After a ’25 hiatus, Ziplocks, errr, Buckets of Agony made their triumphant return to the hills of NC. Many members of the OG team were facing injuries, leaving the opportunity to bring in fresh blood with the addition of FlyWithMe, Grizz, MARTA, and Sausage. With two vans.. err an SUV and a van… the 7am launch provided that beautiful NORTH CAROLINA sunrise from Grayson Highlands, Virginia. The Thang: * Drive to Grayson Highlands. 0700 Fri launch. * Run to Highlands Brewing. Sausage—>MARTA—>Mr. Hankey—>Waffle House—>FlyWithMe—>KGB—>Becky—>Grizz—>Pepe * Repeat x4. 1245 Sat finish. * COT with name-o-rama, KGB takeout, celebration, drive home. Notable and Quotable • Like taking a leak when you’re hunting • Near misses with cop and deer: “He can’t pull us over, his door’s open” • Lots of Idiocracy quotes • As heard on first video of the race.. “Is that the girl with the legs?” • Baptist Church counting; “Just put a column for other”; doesn’t count if you can’t see it • Surprisingly long line for poopers at EZ2 • Pulling out • Woompwoompwoomp (one window down sound) • “Arriving at 1245” for 12pm launch • Do y’all know that guy?! • “bckts” - well, they’re all red with white letters, we may find friendly people in these hills; consider it insurance • Cheering section on 13 • How many babies do you think have drowned in buckets • Bought pizza from John Kelly’s (ultramarathoner) kids at EZ14 • Familiar faces - “Ben”, Daniel’s kid’s teammate’s mom at EZ17, Mugs-occasional Mico and WH coworker at finish, beyond F3 Metro teams • WF family cheering on runners in Boone; “keep moving, almost there” as they start their leg • “Cowbell OUT of the window” • Fly, you got any propofol? • Best performance food is a potato at 1am • Where are you from? Maryland. No, what language are you speaking? Chinese. Chinese is not a language, Mandarin or Cantonese? Mandarin. Cool. • No wolf drama • Cracker Barrel joke • “I just prayed for a family member each mile; it sucked after mile 7” • Terrifying shirtless guy on highway in/around Burnsville at 2am • Hey cows! • Too many churches to count, Baptists win regardless • Sunrise in Bakersville • Pepe: “Asians Dropped me” • KGB: That was good for me. Ms. Peggy: That was good for me too; I haven’t heard that in a while; she must not have the right hair color • Some damn fine Jamaican Jerk chicken Bkts Performance • Through 36 solid legs we had no dropped bracelets (that’s our story, alright!), and no missed turns, we even steered a few guys in the right direction, avoiding catastrophe. • Exquisite timing and tracking - no waiting at exchanges (poop game on point) • Weather excellent, warm but avoided most rain • Some dogs and one snake plus reports of a bear and yellow jackets along route; Grizz took a yellow jacket sting on his last leg • Vehicles returned intact, avoided hitting rocks in Boone (narrowly) and sleeping runners in Bakersville (maybe DON’T dress in black and sleep on pavement in a parking lot at night) • 29:57:55 total, 8:46 pace, 69th overall, 40th open division, outperformed seed, 31st across the line so net positive kills (66 teams started at 6:30am Fri or earlier) • WE MMADE THE INSTA POST, HOLLAAA (thank you shirtless Pepe) The Team: • Sausage - flying start, wrestler turned runner, Michael Easter fan • Marta - French press, available to engineer optimizing EZs, most ounces of sweat per mile • Mr. Hankey - logistics ninja, beat rolling hills aka Night Terrors • WH – the guru, fast and steady, conqueror of MG hills • Fly With Me - blister care pro, quads gone, best at falling asleep • KGB - Jamaica party bus, Fairbanks trip, evading police stop • Becky - Enterprise regular, crushed grandfather and snake(!) on 34 • Grizzly - gear master, GoPro, route cards, weight class, bra extraordinaire (making KGB’s look lame in comparison); did we mention a tactical kilt? • Pepe - improved group text skills, and while running trail leg 36, no less; Red Hot Chili Peppers fan4life; replacement headlamp on 18 (“this is awesome”), but, dropped by Asians • Miss Peggy at EZ34 Announcements, payers, Acknowledgments: • Stay tuned for potential Queen City 80 • Congratulations to F2 Metro brothers on winning the men’s ultra masters • Prayers for Benefactor and Level 10’s Ms as they work through chemo • Big thanks to Waffle House, Mr. Hankey, and Grizz for stepping up with logistics and planning • Thanks to Pepe, MARTA, Fly, Grizz, Hankey, Sausage for joining the Bkts franchise • Thanks to the race organizers for putting it on, and all of the EZ volunteers for their great attitude and support • Thanks to all the Ms and 2.0s for the time away from something CSAUP YHC, KGB
F3
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