Droppin' like water melons off a building, RWS was confronted with disease, the plague and injuries.

Editor's Note:
This image depicts
18-Wheeler Steph... not injured or diseased... but resting at Van #1's first
RTB VTA.

Part 2: Runners with Sole Hit the Wall

Anyone can get injured at any time. And, yes... typically there are telltale indicators that usually say things like, Hey, Mack. I'm givin' you this ache for a reason! But, ya never know when the fickle finger of running maladies will strike.

Like lightening on a flag pole, Runners with Sole (RWS) hit the injury wall strikingly hard. After running the Boiler Maker (Spring of '06), T-Man recognized his running days would be greatly altered. His four years of cartiladge-less bone on bone knee pain (like nails on your cornea kind of pain), resulted in his decision to turn-in his RWS ID Card. Never to be daunted by anatomical obstacles, T-Man purchased one of Lance's former racing bikes on E-Bay, and he's now training to be the first ADK 46er to ride a street bike up and down all 46 high peaks in the Adirondacks! Sort of like, a one-man Tour de Adirondack!

Following the Boiler Maker, T-Man entered a month of soul searching his quasi-retirement from running and whether or not he would run RTB. Facing this reality, "g" immediately engaged in covert operation, Get Wallis - who had never run distances longer then a 5K. He coaxed the Hat into a few early morning runs... he pretended to breath heavy on the flats and let the Hat take gradually longer and longer leads on their runs. One morning "g" confessed to his comrade in tech-wear, "Warren you've got to run the RTB with us! T-Man is out and you're in such great shape and (boohoo boohoo) I'm the team captain and I don't know what to do... and you're the only friend I have... and I know you can run 3-legs of the RTB if you just trained a little harder..."

"NO!" affirmed the Hat.

But, "g" was persistent. He Gradually wore down the Hat's granite resolve to never run more then three miles at a stretch. Then, finally..."g" offered the well planted, quintessential olive branch induction maneuver for change, "I'll tell ya what. If you run RTB I'll guarantee you'll have the running position with the flattest and shortest legs."

"No."

" And, to make the deal real sweet," added "g", "I'll even throw in an RTB special event for you - a fireside chat with the President!"

More bad news. On 6/13/06 Maureen e-mailed "g":

Gary,

I just went to the orthopedic doc for a follow-up on my broken left sesamoid bone and I've been cleared for walking on a treadmill for the next two weeks. I'm allowed to start running a little in early July, but probably won't be up to a full 4-plus mile training run by 7/4. Mind you I've been running awesome mileage in the deep water of a pool, but I haven't been able to run on roads yet! BUMMER! I miss it so much! I'll try to come meet everyone 7/4 at your house. Wish I could run with them! The doc feels it's a pretty good chance that I'll be able to run in N.H. come Sept., but he doesn't want to make any promises yet. The bone still hurts. It's not fully healed yet. I'll be in touch. Right now, the Runners With Sole adventure we're all going to have in Sept. is what's really keeping me going with my alternate methods of training! I know I'm fit enough, but I just hope my foot can take it! Talk to ya soon.

Maureen R.

. Then in July, Steph injured her right foot during a Kung Fu class. Efforts to train became too painful and she was advised to stop running. Her real pain came in the form of disappointment. After completing her half marathon training schedule and running the Adirondack Distance Run (10M) between Lake George and Bolton Landing (NY) in July... with 6-weeks until race-time... she made the call to "g". But, she had a plan. Not only did she recruit 2-X RTB Relay Race runner 5-Minute Mile Tim to run in her position, but she wanted to be one of the designated van drivers for RWS on RTB Race day. Cool. Very Cool!

.

Then it gets worse. Gove e-mails "g":

Hi Gary. Very sorry to be passing on this news. Yesterday, at about the 2 mile mark of the Turning Point 5K Run in Schuylerville, I had a very sharp stab of pain in my right knee. I finished the run (slowly - see
the front page of the Saratogian Sports Section today), but now I can barely walk. I saw my orthopedist this morning and pending the outcome of an MRI tomorrow he believes that I have torn my meniscus cartilage and that I will most likely need surgery. If this all is true, it is extremely unlikely that I can go forward with the RTB plans. I am not giving up yet, but I need to tell you that at this point I think my odds are very poor. I promise I will keep you posted as I get any more info, but if I were you I would start thinking about possible subs for me.

Sorry again. More info to follow. Gove

. Then it got worser! The RTB was in 3 weeks and RWS were minus one runner... until... Mo called "g" on Friday night at 11:35PM. "I think I've got a lead on a woman who runs with Saratoga Stryders. If she runs with us I told her I'd keep her RTB-race-day-pumped by playing 30-hours of ABBA on the CD player. Should I tell her she's in if she's interested?" "YES! Tell her she's in... AND... drop the ABBA thing! I don't want to scare her off!"

And, then there were 12... again! (Whew. Another bullet dodged!)