Notes
Leg 2
I made my way back over to the tent and Jake was done for the night and in the tent but Pam was completely awake and ready to roll. I couldn’t get over how upbeat she was, how awake she was, and generally supportive of this entire thing. For a guy who has a hobby that’s worse than golf she was really amazing. We chit chat for about 20 minutes and I realize I need to throw on another layer so I don’t get cold and head to the car. By the time I return Pam says that Doug just came by and is finishing up the leg, he’s had major headlamp issues, and he is very pissed off. I head to the porta potty to do some final business and get ready to go. Doug is back and take off quickly. Some quick conversation but this leg is very quiet. Even though it’s 3am I am sky high and ready to go. I took a supplement with caffeine in it and chased it down with a snickers bar and can’t believe how awake and pumped up I am. Doug and I negotiate for much of the first 5 miles. I try to tell him that we can run easy but we have to move. “Not yet”. Ok. Let’s just keep moving. Thru the pumpkins, thru the aid station and no stopping. You could tell people we’re getting the idea that Doug was getting close and that gave him a boost. He hits the sign and I take a picture. Not much talking and more pulling. “Doug we gotta move”. Not yet. Repeat. He seem to know what he was doing but I was worried. We ran some decent stretches on the way back and at times I was at least 50 feet ahead. I kept thinking, “Fuck this. We gotta move”. It reminded of me of watching Connor compete at anything. I wanted it for Doug. He deserved it. And selfishly, I wanted done it on my watch. “2.5 to go in 30 minutes. You got this. Let’s fucking go.”. Shortly after this point we run in to Heidi, her dad, and Elysse. “This guy is about to go sub 20!”. Lots of hooting and hollering. Doug is now lasered focused but he gets a boost. More running on the flat sections and while were not flying he is moving very well. We get to the pavement and it feels like he is flying. I finally noticed some little bumps in the pavement and mention to Doug that he just needs to stay on his feet and not fall and he is good to go. We hit the first set of tents and there are some people there and I announce “This guys is about to go SUB 20!” More hooting and hollering. Doug is flying now. Pam sees him and gives him some encouragement. The last stretch before he finishes he is flying. Finishing like an absolute beast. I was completely blown away by how mentally strong he was. The fact that he probably lost 15-20 minutes because of the headlamp problems and still broke 20 is amazing. The 3 of us hung out for about an hour after and it was really cool. We sat around the fire and chatted before I finally went to my car and left for him.