A Muddy Buddy Day

Well, the Pirañas went to Turkey Mountain today. The day started at 3:30 when Mav showed up at T3’s and with Sweet Tee in tow they left to meet BFG and Weeble at the Cracker Barrel near the turnpike. Once the team was together they headed east on the turnpike and with a single break for biological necessities, they arrived at the race start around 5:40. The 50K was set to start at 6:30, with the 25K following at 7:00 and the 10K at 7:30.

After some last minute prep….

….Mav and T3 started their day on Turkey Mountain. About 30 minutes later Weeble and BFG got their start.

Then it started to rain. Of course, it had already rained a lot the few days before, so the trails were already nice and damp, but now they turned into small muddy rivers. Into this wet and wild system of goat track like trails, Sweet Tee took off on the 10K while the rest of the brothers slogged out their miles.

Sweet Tee had a great day. Finishing 7th overall and 3rd in the 0-30 age group, he ran a strong race under difficult conditions and then spent the rest of the day crewing for the rest of the Pirañas. (If you see Sweet Tee around, asked him who the two people were who got 2nd and 1st in his age group.)

Mav and T3 came through after their first loop and Sweet Tee was ready with dry shoes, bananas and a helping hand. Unfortunately, what T3 needed was a new left leg. In the last couple miles of trail during a rather slippery and steep descent, T3’s legs got out from under him and in the attempt to remain upright he pulled something. Always brave and rarely bright, T3 decided to continue. Mav was also struggling with back pain that could be an indication of more kidney stone issues.

On the way out for their second 25K, T3 and Mav met Weeble and BFG coming in to complete their 25K. They ran into BFG first and after some high fives and hugs they promised to tell Weeble that BFG was waiting for him (he wasn’t) and told BFG that he had a mile to go (he had at least 2!). They then ran into Weeble farther up the trail and told him that he had a mile to go also!

BFG finished in about 3:15 and Weeble in about 3:30.

Happy but tired they were eating some well deserved food when T3 walked into the start/finish area. Turns out that Mav and T3 had really turned up the pace headed back out to the first aid station and by the time they got there, T3 was limping. In a rare moment of maturity (or maybe just wimpiness) T3 decided to call it a day. Mav went on and T3 hobbled back using the 10K route to complete the day with 35K and a DNF.

In spite of the failure to finish, T3 was a good representation of what everyone at the race looked like:

The wait for Mav was punctuated by watching the male and female 50K winners finish and lots of camaraderie and some food. And then Mav showed up as he always does, finishing faster and stonger than he predicted.

Everyone cleaned up as best they could

and after saying goodbyes they began the trek back to OKC.

But the story doesn’t end there. Of course, when little boys play hard, they get tired:

But the story really got interesting as they made their way west. Mav’s pain continued to get worse. By the time they were off the turnpike he was climbing around the car and making some really unique sounds and was obviously in a LOT of pain. He wanted to go straight to the ER, so the boys drove directly to Mercy and checked Mav in. T3 tried to take his picture in the lobby, but the Nazi Nurse wouldn’t let him, so once in the room they snapped the pic anyway:

Mrs. Mav had already been called, so she arrived soon and the boys left Mav in her capable (and much prettier and cleaner) hands. After drugs, a CAT scan, and more drugs Mav called to let the Pirañas know he had another kidney stone that was getting ready to pass. He is at home on drugs and waiting for the inevitable. We will let you know how that comes out!