Thursday, March 5, 2015

It's like Le Mans, for Humans.

I don't talk about my upcoming world championship appearance. I don't really talk about Mt. Everest either. I blog about them, but then I rarely publicize my blog. I don't care if you read it, I write this so that I can feel like I have expressed myself. 

I don't talk about this stuff because people don't understand. How do I describe that I ran for 24 hours and I only grew noticeably tired the last maybe four hours? How do I relate that I found the event so interesting I never listened to any music on my iPod? I mean I can tell people that, but they would probably complain about having to walk ten minutes one way or being bored on a three mile run. 

So I try to find amusing ways to describe the event when I am inevitably asked about it. After going to Germany in December I have spent more time learning about sports cars and race cars, because the Autobahn was so cool. Most people have the attention span of a drag race, basically a sprinter. Others maybe a NASCAR or F1 race, which is more like a 10k or marathon foot race. On the other hand a 24 hour run... It's like Le Mans, some people are going to break before they get to the finish (hoping it's not me). A good portion of the race happens in the dark. In fact how the night goes may define the majority of the final results. I also like this example because most people have actually never done one thing for a strait 24 hours. I hadn't until my one previous race. I had a 22 hour day on Longs Peak once climbing the Diamond, 20:15 car to car. 

Just imagine trying to race a car for 24 hours. Fuel, tires, driver changes, any mechanical issues, rain, sun, wind, and it's a race! You're going at a pace that you fully expect the engine might blow up and the frame crack at 24 hours and one minute. You have to be crazy. Then again, simply trying to drive 200 miles an hour is insane. What if you hit a deer?

So I'm taking my naturally aspirated 67 ml/kg/min engine and 28 year old chasis with a top speed of 16 miles per hour, with the wind, to the most competitive 24 hour race of 2015.  This is going to be fun! Rev your engines! But! Of course keep the speed below 8 miles an hour, otherwise you will surely blow an engine. 

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