![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.aravaiparunning.com\/acrosstheyears\/files\/IMG_0195.jpg\" "\\"George")
<\/a>George Circles the Track<\/p><\/div>\n
That night when rain hit its hardest, I slept in a nice warm tent. It was a struggle to get out into the cold. To overcome this\u00a0I ran about 4 minutes every hour. Erlinda warned me that running was not part of our plan. But the great food prepared by\u00a0by the friendly volunteers was energising.<\/p>\n
Thirty-six hours into the race I said ” Half way there.” Someone laughted and I saw the absurdity of my statemement.\u00a0The second night the temperature dropped to 28.\u00a0 After a half hour sleep, I increased running to 8 minutes each hour.<\/p>\n
By the 3rd day everyone was struggling, but when the skies cleared it warmed up and everyones’ spirits picked up.\u00a0But a different kind of drama was around the corner.<\/p>\n
In the early hours of the race, I was 25th, where we expected to end. Eight hours in, I was 30 miles from the lead. This is\u00a0when I started climbing up, unintentionally. When John was hit by a mysterious condition, he switched to walking and a door\u00a0opened for the rest of us. Two days in, I was 3rd and 12 miles from the lead. That evening, I decided to go for it. First place was\u00a0held by two interesting runners. Ed Ettinghausen is a charismatic 48 year old American who everyone, including myself enjoyed\u00a0talking with. Andreas Falk is a 33 year old Swede with striking looks and god like physique that women would easily swoon over.\u00a0On the other side is myself, a little 135 lb. disturber who is past his prime at age of 58.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Basking in the Sun – A Relief!<\/p><\/div>\n
The viability of this challenge was based on a few things. Firstly, I observed that both guys were having\u00a0 problems,\u00a0while\u00a0I felt fresh. Secondly, I have always been a strong finisher. Thirdly, a significant thing happened two hours earlier.\u00a0After waking up in the communal tent and trying to rush out, a voice from the next cot\u00a0\u00a0asked if we had any Ibuprofen.\u00a0“No, sorry.” Erlinda answered. “You got to help him.” \u00a0I said. So she got some pills\u00a0from the medic along with water. Later, he\u00a0confided that Ed and Andreas had formed a pact to finish together. I concluded that if I overcame one guy the other\u00a0would go down as well.<\/p>\n
Shortly after the New Year celebration, I joined Ed and Andreas to let them know that I was going for 1st place. They looked\u00a0shocked and confused. “You got to get past us to do that” Ed said. To avoid a\u00a0painful struggle, I suggested we share 1st place\u00a03 ways. “Why should we? We have a good lead” Ed replied. I explained my reasoning and suggested they think about it. But\u00a0warned that the offer was good for the next little while. Privately, I thought that if John came back to life we were all burnt toast.<\/p>\n
While I got a drink, they checked the leader board. They had 216 miles and I was 5 behind. Immediately they switched to jogging. Still\u00a0I caught up to them. Andreas’s coach threw a bottle, which he grabbed on the run. Wow, is this guy ever cool, I thought.\u00a0Then like 3 race horses at the gates, we broke loose. Their answer was silent but powerful. By my standards,\u00a0 the pace was insane and yet\u00a0wtith foolish bravado\u00a0I said “This is fun.” From the sideline, a surpirsed Erlinda yelled to me “What is going on?” With gusto I replied “A race for\u00a0first place.” This was equally her race and I wanted her to come along for the ride. Just when I thought the pace could not get\u00a0 faster,\u00a0it did. People were checking out the leader board and staring at us. Cameras were flashing. One tired runner perked up and said,\u00a0“I am enjoying this and I have the best seat in the house.”<\/p>\n
Endorphins were rushing through every vein in my body. I felt young and powerful. But for how long? I knew that I was willing and\u00a0able to endure a lot of pain, because I had dedicated this race to Erlinda and she was everything to me.<\/p>\n
In hindsight they did the right thing. In competition, unless an injury is evident, you should do your best. Andy simplified it to ” I like\u00a0this. It is what running is all about.” In his mental state John showed\u00a0amazing tenacity.\u00a0Martina also put in a gutsy performance,\u00a0given\u00a0her injury.<\/p>\n
I have two regrets. One, that I did not give Martina a comforting hug, even though we are strangers. The second, that I did not\u00a0acknowledge sufficiently the support from fellow runners, spectators, family and friends.<\/p>\n
As we raced for about 5 miles, I looked for any signs of weakness. Ed’s shoulders slumped slightly and I thought he would be first\u00a0to snap. But suddenly it was Andreas who stopped and shouted “Oh, my quad! You go with him.” But true to his promise, Ed stayed\u00a0back with his friend. In the meantime, I pressed on adding more miles, in case they made a comeback.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Hitting 400k, Only a Minute to Spare!<\/p><\/div>\n
At 6 a.m. convinced that I had a sufficient lead, I stopped. Erlinda rushed over and advised me to keep moving. I turned around and\u00a0she disappeared like a ghost. For in fact, minutes had passed since she said those words. I walked aimlessly in the dark alone not\u00a0knowing where I was or what I was doing. Fortunately, the sun rose and my head cleared.<\/p>\n
My three day mile splits were 83-77-88 with 47 in the last 12 hours and on a total of two hours sleep.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Photo Credit Ray Krolewicz<\/p><\/div>\n
At the awards, all cheered loudly for Martina who was in tears as she proudly received her 2000 mile jacket. Andreas and Ed\u00a0hugged as their names were announced. Andreas was happy to have set a Swedish record. Ed had completed 920 miles on a pair\u00a0of of shoes in the hopes of getting sponsership from the manufacturer. When I accepted our plaque, I felt an outpouring of goodwill\u00a0through the cheers and smiles. I mentioned to the Coury brothers that it was quite a coincidence that exactly a year ago, they gave\u00a0me a lift right after the RTTF race, when my taxi did not show up.<\/p>\n
I went over to Andreas to shake hands and offer an olive branch. In the heat of the race, it is easy to misunderstand someone.<\/p>\n
That night, in the quiet of our hotel room Erlinda and I lay, so exhausted we could barely move a muscle. We talked about the most\u00a0unexpected turn of events. Our first win came on our last race.\u00a0As our minds drifted into oblivion, she said “Promise me you will consider\u00a0doing this race next year.” I just smiled.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A race report by 72 Hour winner George Biondic. After 30 years of running, we (I) retired in May. Unknown to me, my wife Erlinda applied on my behalf for the ATY race.\u00a0Later she explained ” You can walk and … Continue reading