Day Three

Mother Nature showed mercy on us today. We started the run with cooler temperatures and cloud cover until about 11:00. Temperature reached 90 for a short period.

Again the road and sun took its toll on the group today. There were blisters upon blisters and bad knees everywhere; at end of day one we score it Mother Nature 2 and RFH/RAG 2 with 2 in limbo. One got little stronger today and two others suffered a little more.

As we left breakfast and started heading down the road Barney Fife proceeded to inform us that the bikers must ride on the other side of the road and the runners better stay on the other side of the white line or else. We tried to get out if his town as soon as possible.

About 10 miles down the road we sat down for 2 minutes for water and snacks. We looked back down the road 1 mile and watched a huge thunderstorm come up the road and engulf us in less than 3 minutes. Rain provided a small refuge until the sun came back out.

At lunch we were welcomed by the Telfair County Chamber of Commerce who had pizza, sandwiches and chocolate milk. What a treat for some road weary runners. We also picked up our first RFH/RAG guest runners – Sim, Howard and Tommy. They escorted us 10 miles down the road to Alamo. Those were some of shortest miles of the day with the fresh company. Finally at the finish line in Alamo, Howard finished with gold medal, Tommy with the silver and Will with the bronze.

Runner Summary:

Dane Talbert –   The single knee pain turned into double knee pain and swelling. Dane grinded out the entire day with walking, running and pain. After all that his Achilles stared aching. It was a very long day that ended after dark.

Will Ansick – Started the day with plan to eat and drink more as long as stomach would let him. This approach proved beneficial and Will did not suffer with the heat at the end of the day.  He did have a little knee pain at the end – hopefully it will not come back. Will rose to another level today and earned runner of the day award.

Mark “The Man” Millen – Mark started slow and stayed slow. Then his feet went south , very south. His feet had blisters upon blisters upon blisters. Matter a fact the gnats started taking up residence in the caverns created by his blisters.

Abi Meadows – Abi has hung with the group to crew and provide whatever support necessary. Abi earned volunteer of the day award by getting out and pacing Mark for the last 18 miles when his feet became so problematic. 

Me (John Teeples) – John continued enjoying the run with some minor chafing and tired feet.