It really looked bad at the end, but never gave me any problems. Sometimes, people get squeamish at the sight of things and assume they are painful or that you are really doing damage to yourself. The rest of the way, minor blisters on the edge of the balls of my feet and between the big toes. Popped them and kept them clean… no issues. IMPORTANT!!!! IF YOU PLAN ON DOING VOL STATE, STUDY UP ON FOOT AND BLISTER CARE. CARRY A GOOD FOOT CARE KIT, KNOW HOW TO USE IT!!!

Lexington to Tennessee River

          As I said, slightly out of Lexington when we checked in. We began a cool evening, rain slacked off so we felt blessed to have such great conditions. We felt we could be to the Tennessee River (mile 113) by the 72-hour check in. So through the night we pushed on. This part of the journey began to start a period of where my memory was either affected or it was not that memorable? We went through Chesterfield, so small I don’t remember. We hit a low spot, seems we were dragging. We kept moving, ate some snacks and passed through Darden.  We came into Parsons. It was middle of the night, not sure of the time. We found a Real Estate office that had a front porch with very plush padded chairs and couch. Joe took the chair and I the couch. A few minutes of sleep!! Joe woke me, that a pit bull was barking at us. I heard the dog and never looked at him… I figured if we weren’t bit by now, he was harmless. So after a few minutes of the dog going from end to end of the porch… he left…. A bit more sleep.. We got up and moved one. I told Joe, the next time you hallucinate about a pit bull, don’t let him bark…. It kept me awake!!! We would encounter one more aggressive dog though!!! A small miniature poodle came to the edge of the road once, we were able to talk him back into the yard!!! Lol.  We had gotten report of aggressive dogs all along, we never encountered them. A dog will bark, that’s not aggression, people.  Guess we were lucky or perhaps the dogs luck out! I have a special way with dogs!!

          We laid down on the side of the road a few miles before the Tennessee River. We napped a bit, saw some really cool cloud formations, the picture didn’t do it justice.

 

Cool Clouds

 We passed the Pine Tree motel and a small settlement. Joe had to fertilize the woods here. This was where some dogs decided, they needed to bark and investigate the disturbance. Huge dog and a small mouthy one. Neither a threat. We were about to buy out of a vending machine, when the owner came and opened the store. We bought several snack items and some cold coffee product. By this time the dog pack had made its way to the store, and the owner came out and fed them. We asked about them he said they come by and he treats them, they wander the neighborhood, but wasn’t a threat. We crossed the Tennessee River and made it to Fat Man’s at the 72-hour check in (113 miles). Got a call from my wife, she was getting ready for church and wanted an update from me. We ate some sandwich there, got some snacks. Stayed about 45 minutes and pushed on towards Linden.

Tennessee River 113 mi 

Me and my Yasser Arafat Bandana 

Tennessee River to Linden

The road from the Tennessee river starts a steep climb. The road is crooked, narrow, no shoulders and on a Sunday morning has the traffic and speed of an interstate. We did several calculations along the way. If a car is traveling west on a road at 70 mph and another car is traveling east at 65 mph, where will the two cars meet?? They will meet at the narrowest point on the road, in the curve where the Vol State runner is located. The calculations couldn’t be replicated, but this happened too many times not to have some scientific basis!!! You had to laugh or it would frustrate you!!

          Along the road to Linden, a road angel Pam, came along and in a driveway on the international speedway to Linden, served us mountain dew, water and sandwiches. She also had some sort of Pasta salad, I wish I had eaten, but didn’t. We left our road angel and continued on this narrow road. We came up a large hill and then a descent into the town of Linden. We were hoping of crashing a bit at the Commodore hotel, but word was, it was all full, mid-afternoon, no one leaving anytime soon. But, word was the Town of Linden had opened the Welcome Center. Taking it easy down the long hill, didn’t want to pull a hammy or tear a leg off or anything that might complicate the journey!! Halfway down the hill, I realized, I had dropped my Yasser Arafat bandana!! I actually considered looking for it for about 10 seconds and I came to my senses. We cruised into town, ran into Joshua Swink, US Army vet, LAVS vet. Great guy!! He was looking for the Welcome Center too. After a short search, we located it. A/C, food, water, sheets, chairs. Slept on tile floor, but it was a safe haven. A good recharging station. We crashed an hour or so, went to a local grocery store. Bought a deli plate lunch and some clif bars for the road. We went back to the Welcome Center, ate and saw Mr Swink off on his journey. We rested some more, looked at weather, it was raining a bit now. There were two ladies manning the Welcome center, by this time the night shift had arrived. She was so curious as to how to assist next year. Had a little coffee before we left. As we left town, we did the 84-hour check in with 125 miles.

Linden to Hohenwald

          As we left Linden, it was a steep climb out. The rain had started coming down pretty hard! As we walked up the steep incline waves of water came rushing into our shoes, this could be trouble!! We made our way through the rainy night, pieces of road kill splattered on you by passing trucks on this dark, wet narrow road. We decided to take a quick nap, Joe and I found a driveway, he laid out his ground cloth. We laid down with our umbrellas covering the major body parts. But, it wasn’t enough, our rear ends got soaked, we realized after a 10 minute doze, it was better to move on. We had heard of a road angel outside Hohenwald, had opened up their car port to runners. If we could get there, we could maybe dry the feet and see how much damage this soaking had caused. I became really concerned about my feet. I could feel them soaked, water logged, soft, sore and I imagined the flesh ripping off of them. I had pictured the whole bottoms would be loose like I had seen pictures of Tim Hardy’s feet from last year!! So, I adjust my pace, yes, I found a lower gear and was going even slower hoping not to damage the feet. Joe stayed in eyesight for a while, and we would occasionally exchange light flashes to let each other know we were still vertical and moving. This soon quit as Joe moved farther ahead. My hopes were he would find the road angel and make sure I didn’t Zombie right past it. This is what happened, He waited in the driveway to make sure I found it. It was great, food, water, lounge chairs, fan cover. DRY!!!! My feet were wet but undamaged! Kim Atkins was already there,  I don’t know if we bothered her or not, She was gone when we woke. We slept for a couple of hours. When we woke, Kim was gone and someone else was in the lounge chair. After investigation, it was Chris Kane. We spoke briefly. Dry and recharged, we left again, Chris sleeping, Kim ahead somewhere. As we came in to the town of Hohenwald, the call of nature hit me in a big way!!!  I was looking for a place, a side road, a bush, something!! I saw a nice building on the left, Tennessee College of Applied Technology.  I went inside and found a restroom while Joe found an empty room. While I was in the restroom a gentleman of the school saw me. I found Joe and he found what appeared to be a small conference room. We kicked back, looking at feet, snacks and just a break. The school official found us, and asked us if we needed anything. I really thought he was going to toss us out. He was the Assistant Director there and told us to stay as long as we needed and if we needed anything, let him know. We didn’t stay long, but checked in at the 96 hour mark with 142 miles.

Hohenwald to Hampshire

          We entered the main town of Hohenwald, there is an elephant sanctuary there, go figure? We made our way through town and farther on into town we stopped at a McDonalds for some breakfast sandwiches and some to go. We refilled water and left. A bit down the road, Joe realized he had left his hat, too far to go back, he decided to stop at a Dollar General and buy one. I went on, not sure if we would see each other again. I felt a need to keep moving forward. As I was leaving town, I decided to stop at a Veterinarian office to get off the feet a while and get more water. As I was laying on the front porch, I got a text from Joe. I told him where I was at, and about that time I heard his voice dictating a text. He was across the street. We rested there a bit. Joe had bought a couple of bandana and a Carl Laniak hat (it was a hat very similar to one that Carl has worn in the past, lol). The only other stop along the way is the Natchez trace campground. That was our mini-goal for now. We pushed on, cloudy a sprinkle or two. We saw an overpass and discussed stopping for a bit, but realized the campground was not much farther. We got to the campground and saw a picnic pavilion. As we walked under the pavilion, the sky opened up again!! Good timing again!! Wasn’t long, a road angel came by. It was Pam from just before Linden. She had sandwiches and assorted drinks and water. We talked about the rain and Joe losing the hat. She made sure we had all the food we needed, and left us. We rested a bit, then saddled up and headed towards Hampshire. Word was, a food truck was there with great food, and a road angel had their patio opened for runners. It is a long climb up a new road, we ran into Don Brown, the crew for Don Winkley (past King of The Road). He was following along and just stopped to say hi. I'm sure crewing alone can get boring. He told us of a patch of the (old) road ahead that marked the halfway point. We soon found it and celebrated it by marking the side of the road by peeing.  Mere coincidence it happened here. We finally reached the peak and started the decent into Hampshire on a narrow two-lane road. There was urgency in our mini-goal, not just to make Hampshire before check in, but the food truck was leaving at 7. We rested one time on the roadside before we got to Hampshire. We entered the small town, not much was there. We found the road angel house, and hurried to buy food. I bought a smoked brisket plate!! Great!! We ate and addressed our foot issues. They had a pool to soak our feet in. We had caught up with Kim Atkins again. She had had an encounter that day with a drunk trying to pick her up. We all got ready to sleep and Don Winkley and Don Brown showed up.We chatted a while and they went to the car to sleep. We checked in at 108 hours with 164 miles. We bedded down on the patio in chase loungers an a couch.  Not sure exactly when, but Chris Kane came in. The road angel had secured some of the food from the food truck for late arriving runners. We left Hampshire in the night. Kim went with Joe and I. I guess after the episode that day, a little company at night was in order. We left Chris asleep.

Hampshire to Columbia

          We must have spent more time at Hampshire than we realized. I don’t remember much about the walk out of Hampshire to Columbia. We walked into Columbia, and as we went downtown, the road was under construction. Cars everywhere. We went into middle of the road where it was barricaded, much safer! We went around the courthouse and making our way through Columbia when we checked in at 120 hours at 172 miles. Only 8 miles in that 12 hours. Memory lapse of where the time went, only thing is we stayed longer in Hampshire than we thought. Our next goal was “Bench of Despair” and on to the Nutt House!!

Columbia to Mile 188 (Nutt House)

          The weather has turned hot again, with intermittent showers. We made our way out of Columbia, We were on route 50 (New Lewisburg highway).  Seemed like forever, looking for the “Bench of Despair” at the now defunct Glendale Market (where Vol Staters of past had lunch on the trip to Union City). We sat on a hot guardrail for one minute, and here comes Jan, the meat wagon mistress trolling for bodies!!! We jump up and looked alive. She wasn’t going to have us today!! We take a right turn on the Culleoka highway and soon come to the Glendale Market. It was closed, but the ice box outside was open with ice in it and foot care supplies. Chris Kane catches up, with us, Kim heads out before we are ready to go. Chris leaves before we do. We rest a spell and head off to the Nutt house about 3 miles up the road. We finally get there, and Chris is kicked back in a hammock, Kim in lawn chairs. We get in the shelter and pull our shoes off. Again, a heavy shower begins, runs Chris into the tent. Rain didn’t last long. I took a shower in a makeshift tent with hot and cold running water and rinse out my clothes. We crashed a couple of hours, the Nutts had hamburgers and pie with assorted drinks. Great family!! We did our 132-hour check in, recording 188 miles. Over halfway and past the “Bench of Despair” The Lore of Vol State, “The Bench of Despair” a place where if a person makes it, they are likely going to finish. No guarantees, but mentally a boost!! We said goodbye to Jan the meat wagon mistress, she was leaving to participate in a long bike race. She was always helpful, encouraging and did not want to pick you up! Thanks Jan!! Kim left the Nutts before Joe and I. As we parted The Nutts, they encouraged us that no one leaves the Nutt house and doesn’t finish!! They increased our chances for sure!!

Bench of Despair

Chris Kane

Mile 188 (Nutt House) to Lewisburg

          As we left Culleoka, Joe stopped at a store. I didn’t understand why, we had just left the Nutts?? I walked on, not sure if I’d see him again. As I walked on, I stopped to eat and rest at a gas station next to Interstate 65, it wasn’t long Joe then Chris caught back up. Vol State has a strange way to keep people together or apart. You can leap frog people all through the course and also be within yards of people and never see them. It’s the same situation on the Camino de Santiago. We had heard about a road angel in Lewisburg,  So we pushed on. About a mile down the road, the sky opened up. It was time I broke out the 99 cent poncho!!! HINT: If you buy one, know how it works and can put it on in a Thunderstorm!!! We stopped on the side of the road across from a state trooper parked with his headlights shining on us. Chris assisted me in figuring out how to do all this holding an umbrella. Nice he helped the old guy out!! Lol I’m sure the state trooper got a good laugh at that scene!!  (Training suggestion: stand in a car wash with a friend spraying you with high-pressure water as you put on a 99-cent poncho.  That was the scene out there!)

          We went on and got into Lewisburg, rain had slowed down but not stopped. We found the road angel house. She offered food, water, but all we wanted was a dry place to sleep. We were offered a closed in carport with a chair and two mattresses on the floor. We fell asleep in minutes. Joe and I set the alarm for a couple of hours. It passed quick, the rain was still pouring down. It would have been real easy to say I’m sleeping in! But, we couldn’t. Since my feet were dry and about to go out in a monsoon, I figured the best thing to do was lather my feet with Desitin. Desitin is not good for DryMax socks!!! It did ruin them, but saved my feet. The socks were worn out and I threw them away when I got to Kimball. We checked in as we were leaving Lewisburg at 144 hours with 206 miles. We waded thru water leaving town, stopped at a gas station and bought snacks and used the bathroom.  We also noted that the cars were speeding through the "No-Wake" zones.  We ran into the couple Mark and Beth Budden. We had encountered them a couple of times along the way. They had just checked out of the Celebration Inn. As we were leaving town, we passed a Veterinary Office …. There was a dead horse laying in the front waiting for animal disposal services?? This is horse country!! We ran into Don Winkley and Don Brown again. We all began our march towards Shelbyville.  We all had different paces, along the way, Joe and I caught a glimpse up ahead of a runner with a serious lean. Walking with the aid of a stick. As we got closer, we saw it was the great Richard Westbrook. A veteran with many finishes, in fact last year, he broke a toe before the start and finished anyway…Tough as nails!!!

          We caught him and talked and walked a while. He got a spasm in the back and had found a curtain rod and was using it as a walking stick. Later, I found out he lost it, and a runner found it later. I’m not sure what he used to the finish!! We passed him and got to Pit Stop Market, a favorite stop of Vol Staters, so I have read. We stopped for a meal, a hamburger steak platter, with baked potato and baked beans and salad and ice tea!!! We had started eating and Richard came in and joined us. We ate and rested a bit, bought some snacks and drinks and loaded up and left again, I'm sure Richard left shortly after us. We were just shy of Bedford 215-ish miles. Our mini-goal was Shelbyville, as far as we could by check in. We made it to the gas station as you go out of Shelbyville by check in time. We have now entered the race where we have less than 100 miles to go. To a normal runner, that seems like a long way, but a twisted minded ultra runner will say, I can do that in 30 hours on a good day, after 215, may take a little while longer. We checked in hour 156 with 226 miles, achieving 20 hard-earned miles during the last 12-hour period.

Shelbyville to Manchester

          We are leaving Shelbyville as it is cooling a bit. Chris and Kim went on ahead. They make Wartrace before the gas station closes, they buy us a bag of ice, knowing we won't get there by the time the store closes. Along this route, we hear of aggressive dogs, we did not encounter any. We entered Wartrace with the info that there were coolers with water. If there were any, we did not find them. I was out of water. Now in the middle of the night, finding water….hmmm. Chris and Kim was resting in the Post Office, we had passed it, they had our ice. So, we did the unthinkable, backtrack to the PO. We met up with them, and Joe filled my water bladder with ice (as I laid there whining like a baby) [ps..that was Joe's edit].  That would prove to be the only water I would have until we get to the Whispering Oaks campground.  Lifesaver!!

          We all napped in the PO, Chris and Kim left before Joe and I. We stayed about a couple hours more. Got some decent sleep. We woke and decided we needed to move. We cleaned up behind us to make sure no one got locked out or give Vol Staters a bad rep!! We picked up a jar of pickles that Chris had bought and put them in the garbage. As we walked out the door, we decided that a pickle would be good about now!! So, we went back and dug the jar out of the garbage and had a pickle. It sounds much cooler when you tell your friends, that “I slept in a Post Office and ate pickles out of the garbage” It just paints a better picture for the people who think you are crazy to start with!! Lol

          As we get back to the town center of Wartrace, there lying in a doorway was Richard. He fussed about us making so much noise. I smacked him on the leg and told him good luck and keep after it!! We pressed on out of Wartrace along the Strolling Jim course. Care must be taken here, if you miss a turn out in the country, then you take the Strolling Jim option and do the 41-mile course before you get back to your turnoff. We made our turn and onto a backroad called Knob Creek Road, and somewhere at the county line it turns into Sixteen Model Road??? Go figure!! This road leads through the countryside to highway 41. As you climb up this road, I noticed the camber was terrible!!! We would swap sides to help this but very noticeable. Just after we made 41, we walked a while and it started getting daylight. Daylight and sunrise are special times on Vol State course, you feel like a new start!! We stopped in a driveway and rested a while, before we made it to Whispering Oaks campground. Kim and Chris were there asleep. We got food and drink and napped a while. We took a shower, and just rinsed the clothes off. Wrung them out and put them on, felt pretty good. We checked in hour 168 with 244 miles. We loaded up with water and snacks and headed towards Manchester.

Whispering Oaks Campgrounds

Whispering Oaks (244) to Hillboro

          We leave Whispering Oaks, which is listed in Manchester. It was a great stop, wish I could have spent a little more rest there. But by now we are starting to hear The Rock calling!! We go through the town and stopped at a gas station and bought an old sandwich, the lettuce was brown. Ate it anyway, I needed calories. I felt like, I didn’t ever eat enough, but I’m just not used to eating in excess (well, almost never). As we leave I feel my right shin just above my ankle start a spasm. I'm pretty sure it was from the camber of the road earlier. It was painful and I was expecting it to lock up any minute. OK, close to 250 miles and the wheels are wobbling!! We press on, and I know Joe is ready to dump me, I'm holding him back I know. We stop at a McDonalds further on in town and I get some ice in a baggie, and a packet of mustard. Mustard is a go to for me when I get cramps, it's an old trick that Bear Bryant used back in the 60-70‘s at Alabama, any player get a cramp, the trainer would shove a spoonful of mustard in their mouth. After about 5 minutes, my ankle felt better. So we head out of Manchester. At this time, we had heard of a road angel in Pelham that had chairs, drinks, food, water. That was our next mini-goal. The road from Manchester Pelham is about 17 miles. Not many stops between. One place called Hillboro had a grocery store that made sandwiches. We made it to the store, they were friendly but weren’t just offering help, and I shouldn’t have expected it. So, Joe goes in, buys a can of Chicken chow mein and two baking pans and a bag of ice and a gallon of water. He also got them to heat up the Chow mein!! I asked them for chairs, they gave me a stool and a folding chair, we took them in the front of the store, sat them on the sidewalk, ate our Chow mein and iced our feet in the baking pans…..AHHHHHH! We finished our meal, I bought some eye drops because I was out. My eyes (I wear contacts) constantly was getting dry and I would squirt them to keep them moist. I bought a few snacks and drink to get me to the road angel about 10 more miles. As we were going to Pelham, we ran out of time before check in. We were somewhere between Hillsboro and Pelham. Joe and I both had GPX files, but his showed mile markers, came in handy!! We checked in at hours 180 at 263 mile marker. We were beat!! Still not to the road angel house. We laid down in a very nice and smooth drive way!! NOTE: If you have a paved driveway, please keep loose gravel off of it. That defeats the purpose of the paving! Just an observation!!  Took a quick nap (doze really) that really helps. While we were there a car stopped and told us of the road angel station. It was this man’s daughter and he was out spreading the word. We rested only a short time and went on to Pelham. 

Best Driveway of Vol State

We found the road angel house, the lady’s name was Paige. She had a couple of little girls about the age of my granddaughter. They were not happy and needed attention. We told her to take care of the babies, we could manage, she had done plenty. We ate some of the food, I don’t remember what it was but it was needed and good. We also drank some Gatorade and water. We were about to sack out in some chairs when she said, there were cushions from an old couch on the porch with some sheets. We threw those on the porch and before long, were sacked out!! We set the clock for a couple of hours, the clock went off and we both got up. We refilled with water and took some snacks. We headed out from there with the intention of not stopping until we reach the rock. Her house was mile mark 266, so we started a 48 mile push.

Pelham to Tracy City

          We left Pelham and could see the various little cafés that might have been open during the day. We began the long trek towards Monteagle. A 3-mile climb up highway 41, we stopped at the foot and rested in another driveway. I thought I could hear a radio playing in box near the entrance. Yeah, may be crazy, but I heard a radio playing in the fan at the road angel carport in Hohenwald too! Lol

          We started our climb up the mountain, a very pleasant night, little traffic and the hike wasn’t really bad. I enjoyed it. We got to the top and entered Monteagle, stopped at a business on the left just as we got into town. We were resting and saw Don Winkley and another runner pass. They never saw us. We rested a while and pressed on.  We stopped at a vending machine to pick up a cold drink, when we ran into Don Brown (Don Winkley’s crew). We chatted a minute and discussed where we had been when they passed and missed us.  We went on into Tracy City and it was getting close to check in time. We stopped at a gas station, bought a breakfast sandwich and some drinks. Loaded my bladder with ice and water. Went to a laundry mat next door to lay down. The laundry mat was the quietest place we had been in since the start. It was totally silent!!! Don Brown found us and came by to tell of his misadventure of hitting a hole and how he had to fix it on the road. He left, we checked in at hour 192 with 280 miles.

Tracy City to Kimball

We started out for Kimball via Jasper, down Highway 41, the worst stretch of road (IMO) of Vol State. The rumble strips/shoulder can't be avoided, and traffic won't let you walk in the road. In fact, it was along this stretch a Deputy stopped us and said there was a complaint that runners were in the road. He advised us, that he had to answer all complaints, even though he didn't suspect we were trouble-makers. We assured him we were not on the road when cars passed. He also told us, this was the most deadly road in the state…. I believe him.. 70 mph cars. Decent road, but not an interstate. As I ran Vol State and admired the roads that had lots of shoulder (only the larger roads) I wondered why there are not much shoulder on roads. I guess being at one with Vol State for so long, the answers to mysteries just come to you. The reason there are no shoulders on roads, is people no longer walk or bike to get anywhere. So, it makes no financial sense to have excess road (shoulders for walking) for a very small number of people who still walk and run. This is the WAL (World According to Larry).

The climb up Monteagle and "The Drop" to Jasper

          From Tracy City to Jasper is a very long stretch!! From where we ate breakfast in Tracy City to the Mountain Mart (listed in Jasper and is on top of the mountain just before The Drop) is 10 miles. There is really nothing in between, other than rumble strips and no shoulders, oh yeah….traffic. Somewhere about midway, a local had put a chair and a couple of coolers on a bank on the side of the road. This was a welcome sight, not much shade but to refresh on this long stretch was great! A brief stop there and off we go, the pull of The Rock is getting stronger! Soon, we came up on the Mountain Mart store. It’s the last chance for a break and food before you start The Drop! The Drop is the long downhill (mountain) into Jasper.We stopped at the Mountain Mart for drinks, some food, cool off and resupply. Then we started the downhill!!! This part of the course wore my shins and feet out. It winds down the mountain for miles….I said MILES! I didn’t measure it, but my best estimate is at least 4 miles of winding, no shoulder roads with lots of traffic. I came down in the heat of the day, which complicated it a bit. I took caution as to not go to fast, because it is a great place to tear or pull something. I guess this holding back is what made this stretch seem long and beat me up some. My feet hurt more after this stretch than any other. Was it the cumulative miles? The steep terrain? One neat experience while coming down this stretch was at the 3 mile marker on the road, a large Bobcat ran across the road, stopped looked around and then disappeared on the other side. Very neat seeing this animal in the wild. As I kept going down and down, all I could think of was the road angel house of Steve Smalling, a Chattanooga Track club member and has a station just at the base of The Drop and before the turn into downtown Jasper. I finally made it to Steve’s behind Joe, he was much faster on the downhill than me. Steve, had water, powerade, clif bars and lots of chairs in his drive way. I laid down a while and Steve drove up the road to see if there were other runners coming. The next thing I knew, Steve was slamming his truck door and had come back! I guess I was out for 30 minutes or so. We loaded up on water and started out for Super 8 in Kimball. Joe was working on getting us a room to dump stuff, rest and make the final push up Sand Mountain. We got to Kimball Super 8, check in went swift. We dumped all the unnecessary gear, just the essentials to navigate up Sand Mountain to the The Rock.  We spread towels on the bed and laid down, for a 5-minute nap. That short rest was needed and welcomed. We gathered our things and headed out. As we were leaving the motel, Sherry Meador was outside and cheering the runners on as they passed through. She told us to “Keep Going, Let’s keep Laz up all night at The Rock”. We headed out of town with renewed energy, I’m just wasn’t sure how long that would last. The climb up sand Mountain is famous for being tough!!

Joe and I refreshed at Kimball

We got out of Kimball (Dixie-Lee Junction) and headed towards South Pittsburg. We made our way to Sonic for one more meal, something to get our blood sugar up to Combat Levels!! We ordered a double cheeseburger and a large Coke. We wolfed the burger down and headed off to the Blue Bridge, I had imagined crossing the bridge while I was doing my training runs for LAVS!! Now, here we were. Joe texted Laz to let him know we were coming. Later, I found out he had requested us to call. Of course he posted this on Facebook, which I don’t have an account for. I will remember this next time!! We started the 11 miles or so from the bridge as it was getting dark. As we made our way, cars, cars and more cars. It was crazy!!! My eyes were drying out due to having my contacts in so long. All I could do is keep squirting eye drops in to try and keep them clear. Even though I kept them moist, the car lights kept glaring and it was difficult to see very well. Probably the combination of dry eyes, fatigue, and the fact I don’t see good at night. We made our way finally to the turn where you actually go up Sand Mountain. This is where Joe started pulling away from me. He would text me occasionally to see if I could navigate and knew the turns. Here is another secret I did in my preparation for Vol State, it was time consuming but I found it very helpful being a Rookie. In the months leading up to LAVS, I used Google maps, street view, to navigate through each town and to the finish. I didn’t try to memorize each turn, but I got myself familiar with the buildings, landmarks, roads and turns as it appeared on Google Maps. It really helped me feel like I had been there once!!! I will do that again the next time, especially in the multi turns in towns.  CAUTION: Google maps street view does not show hills!!!! lol.

The climb up the mountain seemed like a long time and it probably was. I had someone stop and ask if I was ok, and if I needed anything and Don Winkley had finished and was coming down stopped to encourage me to the finish!! Thanks!!

          By the time I turned at the Party sign, my feet were so sore and hurting, the road seemed so rough and each step was miserable. At this point, I kept telling myself what I had thought about in training. I had prepared myself for this part by telling myself that all I had to do was be patient. This part will seem extremely long, just don’t let that get to me. Remember, there will be those mind game signs about being a mile to go….for 2.5 miles, lol…I knew they were there, expected them and laughed at them as I passed. I figured, this is just part of the experience, don’t let them get inside my head. One thing I would change, I carried a small, handheld flashlight. It worked 99.9% of the time great. But, the last ½ mile, I really needed a better head lamp. Next time, I’ll include the headlamp, just for this occasion and when fixing feet at night on the side of the road.

          I finally made it through the cornfields, through the dark tunnel of trees, the mud pits (the road was muddy and slippery and I wasn’t walking with the greatest of balance at this point). I made the turn at the clearing and saw the vehicles and pop up tents along with the dim lights. As I approached, the only people that were at The Rock (somewhere near 0100) were Laz, Mike Melton and Joe Kowalski. I handed Joe my phone for the customary Rock photo. Mike led me out to the Rock and showed me the point to touch. I knelt very carefully and touched The Rock…..82^nd place (new record number of finishers, which soon fell up to 97) finish time from Dorena Landing, MO to Castle Rock, GA…..8 Days….17 Hours….42 Minutes….21 Seconds.

          My initial goal was finish and have fun!! If at All possible, 8 Days and a half. This is pretty close!! I had a blast!!! The time on the road passed by so quickly!!

          After sitting in the Thrown for a few minutes, Mike took Joe and I back to Kimball, Laz had hopes of a nap before the next runner arrived. Seems we worked him pretty hard this night!!

          In retrospect, I will go back and see what worked well and what didn’t. It’s ironic…I’m finishing up this race report as I'm waiting for the registration for 2020 to open in less than two hours….Yes I’m planning on running it again next year if I can!!!

          Things I would change

Not carry $3 of quarters initially

Remember to charge phone/watch at every stop if possible

Find a pack where the 2L bladder full, fits properly in a full pack

Carry a headlamp

Carry a spray bottle of Benzoin tincture instead of capsules

Not carry an extra shirt

Carry a small syringe to inject desitin into blisters

Carry a whole roll of Rock Tape

Be more conscious of the time I stop and time the short breaks

Do a better job of getting off my feet early on

I will tape my heels and balls of feet before blisters