VT100M 4:00 AM Start Line:
"g" and STX-Man

Can't Stand Still:

Life. It certainly can unfold in a most unexpected fashion.

Exactly... five years ago, between backpacking trips to Yosemite and Rocky Mt. National Parks, I was surprisingly diagnosed with a blockage in my circumflex artery. As my interim cardiologist delivered a first wave prognosis and declared I'd be taking medication the rest of my life... I remember thinking, Well... I don't plan to run any marathons anyway.

That was in August of 2003. Since then, Margarita Jeannie and Long Shots get the asterisk for putting the spur in my shoe to get running! My tenure as 5K King in November '03 lasted only 8 weeks. In the 12 months that followed, I plowed through 5K after 5K... then a 10K... and in September '04... my first half marathon.

In an aggressive fashion, 2005 became the year of the Marathon Hat Trick. And, then... the unthinkable happened... in July '06 I ran my first Ultra - The Dam Wakely Damn Ultra (33M). In step with a slew of local trail and road races, I pioneered Runners With Sole (AKA, now... Runners With No Sole) into our first Reach the Beach 200M relay Race in VT. And, if that wasn't enough... Fast John and I ran our first 50-Miler in November - The JFK 50M (MD).

In 2007, marathons became training runs for my plan to run a 50-Miler Hat Trick. Instead, 2007 became the year of too many ultras scheduled back-to-back, and a hearty appreciation for the concept of recovery. The ultra-learning curve was in high gear as I DNF-ed (Did Not Finished) my final 50-miler of the year (Stone Cat 50M) five weeks after having run a super-dooper VT 50-Miler.

Nevertheless... somewhere back in '06... amidst the plan and the long-distance training to run my first 32M ultra... was the pitter-patter sound of a loosely knit, half-baked plan for something grander. It was soothing. It had attraction. It was definitely cool and it offered me direction... it became my decision to run a one-and-only, 100 mile race in '08... the VT100M.

The plan? I'd train hard... complete the VT100M... memorialize my finisher's medal... quit running... and, move onto another adventure-interest. Certainly, the completion of a 100 mile race would be the crown jewel achievement for my relatively short and enthusiastic running career. It would be the grand milestone to achieve before moving on to another outward bound obsession.. (I might even backpack again.) Yes-er-e Bob... I was doin' the VT100M in '08!