The Dashing Dudes left Amman this afternoon, headed for the starting line of the Dead to Red relay marathon. Their ten man relay team will run from the Dead Sea to the Red Sea, 250K, attempting to beat their 17 hour 13 minute time of last year.After months of training the anticipation of running the race was undeniable; dear husband could hardly sit still in his chair during morning devotions and Active Son did his best to concentrate on his morning studies. By noon, all thoughts were on the race. We wish the Dashing Dudes all the best as they run through desert tonight!
Update: (1:15 a.m. GMT+2) I talked with Active Son who is leading the five members of the team in Van A and with dear husband, who is heading up Van B. Both sound amazingly awake and energized and I think the fact that they are running hard to hold onto their 2nd place standing has something to do with that. One of ten teams participating in the relay marathon, they are outrun at this point only by the Jordanian National Team, however it sounds like they will have to continue the hard pace into Aqaba if they hope to hold onto 2nd.
The young bucks of Van A have been running 1/2K sprints in an effort to stay ahead of the third place Haddadin team, which is only about 1K behind. Not much in a 250K run. We are praying for Dr. T. of Van B who seems to have come down with a stomach bug and had to sit out a leg. The loss of even one team member at this point could seriously hinder the Dashing Dudes in their bid for the 2nd place win. Having completed 170K , the Dashing Dudes hope to arrive in Aqaba around 7am this morning. Go Dashing Dudes!!
Update: (This update is a little sketchy as I was half asleep when I received the call from my husband. I'll fill in the missing details in a later update.) The Dashing Dudes finished the race in third place; though second place eluded them by about 15 minutes, the Dashing Dudes shaved 30 minutes off their race time of last year finishing in 16 hours and 43 minutes, and that just 30 minutes behind the Jordan National Team. Praise God, Dr. T recovered from his debilitating sickeness in two hours and went on to finish running the race, even attempting to make up some of the distance picked up by his fellow runners while he was ill. The team was headed to a favorite resturaunt in Aqaba to enjoy a traditional Arab breakfast of bread, hummus, falafel, and more before checking into their hotel for a few hours of rest before tonight's award and celebration banquet at the Aqaba Movenpick.
5 comments:
Okay, so is your husband to the left of your oldest son from the viewer's perspective? Or from your son's? In other words, is he the one with the beard?
Sounds like a great adventure. I'll check back for updates.
Yes, my husband is the one on the left from the viewer's perspective. The man he is standing next to is the other "older" runner. The other two men, the one in the front and the one to the far left are drivers. One runner isn't pictured as we didn't realize he was still in the house until it was too late.
Love reading about the relay...sorry to hear that 2nd place eluded them but sounds like they certainly put forth an incredible effort.
I didn't notice these updates at the bottom! Hurrah, for the Dashing Men! :-)
Chris in NM
YAHOO! Good on those guys! Spikekid told me that one team cheated? I think he is feeling motivated for next year...
Now I know why there why so much pizza left over Saturday...those are some of the biggest eaters in church!
Have a great day, dear friend
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