Day 85

Today Andy and Matt woke up and packed up the gear. When they tried to wake up Ken, he was completely drained and told them he was feeling very queasy. Ken was not feeling well and did not eat anything of substance the day before, and it looked like it carried into today. Rather than push Ken's condition and possibly make it worse, the guys took an unscheduled day off. They are currently playing around with the remaining off days and where they should take them. They want to spend two nights at the Grand Canyon, so they may just skip the last day off on Day 112 and keep on going straight to the Pacific. We will keep you all updated!

Ken spent the day at Juwan's house sleeping and trying to recover so they can get back on the road tomorrow. Andy and Matt decided to go to a track meet with Juwan to watch Hopi High School compete. There was a problem with the entry system, so the Hopi athletes were unable to get entered into the meet until this morning. They all ended up in the slow heats, which would make thier tasks more difficult. The guys were excited to watch because this would be the last meet before post season competition. They were sure they would see some top notch performances.

The meet was in Winslow, Arizona. That's right folks the home of the famous corner in Winslow, Arizona mentioned in one of the Eagles smash hits. They actually drove right past the corner that the band talks about in the song, "Take it Easy." Matt said it was pretty cool to see something that he has heard about for so long. Matt and Andy both said that the scenery on the way to Winslow was incredible. There were awesome rock formations and plateaus all over the place. They drove past a mountain range that was complete with snow caps. The beautiful scenery continues!

They spent the rest of the day at the track meet watching Hopi tear it up. They even saw an athlete who looked like good friend Ryan Pennell, who they called "Bizzaro Pennell." Bizzaro Pennell was in the 4x800m relay. When he gained control of the baton, he took the lead. A little while later in the leg, he began to lose the lead. Matt quickly called the real Ryan and told him to pick it up! As Ryan answered the phone, Bizzaro Pennell took the lead back and gapped the field in a huge move! Looks like the phone call was just in time! During the meet, the guys met many people who were very interested in what they were doing. It was a venue filled with runners, so they had a lot to talk about. They also met some people that live along the route that has yet to be traveled, and these people have offered to help them out as the team rolls through.

It was a pretty laid back day, but Matt and Andy both said it was nice to meet so many great people and watch some great competition. They would also like to send their congratulations to Marty Nicholson who ran the 10,000m at the SUNYAC Conference Championships today and placed seventh! Nice job Marty! DRIVE THAT BUS!

The guys think they will be without cell phone service for the next couple days, until they arrive at the Grand Canyon. Keep checking the blog to see how they are doing! Thanks for all the support!

Keep movin!

- Rick