BFG did a great job running his last double leg! He smoke the beautiful Kentucky hills as he ran through the horse farms and rolling terrain.
In a short but incisive interview with the now Notorious BFG he had this to say to his adoring fans:
Meanwhile, Weeble continues to make new friends:
And a shot of the parking situation:
BFG made the exchange point ahead of his predicted pace (trying to make up the hour they stole from the team baby!)
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While the boys were waiting Mav tried to describe in visual form how the team was feeling:
BFG may have gotten one of the most picturesque legs in the whole race:
Unfortunately, the faster 12 man teams have caught the Piranas so the relay exchange points are a complete disaster and the race organizers did NOT plan adequately for the crowds. Fun, Fun, Fun.
Weeble finished his third double with flying colors about 7:30AM!
After a 1 hour wait, Weeble took off in the dark and got the first half of his third double done. It was too dark and the boys were too tired to get any good pics.
Turns out that the “race official’, which is a fancy name for a overzealous volunteer, threatened to disqualify Team Pirana. Weeble took up the fight and got on the phone with the race director and threatened to publicize the rampant stupidity going on and went on to voice several other thinly veiled threats. Mav finally got on the phone and was able to get the race director to admit that they were simply unprepared for the pace the teams were running. This is a very serious logistics issue because they should be aware that teams will slow as the race wears on, not run even pace from start to finish. Ultra teams like the Pirana’s can be expected to slow even more. They should have been ready for this. So T3 finished 10.7 miles averaging 8:30 pace and arrived to find this:
So they held the Pirana’s for an hour at the exchange point and then let us go. They are not counting the hour against them, however, they had just managed to work back to their goal pace and now with the added hour are on pace to finish at 7:15 PM. If anything at all goes wrong they could very well miss the 8:00 PM cutoff. Only time and mile will tell.
Weeble is having stomach issues but headed out for his final double leg determined to do his best under whatever circumstances he was handed. Goose is having his usual cough and barf thing and is eating and drinking too little and laying still much. Mav is working through some pain and funk issues. T3 has some quad twinges from the last set of fast uphills, but is currently high on running, no sleep and caffeine.
So T3 heads off down the road on leg 19, A lonely straight shot up the highway at sub 8:30 pace.
Which got him to the exchange for leg 20 to find this:
So T3 heads on down the road not sure if they are still in the race or not….
Here is a video of Goose finishing leg 17 and starting leg 18:
Goose did a great job ticking off the final miles. At the start of leg 19 they were holding several teams because they were “ahead” of their predicted pace. In some cases this may have been true, but the team talked to several other teams that were ‘on’ their pace and were very confused and upset they were being held. When the Pirana’s checked in they didn’t say anything and so when Goose came in T3 took off on leg 19.
Mav finished leg 16 at almost exactly midnight. They had predicted 11:52, so given that they lost over 30 minutes early on, the boys are back on pace and running strong.
Moment after finishing his second double leg, Mav granted a quick interview:
Goose is off and running in a medium breeze and gentle rain. He has 5+ to go to meet the brothers again.
When Mav got to the exchange for his second half he was doing much better and running very well. The relay exchange was set up completely in the dark and they had no lights. Parking was non-existent so it got funky fast. As it gets dark and people get tired it will be harder for things to work if the relay exchange points are like that one.
Here is a snap of the boy waiting for BFG to arrive. Mav is feeling a little funky right now so the team is trying to help him with whatever he needs.
BFG finished is second double leg strong and without getting lost for a double double. That sent Mav off to cover leg 15 in the dark and the rain.
T3 made peace with the other team’s driver and gave them stickers and tattoos, so all is well in relay land.