Team Pirana has made it to Springfield, MO, fueled the van and the brothers and is continuing on toward Kentucky. The boys had barely made it out of OKC on the Turner Turnpike when they found themselves tailgating a State Trooper. He was going slower than the speed limit in the left lane, but he was gaining ground on trucks that were in the right lane. T3 had the van on cruise control when they came up on Smokey, so he shut it down and waited for the officer to make his move. Finally, the trooper pulled over into the right lane in front of the trucks and Mav said, “go around him now”, so T3 sped up to 75 and proceeded to pass the super trooper. As soon as the van was around the candy car the bear pulled in behind the boys and lit up his lights. So, the boys pulled over and waited for the paper hanger to approach. When he came up to the window and asked for T3’s license and insurance, T3 said, “What’s the problem officer?” to which the kojak replied, “Your speed! You ran up on me and then went around me and I was going the speed limit!” Of course, T3 had if fact been going exactly the speed limit according to the speedometer and he told the boy scout as much. After a little chit-chat the hypo told the guys that they now knew their speedometer was wrong, and to watch their speed.

So far the the rest of their drive has been uneventful. When they crossed the state line into MO they puled over to snap a pic:

Of course Mav had to take a personal break:

In Springfield after getting gas for the van the boys hit Quiznos for sandwiches:

While Little Sammie was celebrating the turn to adulthood (do they let the little fella’s celebrate the two one at the big WP?), and Mav, Mac and the big T along with PIT Sweet Tee were training with the OKC Running Club, Big and PIT McLovin were out on the trails with the OTRA crew for the monthly run.

The post run activities is where McLovin started to lose time, Mimosa’s in the kitchen, Hot Tubbin’ with the sweet (yet aging) babes, an afternoon at Chili’s; who knows whether the McLovin even knows his name now.

Meanwhile, Big (bum leg and all) did the cookin’ and watched all of the calories for everyone, leech to his double extra large backside.

In any instance, the P Bros. got a workout in and represented the crew with honor!

Here is the official race report from Brother Maverick. It is a great read.

SJS50 Race Report

Several pics, not so many words…

Portrait of a mountain man

Up on the ridge (well one of the ridges)

This is the terrain Mav dealt with.

And the damage done

This is the third year in a row Mav has done this race. It is billed as the toughest 50 mile course in the US. Each time he has run slower. Go figure. T3 can attest to the fact that Mav was as well trained for this effort as he has ever been. Running is funny that way though. It always humbles you. On the phone a few minutes ago, Mav was obviously very tired, a little emotional, but very talkative.

Ok, a lot talkative. He talked about the early stream crossings that took forever. He talked about his quads already being shaky by the 1st aid station. He talked about how going downhill became progressively more painful until by the mid-point of the race it was difficult to even step down. He talked about duct taping his heels, blisters on his toes, chasing cut-offs, and snow fields that went on for miles. He talked about talking to the rest of the Pirañas as he ran, motivating us as a way to motivate himself (btw, talking to himself is not a new thing for Mav, he does it fairly often actually.)

He talked about his nephew, Rain Landrey, who ran up the trail a couple of miles to pace Mav for the final 2 miles. He talked about how Rain ran with him and talked to him and kept him going, and how much that helped, and how much it meant to him.

He talked about telling the lady at the finish line who judges people’s feet for the “worst feet” award (which Mav has won twice) that he wasn’t taking his shoes off and that she could give the award to someone else no matter what his feet looked like (he still hadn’t looked when he called.)

He got choked up when he talked about it being the hardest race he had ever done, and how he wanted to quit, but wouldn’t. How he decided up on the mountain that if he missed the cut-off he was going to get some sleep and then leave for home. Then he talked about how he was looking forward to spending tomorrow with his family and letting them know how much he appreciated their effort.

He talked about being proud to have survived and completed the race under the cut-off: 15:54, six minutes to spare.

Mav, the Pirañas are very proud of you. Well done brother.

Mav made the Slumgullion Aid Station with 20 minutes to spare! Earlier he had the race crew radio down that he was coming, just slowly. We were all worried that something had happened, like a fall or an injury. When he came into the aid station he was tired and having quad troubles, plus a blister. But overall he was feeling good and ready to finish this thing. Somehow the Piraña camera got switched to video, so this pic is a still frame from some video that got taken. It is a little grainy, but you can clearly see Mav coming down the hill into the aid station.

What you can’t see is how much he is hobbling as he makes his way downhill. Having run hundreds of miles with Mav, the Pirañas were shocked to see him in this condition. We know he will finish though, even if he has to crawl. We are waiting on news of his finish!

Here are a couple of shots of just one of several water crossings Mav had to negotiate. Notice the white water. Notice the rope. Notice the line of people waiting. Imagine how wet Mav is. Mav is crazy, but we love him anyway.

Mav made the first aid station on Williams Creek around 9:30. He had 7 water crossings, with ropes to keep from being swept into Williams Creek. He was delayed at several of the crossings as people had to line up and go one-at-a-time. He also had to cross a deep field of snow.

Coming into Williams Creek Aid Station
(man those colors look good!)

And he is outta there!

Here is a picture of the Alpine Gulch trailhead. Notice the sign about the lynx. There have also been brown bears spotted along the course route.

And here is a picture of Mav and his dad (who along with his daughter will be Mav’s crew.)

The rest of the Pirañas wish there were there too!