The heat and humidity at the start of day 80 was quite unbearable. Of course there's not much I could do about that except run through it. I set off just after 8 am from Bellmore, Indiana knowing that I would be in for a tough day.
The miles went by pretty slowly with the temperature peaking at 106 Degrees Fahrenheit. Meeting the RV every 3 miles for fresh water, ice pops and icy towels for my head and neck was an essential part of the day.
Just before I got to Bainbridge I got the, now, daily offer of a lift from a local resident. My well practiced script of telling the person where I'd ran from and where I was running to was delivered. I'll never grow tired of the look of bewilderment on their faces.
At 6 pm I got a call from Dave Fairlamb who apologised for missing our daily phone calls over the last 2 days. He told me it was because he was on a flight. The conversation went on and I quickly backtracked "A flight?". "Yes, Mark and me are sitting in JFK waiting on a flight to Indianapolis" he said. I couldn't quite believe my ears. Mark and Dave had travelled all the way back to the USA, a week after leaving the team. Dave had been very unsettled since returning back to the UK. He felt it was a "job unfinished" knowing the pain I was running through in the extreme heat over here. As for Mark, I think he just fancied another holiday in the USA!
The lads pulled into the hard shoulder in their "rennal" car (It wasn't a Nissan by the way) at 11:30 pm. I was so ecstatic to see them. Dave ran the last mile of the day with me to give 36.1 miles for the day.
Dave and Mark will stay on the team until Carlton arrives next week. Their arrival at this oh so critical stage of the run could not have been better timed. There is a heatwave going on this week and their support and encouragement is going to help me get through the difficult days.
With the manager's permission, we parked the RV in a supermarket car park overnight. The temperature in the RV was 95 degrees. A terrible night's sleep was surely on the cards.
The miles went by pretty slowly with the temperature peaking at 106 Degrees Fahrenheit. Meeting the RV every 3 miles for fresh water, ice pops and icy towels for my head and neck was an essential part of the day.
Just before I got to Bainbridge I got the, now, daily offer of a lift from a local resident. My well practiced script of telling the person where I'd ran from and where I was running to was delivered. I'll never grow tired of the look of bewilderment on their faces.
At 6 pm I got a call from Dave Fairlamb who apologised for missing our daily phone calls over the last 2 days. He told me it was because he was on a flight. The conversation went on and I quickly backtracked "A flight?". "Yes, Mark and me are sitting in JFK waiting on a flight to Indianapolis" he said. I couldn't quite believe my ears. Mark and Dave had travelled all the way back to the USA, a week after leaving the team. Dave had been very unsettled since returning back to the UK. He felt it was a "job unfinished" knowing the pain I was running through in the extreme heat over here. As for Mark, I think he just fancied another holiday in the USA!
The lads pulled into the hard shoulder in their "rennal" car (It wasn't a Nissan by the way) at 11:30 pm. I was so ecstatic to see them. Dave ran the last mile of the day with me to give 36.1 miles for the day.
Dave and Mark will stay on the team until Carlton arrives next week. Their arrival at this oh so critical stage of the run could not have been better timed. There is a heatwave going on this week and their support and encouragement is going to help me get through the difficult days.
With the manager's permission, we parked the RV in a supermarket car park overnight. The temperature in the RV was 95 degrees. A terrible night's sleep was surely on the cards.
