Day 70

Day 70 would prove to be one of the toughest, if not the toughest day for the Nation Run crew. Luckily, the previous night was great!

Last night, the guys had dinner with the Youth Group. Andy said it was a really nice night. They spoke to the Youth Group and answered questions for about 45 minutes. After having a good time with the kids, the trio returned to the church for the rest of the night.

It was here that a duel was to take place. Andy and Matt sat down to challenge each other in the game Guess Who: The Spanish Version! Unfortunately for Andy, he went 0 for 3! Matt clearly had the upper hand that night. I personally hope they get to play again, so Andy can avenge his losses. After the Guess Who Challenge, the two bunked up on a blowup mattress while Ken placed two pews together to create a makeshift bed.

The next morning, Barbara took the guys to Manny's for breakfast. After filling up for the day's journey, the guys set out on the road. Andy's weather prediction was correct from yesterday, as it was extremely windy for the 8:30 am start. They walked a bunch of the mileage today, as the wind was so fierce it was taking all their energy very quickly. About 3-4 miles out, Andy lost his hat! Now, you may be thinking, well it was windy so it makes sense his hat could be blown from his head. His baseball hat did not go first, it was the winter hat that was over it that was blown off! A winter hat! That is how windy it was!

After Andy gathered his head gear, a family greeted them with cheers. They had heard the fellas on the radio the previous day and were very excited to have gotten the chance to see them! The guys went over to meet the friendly folks, and even signed autographs! After the nice meeting, the three runners got back on the road, and back into the wind.

After the first 3-4 miles, the guys entered the Chupadera Lava Beds. I tried to find some more information on this site, but was really unsuccessful. It seems to be a protected area of the United States where over 1,000 years ago a volcano existed and erupted. Andy said that as far as one could see, it was black cooled lava. He said there was a few areas where you could see where the lava was actually running! I personally did not know this site existed in the southwestern United States, and I can't imagine the guys actually coming upon these beds! (Please forgive me if my information on the lava beds is incorrect, I could not find any reliable resource!)

After this awesome spectacle, the day turned to all business. The remainder of the day would consist of running uphill. As you could imagine, running uphill into the wind is the perfect storm of a bad running day. Luckily for the team, Barbara had bought them sub sandwiches and had one of her friends drive them out to the guys. They were all pumped to chow down and take a break from the wind. After eating, the guys trudged the rest of the way until they reached Bingham.

When they got to Bingham, they were to head to a house where they had been set up the previous night in Carizozo. What they did not know, is that the lady who they thought they would be staying with was really not prepared to host the guys. She lived in one of the two houses in Bingham and owned a Rock Shop, and had no shower or food for the guys. She said that the guy across the street might be able to help them out more because he had water and perhaps some things to eat. The team made their way across the street to ask the gentleman if there was anything that he could do for them. He owned a store that sold magazines, and various other items and was able to set them up in his RV for the night to get them out of the wind, but had no food for the 3 runners. It was a rough travel day, and an even tougher rest night. Andy said that the guys planned to get to bed at around 7:30-8 pm, and then wake at 4:30 to get on the road by 5 am. They are hoping to beat some of the wind and get into town early for a large feast and lots of sleep.

Thanks for checking in, keep them in your thoughts as they will need all the strength they can get their hands on tomorrow. Keep movin...

- Rick