I saw him at mile 58 but was crewing (getting him food, gear, and forgetting to make him change his socks) so I didn't take any pictures. I saw him again in the pitch dark about an hour later, around mile 62. He was running down US 9 in Virgin, Utah during a very short road portion of the race. I don't have a picture. Then I went to bed and he kept running.
The next morning I got up early to meet him at the finish line, but when I got there I learned that he hadn't gotten to the aid station at mile 88 yet, which was weird because he'd been hauling ass the day before. I decided to jog backwards on the course until I saw him. That was my first run in jeans. It was beautiful out, and the trails were nice and gentle. I was surrounded by the gorgeousity of the southern Utah desert. I jogged about three miles before I saw him walking down a steep mountain road:
He said he'd fractured his foot around mile 70 and had been walking ever since. We walked the rest together. Here he is at mile 99:
And at the finish with Maple in 28 hours, 51 minutes:
After he finished, he got to pick one of the handmade Zion100 belt buckles:
And now he looks like this:
The end.
It was so neat seeing you on that road. That final six mile decent was brutal on the ol' shattered foot. Can't believe that I ran the first seventy fast enough to have time to hobble it in the final thirty and still make it three hours under the cutoff. I kept hearing the bit from "Dead Man" when Nobody tells William Blake, "Just be quiet and go"
ReplyDeleteWhoah. That is absolutely amazing. 100 miles and 30 of them on a broken foot? What? He's a champ.
ReplyDeleteWow and how incredibly amazing! I hope his foot heals quickly and many congratulations to him on getting this done!
ReplyDeleteAmazing! Congratulations to Sean. Wishing him a speedy foot healing and recovery.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your kind wishes everyone. :) Sean is so sturdy and healthy, I bet he'll heal fast. If I can just get him to sit down for 5 minutes!
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