Day 96

The guys spent last night watching TV and relaxing. They watched Angels in the Outfield, and American Pie: Band Camp (one of the worst movies of all time!). They woke up this morning to Beverly Hills Ninja, which they were very happy about. They packed up their gear, and headed out to the Grand Canyon Cafe for breakfast. Ken got 3 pancakes; Andy got 3 pancakes, toast, and hash browns; Matt got 2 pancakes, hash browns, sausage and OJ. Matt skipped a pancake to save money in order to get the hash browns and sausage. Ken paid just over $4, while Matt paid over $11! He did get a little more, but he didn't think it would be that much more! Besides the fact that he ordered and paid for all that food, Matt couldn't even finish it all! (Andy made sure to point that out!) They went to the grocery store and stocked up on Gatorade, bread, peanut butter, and my personal favorite Oh's Cereal! They did not plan to stop in a town tonight with the route they had laid out, so they stocked up for today, tonight, and tomorrow's travel. Matt also called attention to an extremely large garbage can. He made sure to tell me that it was not a dumpster, but just an huge garbage can! He felt like he was in the movie "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids!"

They took a path that would be 64 miles to Prescott, AZ. It would take them two days (including today) to reach Prescott. They ran about 34 miles today, and have just over 30 to complete tomorrow. They had originally planned a route that would take them 3 days, but this new one will allow them to make up a day they lost when they were feeling ill last week. They began the day on RT 73, which Matt said was a really cool road. The tall pines and mountains in the horizon made the scenery incredible. They ran about 3-4 miles uphill, and the remainder of the day was all downhill! (For those O-State runners, it was comparable to Whinney Hill) This meant the guys were able to move at a really good clip all day without straining too much. Andy has been real tight the past couple days from all the time not running last week. Today's long day only made it worse, and he is real sore tonight. He thinks that in a couple more days he will be good to go, and back in good running health.

It was a fairly cloudy morning, with breaks of sunlight here and there. About 6-7 miles into the run, it began to SNOW. Yes, it snowed! Not only did it snow, it snowed a lot! Matt said it was about 60 degrees out, and it was coming down hard! It snowed for about an hour, and then shifted into drizzling rain. The rain stopped for a bit, and then it rained on and off for another hour. The remaining 3 hours or so were marked with a lot of sunshine for the rest of the travel.

After the precipitation stopped the first time, the guys sat down for lunch. Peanut butter sandwiches were the delicacy of the day. Matt and Ken added some Oh's cereal to the sandwich to change it up a bit, and Andy followed suit. Ken then made another with a cinnamon bun as the middle piece! Matt said it was the most ridiculous sandwich he had seen, and that Ken really gets a kick out of making these exotic lunch sandwiches!

At the 25 mile mark, the guys were left with a decision to make. They could go down a main highway that may or may not lead into a town, and would take them 46 miles to get to Prescott. Or they could take what was called a "Primitive Road" that was 41 miles long, knowing that it would not head into any city at all. They decided not to take their chances with the longer route, and headed down the primitive road. The first mile was just a lot of dark, deep, thick mud. It stuck to EVERYTHING. The jogger wheels were caked with it, making the vehicle look like it had monster truck wheels. Matt said he felt like he had weights on his feet from all the mud, and Ken said he felt like a Spice Girl in platform shoes! After some hard work through the mud, the road solidified, and the guys were on a compact, dry, dirt road. This was very forgiving on the legs, and the entire team was happy with their decision to take this road. They ran through a few pastures with cows crossing the road and wandering about. Matt said that a couple of the bulls were giving them the stink eye, which kind of scared him. However, they made it without being chased by any of them! At some point on the dirt road, the jogger got a puncture hole in a wheel. The tubes on the jogger have a slime on the inside to seal the hole if one was to occur. However this invention did not work correctly, and green slime was squirting everywhere! Andy said it got on his pants and on the jogger. He told me it was just really funny to see this green slime shooting and spraying all over the place!

They made it to RT 89, and realized they had missed a shortcut on the GPS of 2 miles. They were mad a first, but realized that 2 miles was not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things. They ran down this road a ways, and found a service road. They took this service road down a bit, and found a nice clearing far from the road. They decided that this would be the best place to set up for the night, because it was a nice clear area far from any traffic. The team set up camp, and sat down to eat some more peanut butter sandwiches. They called Matt's dad, Papa D, to sing him happy birthday. This lucky guy shares his birthday with the one and only Rick Steele. Happy Birthday Papa D and Rick! As they hung out around camp, it began to rain again. With the rainfly fixed to the tent, the guys went inside called me to give the updates for the day. Matt said the rain seemed to be letting up, and that he was thankful the rainfly was working so well.

The team also spoke with their PR manager, Seth, tonight. Seth told them that he had arranged for them to make a cameo appearance in the San Diego Rock and Roll Marathon! They are all pumped to be a part of this race, as it is one of the most prestigious and exciting in the country!

Only three weeks left until the guys reach their goal and go splashing into the Pacific!

- Rick