shannon 87.5 miles in 18:15

I was telling Lori,Randy,and Elizabeth that we would. not see Shannon till after 1am
then Shannon shows up!! 45 min ahead! she sped up! with her now she is in amazing spirits

strong thunderstorm coming through

lots of thunder and lightening . but looks like is passing south.  concerned about Kelly, josh, Monique, Shannon and the rest of the runners out there. it went from warm and muggy to cold and raining pretty quick and I think they are underdressed. Im sitting in the car.  waiting for friends Lori , Randy, and Elizabeth who are coming in to see Shannon off on the last lap
very kind. it is cold, wet, muddy and dark

kelly 75 miles on one leg

I missed her coming in but it was less than 17 hours. josh is out pacing her on lap 7. she is struggling with blisters from the prosthetic but seems unfazed

Thanks!

Thanks for everyone supporting Shannon in this lunacy.
I will be running and walking the last lap with her, and I will be bringing my phone to read all the comments to her.
I cannot imagine how tired she is. I am exhausted, and I have only run about 4 miles today.

Fwd: umstead photos of shannon from Dana

I took them beginning at 7:45pm as she came into the post on Ebenezer
Church Road.
I surprised her, and ran with her for about 20 minutes!
Thanks,
Dana

complete standings after 16 hours

all 7 pages
sorry that they are sideways. stupid phone.

shannon 75 miles in 15:20

lap 6 was tough. about 3:20. lots of ups and Downs.  josh had to break out the tylenol to keep her from sitting down. she is very tired and getting emotional. I told her about all the comments and well wishes on the blog and she started crying. Dana coming out to see her was special. too. she is still eating solid food and drinking plenty. she left quickly to start lap 7 with Monique.

New course record! 13:11:40

Mike Morton finishes 12 minutes ahead of the course record.

Official time :
13:11:40

Shannon 67.5 Miles in 12 hours

Shannon hit a low point during lap 5. The loop was 3 hours.
But Brandy and Monique got her through it, drinking fluids and eating and walking.
The ensure, eggs and swiss cheese that she trained with is working great.
She came in running strong and in great spirits. A change of shoes and socks showed no blisters.

The crack pit crew of Iris and Monique got her turned around in no time.

 

She is now in the capable hands of Barefoot Josh, tackling the most mentally challenging loop.

Thanks for all your support! It means a lot to her. Will update in 3 hours.

mike morton- mile 87 in 11:30

one lap to go

Current Standings

We were misinformed about Mike's progress. Both he and Serge are slowing down.

Correction: Mike Ran 75 miles in 9:36

Anthony totally lied to me.

Kelly: 50 miles in 10:52

She's in great spirits, smiling and joking. I'm really enjoying cheering everybody on - when I mention popsicles at the aid station ahead to the runners, their pace picks up. Not sure if that's a good thing... I've got my togs on and am getting ready to pace Shannon for her lap #6. Saw the purple frilly skort lady again, mentioned that I blogged about her excellent outfit. I hope that was an appropriate topic of conversation for some weirdo with muddy feet to have with a person who just ran her 50th mile out of 100.

Shannon 50 Miles in 9 hours

Shannon came in after 50 miles, and having lost the exuberance of lap 3.
"I'm never doing this again. Once. Just Once. Half marathon is a great distance"

Fortunately Brandy is here to pace her for lap #5.

Other than being tired, she is fine so far. 

Photos from AS#2 from Harold Hill

photos here <<<<---

Great Shots! Thanks Harold.

Mike just ran 75 miles in 7hrs, 52min. That's on pace for a 12hr 100 miler... Holy buhjeebus. The leg that Kelly is using is called the "J Leg." It is badass, but not as badass as the wearer. There's a swarm of some kind of ground wasp near the spot where we're camped out. While I was telling this to an organizer, an entomology professor just happened to be standing there, filling water buckets. He assured me they weren't a threat so long as we didn't piss them off. The assortment of fashions on display is quite entertaining. My favorite so far is a purple skort with ruffles. Only one runner so far in bareshoes - the 'ol vffs. Lots of Hokas. Speaking of shoes, I'm thinking this is going to be an entirely shoe-free birthday for me - the path feels great! If I step on a rock, it just sinks. "It's not about you," says Iris in a practical manner. True, but it's my birthday. We'll see what the night brings.

Kelly 37.5 Miles in about 7 hours

She is doing good, a little sore.

Current standings

shannon 37.5 miles in 6:30

Shannon's mom makes a surprise appearance!  She drove down from new york last night in secret and stayed in a hotel.

the pad Thai also made a surprise reappearance as Shannon barfed it up. she ate it too fast.
She is fine though. She is still eating solid food and keeping it down. 

Josh here. I'm not fast enough to be Morton's pacer after he's run 50 miles. The guy is running very strong. Amazing! Shannon will be coming in soon, and I'm sitting around squishing my toes in the mud. Best birthday ever! Kudos to everyone running today. The human animal is odd and wonderful.

Mike Morton 50 Miles in 6:10

Still going strong

Shannon Lap #2 at 4:17

She came in 4 minutes early, and I scolded her. I am worried she is going to fast.
She changed her shirt and visor, downed another ensure and I gave her a cup of cold pad thai and fried rice.

She is taking in lots of calories early which is good, but she is going to pay later for pushing the pace.

Kelly is doing good, finished lap 2 around 4:30.

current standings

the first name is not correct.

Mike Morton 25 miles in 2:48

That's a 6:43 pace. Holy crap. I bet he is skipping his walk breaks.

shannon lap 1 in 2:10

she was a minute ahead of schedule but I let it slide. having network issues, maybe because of the rain. its very wet, but warm 65 deg

kelly lap1 2:15

mike morton leads

Mike did first loop in 1:23

crew briefing

cups of coffee so far today:3

start

Shannon and Kelly 20 min to start

Friday Pre-Race Briefing

Photos From Thursday

Shannon volunteered today, helping with race preparations, and took some photos:

Charles West. In a box.

Dorthy preparing food

Joe and Rhonda putting up the sign

Bags ready for pickup

High tech weather center

Runners we will be following

Besides Shannon we will also be giving status updates on

• Mark Manz - Winner of Umstead Marathon
• Troy Shellhamer
• Kelly Bruno 
• Race leaders
• Anybody else who asks

I'll be getting help from world famous bloggers:

• Barefoot Josh
• Der Scott
• Iris from Stet That Run!

Just Being an Asshole

"Running 26.2 miles is an awesome achievement of a lifetime. Going any further than that and you're just being an asshole" - Shannon Johnstone

On Saturday, my wife Shannon will be attempting to run 100 miles in day.
A few years ago she disliked even the idea of ultra marathons, as she felt they disrespected her accomplishments of running marathons.

Two years ago we ran 50 miles together at Umstead (race report here), and could not imagine taking another step.  We were in awe of the people around us doing the full 100 miles, and became enamored with the relaxed, friendly, and somewhat nutty ultra running community.

Since then she has become an even stronger runner, while I have simply run myself into the ground. So I will be hanging out at the park, "crewing" for her. Since the race pretty much provides runners with anything they would desire, I really won't have much to do.

So I started this blog to report and chronicle our experience as the day unfolds. I plan on posting "real time" hourly updates and pictures, not just of Shannon's journey but of the race in general as well.

If I am lucky, I may get some others to contribute to this blog.

Shannon running (briefly) with one her idols, Jill Perry