The Last Annual Vol-State 2015

The Last Annual Vol-State 2015 begins as always, with a ferry ride across the Mississippi River, from Missouri to Kentucky, and finishes at “the Rock,” high atop Sand Mountain in Northeast Georgia. Starting July 9th the 83 starters had 10 days to reach the finish.

The course is 314 miles with no aid stations – runners have to find their own food and drink and if they want to sleep they have to find their own accommodation as well.

There are two categories, crewed or self-crewed – shortened to screwed and the rules are very strict about what constitutes being screwed.

The race is organised by Laz Lake aka Gary Cantrell who organises the Barclay Marathons, Strolling Jim and the Backyard Ultra.

Laz posted this 2 days ago on the List and as I write there are 13 finishers so far.

Date: Mon, 13 Jul 2015 12:16:32 -0500
From: lazarus
Subject: elven folk

we have touchdown.
greg armstrong came in a couple of hours before the end of day 4.
he had seen the “A” goal, of a sub 3, slip away during a difficult day 2.
the “B” goal, of a course record, escaped during day 3.
and his “C” goal, a personal best, danced away in the heat of early day 4….

his “D” goal, becoming the first person ever to break 4 twice,
was comfortably in reach.

and what a difference motivation makes.

greg went into the home stretch doing what any smart athlete does under those conditions;
trying to move as efficiently as possible,’
without killing himself.
johan steene, on the other hand,
had his “A” goal, a screwed sub-4, in sight the entire race.
but the last 2 days it hung tantalizingly at the very edge of possibility…

until johan, no one had ever considered it possible.

steene crushed the last marathon,
to make the impossible happen.
nothing illustrates just how fast his closing kick was,
than the fact he reached the final 26 miles trailing by 14;
his largest deficit of the race.

at the finish, he was down by only 4.

and that was done against one of the fastest vol-staters in history,
with 2 of the top 4 times, ever.

the contest between the two great warriors pushed them so far,
that the next finisher is not expected until tomorrow.

right now, fegys is clinging to that 3rd place spot.
but steven smith has cut john’s lead to only 9 miles.
and we all know how fast 9 miles can disappear at the vol state.

the canadiennes, mary lou corino and lisa van wolde,
have dropped to 19 miles behind smith.

again.
anything can happen at the vol state.
just ask Jeremy ebel,
who was in contention for that third spot,
until he became the latest victim of the Lewisburg triangle. 14 miles behind the women,he would undoubtedly like to have his 20 mile
off course excursion back. and everyone would like to have the “cool” 100 degree heat index of day 1 back,as day 5 becomes, for the 5th straight day,the hottest day yet. it is killing heat out there.the kind we are warned to stay indoors to avoid.but the vol staters soldier on. laz

Position	Name			Time

1	Greg Armstrong	M	C	3d 22:05:23
2	Johan Steene	M	S	3d 23:15:52
3	John Fegyveresi	M	S	4d 19:28:54
4	Steven Smith	M	C	4d 20:03:48
5	Lisa Van Wolde	F	C	5d 08:06:47
6	Marylou Corino	F	C	5d 08:06:52
7	Jeremy Ebel	M	S	5d 16:42:30
8	Andrea Stewart	F	S	5d 21:33:59
9	Jay Dobrowalski	M	S	5d 23:34:38
10	James Adams	M	S	6d 05:47:12
11	Sal Coll	M	S	6d 08:04:25
12	Bo Millwood	M	S	6:10:11:20
13	Karen Jackson	F	S	6:10:11:40