The pre-blast told you to go home. Some brave souls didn’t listen and Race Committee is dang glad that you didn’t. As far as I can tell, you had a good time, we raised some ducketts, and no one died. That, my friends, makes for a successful relay.
I’ve read two backblasts from other regions. Both are great and offer funny perspective. One from Roscoe in Gastonia. Read his by clicking here
The other is from Kodak in Boone. That dude was raised on Pilot Ridge Road with a corncob pipe in his teeth. Read Kodaks BB here
I’m just going to offer up a couple of bullet points on my perspective:
- The 00:00 start was a pretty big Mind F for me. You know how bad the day of The Bear really sucks? All that waiting around until the 7:00 pm start….it drives me crazy. This was worse.
- I really wish I could take credit for routing the end of Leg 1 through that trailer park. It was a complete accident, but I must admit, it was a brilliant accident. That is a Must Do for 2021.
- there were lots of dogs. Loud dogs. But they were of the All Bark/No Bite Breed. This doesn’t always matter to the runner who’s being chased down by the AB/NB dog.
- Watching Frydaddy finish Leg 3 (Hibriten Mtn) was pretty awe inspiring. No offense to SP and Herniator, but he flat out rolled those two up and smoked them like a Kool 120.
- That whole team from Raleigh was pretty amazing. Great job men. More on one of their members later.
- Over/under on random middle fingers thrown my way was 6. Ended up with 5, so I got that going for me.
- How about that sunrise on Roseboro Road? As my man Abraham would have said “Look at the Big Man showing off for us”
- We ended up on Howard’s Knob with having several hours of daylight left. This was good news to Race Committee. 2021 will likely have a later start so we can run Brown Mtn Beach road in some daylight. Having some visibility on that route to see Wilson Creek is worth the price of admission
- Speaking of that route, RC ran it. RC also showed his pressed hams to his van while running that route.
- Exhibit A(ss):
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- I’ve told everyone with 2 ears about running with Charlie Engle and Yogi on Leg 2. Ever heard of Charlie Engle? If you haven’t, read up about him here. Dude ran across the Sahara desert. All of it. Charlie, if you’re reading it was a pleasure to run with you.
- Yogi, I enjoyed your company on that run too fella. It’s just that you haven’t run 4,500 miles across Africa. Or attempted the Barkley. Or done some crazy race in the Amazon.
- Yet
- Yogi, I enjoyed your company on that run too fella. It’s just that you haven’t run 4,500 miles across Africa. Or attempted the Barkley. Or done some crazy race in the Amazon.
- Race Committee really needed this Man Time. There has been so much going on in my personal life that, quite frankly, has sucked figs. Being out in the middle of the boonies with homies was about the best thing for my soul. Thank you for that.
- The Fellowship along the way was Bar None for me. Seeing all of you clowns at every stop from TH to HK was just stupid fun.
- Leg 10 was as bad as I had hoped
- Leg 13: Went Balls Deep for sure
- Howard’s Knob was literally perfect. I challenge you to make a worse/better way than the ‘touch the rock’ finish. Kudos to F3 Boone and Goodwill for the final touches to make it just a little bit worse and much more fun at the same time.
- But seriously, if you can think of a way to make it worse, let me know?
- Really enjoyed being able to speak with all of the other dudes from other regions as well. It’s very clear that Gastonia, Boone, Raleigh, and Winston all have some HIM out there making a difference in their communities.
- Hope to see all of you guys back at Tater Hole next year
- Hats off to all of the assistants that helped out during and before the race. I truly appreciate your help. There’s no way that I could have run without you. Goodwill, Plank, Swanson, Publix, Tooth Fairy. Even the 1/2 team from Granite chipped in: Deuce, Deuce’s Broham, and Goldberg. Big big thanks to all of you guys….I’m sure I’ve forgotten someone at this point.
- Big Ups to my Soup Sandwich teammates: HBC, SP, Powder, Eustace, and Flamer. I previously mentioned that Frydaddy was impressive to witness running, but these fools are as well. AND they have to put up with my complete stupidity for the whole race. Sometimes that doesn’t get factored in.
- Improvements for 2021:
- actual bathrooms at a few EZ’s
- staggered start times
- shuttles up to Howard’s Knob for more room?
- re-route that terribly busy road (Deerfield) in Boone.
- more teams
- more hills
Race Committee Out!