3:30 p.m., Sunday. BT and Tad finished another loop, bringing them to 78 miles with another 22 to go. After stopping briefly to grab their headlamps, refill their water bottles, and eat a banana, they were off again. Here is what BT had to say:
They are in rough shape. They are hurting, and they are racing the clock. In order to finish before the cut-off, they must walk all through the night, stopping only briefly at the end of each loop to replenish supplies.
The heartbreak will not be that they quit. It will be that they don’t quit and yet fail to finish before the 48-hour mark. Either way, it goes down in the books as “DNF”–did not finish.
After I watched them hobble away, I spoke with one of the race organizers, Steve Griffin, a guy in his early 60s who does one of these endurance events every month or so. I asked if and when it was my responsibility to tell BT and Tad to quit. His response was quick and sure: “NEVER!” He said they needed to succeed or fail on their own terms. Nonetheless, he agreed to pull them off the course if he felt like they were in danger. And then he proceeded to tell me about two times he almost died during races like this–once from renal failure and another from Rhabdo–which makes me wonder if Steve is a competent judge of when enough is enough. After Steve’s stories, another volunteer told me that her friend collapsed 500 feet from the finish line because she had Rhabdo, which then developed into sepsis. She ended up having to spend two weeks in the ICU.
Steve was flabbergasted (and a bit worried) when I tole him that this is BT’s and Tad’s first 100-miler. He said the Oklahoma Outlaw 100 was a very poor choice for BT and Tad to start off with because it has a reputation of being a brutal course. The main race organizer confirmed the 100-mile event has 17,500+ feet of total elevation gain. To put that in perspective, Mt. Everest base camp is 17,500 feet, Mt. Whitney, the tallest peak in the continental U.S. is 14,500, and Mt. Timpanogos in Utah has a gain of only 4,500 – 5,000 feet.
Steve was flummoxed to learn that BT and Tad had done little to no actual training for this race. Cross-fit workouts are completely insufficient preparation for an event like this, he said. Steve routinely seeks out and climbs the stairs of high-rise buildings and parking structures throughout Dallas. Steve said by the way BT and Tad are moving, it will be a miracle if they finish before the cut-off. All things considered, Steve praised BT and Tad, remarking that they were doing an amazing job and should feel proud of their accomplishments, no matter what.
The next time I see our racers not be until around 8 p.m. tonight. At that point, they will have 13 1/2 miles left. Once I see them off, I’ll drive back into town to provide another update.