Oct. 2, 2025
Five Hours to Noon
Five Hours to Noon is a documentary-style podcast that tells the true story of one runner’s fight against time, terrain, and himself at the Divide 200 ultramarathon in the Canadian Rockies.
The race: 320 kilometers across mountains, ridges, and valleys, with a hard cutoff at high noon on the final day.
The challenge: rain, grizzlies, sleep deprivation, wrong turns, and a body fighting Hashimoto’s disease.
The question: can he make it to the finish line before the clock runs out?
Told in eight acts plus an epilogue, this series blends first-person narrative, sound design, and documentary detail to capture not just the miles, but the fragile decisions, missed turns, borrowed gear, and quiet acts of help that shape survival.
It’s a story about endurance, failure, redemption—and the five hours that mean everything.
🎙️ Host: Paul Johnson 🎧 Produced by: Get Some 🎵 Music and Sound Design: Epidemic Sound
📸 Show Notes, Photos & More: getsomepodcast.com ▶️ Watch on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@RealGetSome
✍️ Enjoying the stories? Leave a review, subscribe, or share the episode—it helps others find these stories.
📬 Got a story to share? Reach out at getsomepodcast.com/contact
1
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Paul Johnson: ~from Get Some Podcast Studio. I'm Paul Johnson. One story every week. Stories that go where they want. We just follow. If you're here for great stories that connect, you're in the right place. Today. We continue our series. If only stories where history pivots on a moment where you can't help but wonder.~
2
00:01:00,000 --> 00:02:00,000
doesn't care. In 2024, Paul flew to his first airplane, ultra marathon minimalist kit.
3
00:02:00,000 --> 00:03:00,000
you'll be a dot on a map. People will know you're okay. Sure if only the dots obeyed. For context, the divide 200 is a 200 mile point to point foot race. Across the Southern Canadian Rockies, runners have five days to finish moving checkpoint to checkpoint with minimal outside support.
4
00:03:00,000 --> 00:04:00,000
a little bit of hate mail.
5
00:04:00,000 --> 00:05:00,000
real. They top out, they traverse, they descend, and then somewhere near 64 kilometers, one colossal mistake.
6
00:05:00,000 --> 00:06:00,000
Harder. Dawn, a blue object on the road below, not salvation. The water jugs at the bottom of Whistler Mountain. They've looped the mountains and returned to the start of the climb. Cut off, gone Race over humiliation is a quiet animal. It sits in your throat and won't swallow.
7
00:06:00,000 --> 00:07:00,000
torn space, blankets on ground that refused warmth, pushing over four climbs, and back to Kootenay Pass for the coin.
8
00:07:00,000 --> 00:08:00,000
fuel. So here's the 2025 thesis, no sugar coat. This is revenge and redemption, but not the movie version. No swelling strings. Just better batteries, cleaner systems, tighter crew calls, and the humility to stop and reorient when the data and the gut disagree.
9
00:08:00,000 --> 00:09:00,000
That costs a race and how you design a comeback.
10
00:09:00,000 --> 00:10:00,000
the third member of this little expedition.
11
00:10:00,000 --> 00:11:00,000
the way you do before a big effort.
12
00:11:00,000 --> 00:12:00,000
Lunch at Soo Sushi in Pincher Creek. Stop at the co-op Canadian activists collecting signatures to affirm Alberta's place in Canada, a small civic moment against the backdrop of his private physical quest.
13
00:12:00,000 --> 00:13:00,000
meeting and welcome dinner. ~Matt Shepherd's course Presenta~ Matt Shepherd's course presentation, sharp and detailed maps, elevations, warnings.
14
00:13:00,000 --> 00:14:00,000
runners surfacing footsteps on the stairs. Zippers a low murmur of strangers sharing the same nerves.
15
00:14:00,000 --> 00:15:00,000
drifting toward it, but not too close.
16
00:15:00,000 --> 00:16:00,000
Three Welshman at the start. Christopher Allen, Nicholas Lyons, Daniel Morgan, laughter, camaraderie. Temperature low, fifties exactly. 8:00 AM Friday, September 12th, 51. Runners step off. Brian Gallant, the race director on an e-bike.
17
00:16:00,000 --> 00:17:00,000
774 West Castle Valley opens part postcard, part proving ground pine and spruce forests clinging to the slopes.
18
00:17:00,000 --> 00:18:00,000
blade, Alpine meadows turning rocky snow fields lingering into August. Sunkist peak ahead beyond the tree line at kilometer 16. One false summit after another. Dark clouds to the west breeze, pushing them away.
19
00:18:00,000 --> 00:19:00,000
potatoes. Hot chocolate too early to know it yet, but he drew and Christopher Allen will all finish within 30 minutes of each other.
20
00:19:00,000 --> 00:20:00,000
kilometers of steady climbing to first peak at kilometer 59. Volunteers cheering lightning in distance above tree line at kilometers 60. Trail shifts from path to suggestion reflective markers blinking like breadcrumbs.
21
00:20:00,000 --> 00:21:00,000
under the Stars Checkpoint three at Beaver Mines Lake Road.
22
00:21:00,000 --> 00:22:00,000
Headlamp still holding strong since 8:30 the night before. 6:00 AM sun bleeding into the sky. Course bends north at kilometer 78. Couple of climbs after kilometer 80, but nothing like the ridges before kilometer 82. Trees open into Truck Box, meadow Trail, or Pine Martin Trail by kilometer 84, mostly downhill.
23
00:22:00,000 --> 00:23:00,000
AM. Kilometer 92. Christopher waiting.
24
00:23:00,000 --> 00:24:00,000
mountain air, but you can feel the warmth coming on. The kind of day where shade is currency, 19 kilometers to the next stop.
25
00:24:00,000 --> 00:25:00,000
95. Paul Ducks off the trail for a 15 minute nap. Forest, quiet ground as a rough pillow ~when he gets up. Drew Gibson ~when he gets up, drew Gibson is coming toward him. Worried. I haven't seen course markings in over a kilometer.
26
00:25:00,000 --> 00:26:00,000
rolling terrain. After that, up and down toward Lynx Creek kilometer 193. Merge with the great divide trail.
27
00:26:00,000 --> 00:27:00,000
PM. A small party in the wilderness. Nicholas and Daniel already there two volunteers dressed as Pickles. Brenda Shaughnessy, they shared miles last year. Jerry Diesel, D all warmth and resourcefulness.
28
00:27:00,000 --> 00:28:00,000
pouch bathroom, repack the vest day. Still bright. Ready for the next stretch of unknown.
29
00:28:00,000 --> 00:29:00,000
up to Willoughby Ridge. Two o'clock he pulls off trail for a 10 minute nap. ~ATVs buzz past in a string each time. He steps aside.~ ATVs, buzz past in a string each time he steps aside. No room for both. kilometer. 117, 3:30 pm Another short, spur, another nap.
30
00:29:00,000 --> 00:30:00,000
Mountain to the east. Darah McGladrey Coulthard to the west. Kilometer 1 24. A snarl of downed trees Paul turns right, leaves the Great divide trail.
31
00:30:00,000 --> 00:31:00,000
few cars.
32
00:31:00,000 --> 00:32:00,000
Switch into the old Altras heel, rubber flapping. Christopher calls them. Done Paul calls them comfortable. One last race together. Christopher will pace all the way back to checkpoint 10.
33
00:32:00,000 --> 00:33:00,000
Reflective tape glinting. Crows nest river below highway overhead.
34
00:33:00,000 --> 00:34:00,000
Nutrition is hard to get down.
35
00:34:00,000 --> 00:35:00,000
Climbing again. Kit Kats become Paul's secret Weapon breaks at 153 and 158. crest at a saddle at 159. Three more minutes at 161 Nausea, fades, replaced by brittle anticipation.
36
00:35:00,000 --> 00:36:00,000
closing around them.
37
00:36:00,000 --> 00:37:00,000
South race Horse Creek on their right for the first five kilometers. Water like glass Paul steps off for a quick bio break. A tiny ritual of order in a long day. Kilometer 1 78 Christopher Checks Caltopo.
38
00:37:00,000 --> 00:38:00,000
Racehorse Peak Mount Secord, Mount Domke ghost shapes on the skyline down 869 feet to kilometer 191 up. 853 to kilometer, 194 down 653 feet to 195, up 860 feet to 198.
39
00:38:00,000 --> 00:39:00,000
kilometer 199. Paul calls out runner number 12, volunteer Checks spot Walla. Sees nothing. All race. There's been no runner. 12. She says for a moment she wonders if Paul has wandered in from somewhere else. Paul hands over the Garmin in reach screen blank. Volunteer gives it a quick charge.
40
00:39:00,000 --> 00:40:00,000
Female grizzly with Cubs near Window Mountain Lake. Campers charged and followed. No injuries. Race halts runners. Approaching Checkpoint eight. Implements a reroute. Staff give directions. Paul asks, is it marked? Yes. Green course markers. They step out into a course.
41
00:40:00,000 --> 00:41:00,000
to the right mount ward to the left. Almost immediately. The reroute left turn tight switchbacks, green markers hiding in green trees kilometer 205.
42
00:41:00,000 --> 00:42:00,000
14 hook left onto the Great Divide Trail. Run the last kilometer into Western Adventures. 11:00 PM Sunday. Checkpoint lights spilling into the night.
43
00:42:00,000 --> 00:43:00,000
decides to go with Andrea, Mike, Wendzina is also leaving. ~He walks to the start of the next segment with mixed feelings like stepping off a ledge.~ He walks to the start of the next segment with mixed feelings like stepping off a ledge.
44
00:43:00,000 --> 00:44:00,000
his footing slips, he lunges, grabs bushes, a branch, pulls himself back up. Scrapes Bruises, a mental blow dim light course markers harder to spot ~back and forth at kilometer 220 before fi ~back and forth at kilometer 220 before finding one kilometer 221.
45
00:44:00,000 --> 00:45:00,000
Trail. Under power lines around the south side of the Coleman Fish and Game Pond kilometer 2 25, McGillivray staging area. Still under the wires
46
00:45:00,000 --> 00:46:00,000
Coleman Relief ~under the highway over the river orange cones.~
47
00:46:00,000 --> 00:47:00,000
with the Altras. Not ready for the other Hokas forecast. Rain all day. He remembers pacing this section last year with Scott Jenkins rain all night. Brutal, endless. Now it's Monday morning and he's heading back out.
48
00:47:00,000 --> 00:48:00,000
but the mysterious battery drain makes it useless for navigation.
49
00:48:00,000 --> 00:49:00,000
wet trail talking geopolitics while stepping over puddles.
50
00:49:00,000 --> 00:50:00,000
knees.
51
00:50:00,000 --> 00:51:00,000
Aravaipa jersey slips into the fire. Gone. Paul Shrugs reassures the volunteers
52
00:51:00,000 --> 00:52:00,000
as well as his own.
53
00:52:00,000 --> 00:53:00,000
594 feet to kilometer 2 68. Third climb at two 70. Cross Lost Creek on a warped bridge that still holds ~up again. 700~ up again. 705 feet, to 274. Sun sliding down the horizon.
54
00:53:00,000 --> 00:54:00,000
daylight Gone Volunteers tending a Fire. Larry Malmgren's there just down from the pass.
55
00:54:00,000 --> 00:55:00,000
to the pass. Volunteer points at a parked ATV pass on the right drop off on the left. Chris Brown and his pacer are likely on their way back.
56
00:55:00,000 --> 00:56:00,000
streak alive. Compliments Paul's pace disappears into the dark ~near the two kilometer Mark. Scott comes back down, you'll see.~ Near the two kilometer Mark Scott comes back down. ~You'll see soon.~ You'll soon see Chris Brown's headlamp and he does two small beams descending the mountain.
57
00:56:00,000 --> 00:57:00,000
places it carefully, securely in his pocket.
58
00:57:00,000 --> 00:58:00,000
AM kilometer 2 88. Paul reaches check point 12 again just before they arrive. Hot chocolate in hand. Scott announces you've got four hours to get out of check.
59
00:58:00,000 --> 00:59:00,000
stop. A male voice. What the hell? A female voice. What was it? It's the checkpoint. ATV. Scott leans out. If I don't see you within 30 minutes at the next checkpoint, I'll send help.
60
00:59:00,000 --> 01:00:00,000
Oldman part of the South Saskatchewan River basin. Known for trout and cold clarity ~mixed forests on both sides. Water threading the dark.~ Mixed forests on both sides. Water threading the dark. He focuses on efficient motion in the distance.
61
01:00:00,000 --> 01:01:00,000
Tuesday kilometer, 2 98, checkpoint 13 Carbondale Road Camping area five. He heads for the sleep tent. 20 minutes under Christopher's watch, wake Change clothes, clean and lube feet race official with a flashlight. How are you feeling? Good. How are your feet. They feel great. They look great. Good luck,
62
01:01:00,000 --> 01:02:00,000
23 kilometers, five hours noon or nothing. 5:15 AM Tuesday kilometer, 298, Paul and Christopher Johnson step into the dark. Headlamps on air. Cool enough to sting. Christopher Allen and Drew Gibson. Leave about the same time. They are the last runners still in the race.
63
01:02:00,000 --> 01:03:00,000
will be slow with the climb, he says, but we'll make it up later.
64
01:03:00,000 --> 01:04:00,000
bear scat laced with red seeds, dusky grouse, flushing like ghosts.
65
01:04:00,000 --> 01:05:00,000
side. Two of Emma's pacers are out for a jog. She isn't with them. A serious injury forced her to drop her pacers. Moving is like a parallel universe. A flicker of normal life in the middle of Paul's long March
66
01:05:00,000 --> 01:06:00,000
says he's been sent to guide them in, says they've got plenty of time. After days of climbing, guessing, and clock watching, the finish line feels close enough to believe in.
67
01:06:00,000 --> 01:07:00,000
The metallic clink of cowbells, the smell of food that isn't freeze dried. Scott runs just ahead. Turning back every few seconds, urging them forward. Like a pilot car leading a convoy.
68
01:07:00,000 --> 01:08:00,000
headlamps drives through the night, course marking and quiet watchfulness.
69
01:08:00,000 --> 01:09:00,000
fields, all telescope down to this. Standing at the finish line alive. Still moving, officially finished.
70
01:09:00,000 --> 01:10:00,000
power with Christopher Pacing first action at crewed aid. Plug in everything. IPhone, Coros, waist lamps, headlamps, meta glasses. The iPhone remained a black hole dead minutes after leaving. Navigation and stress both took hits.
71
01:10:00,000 --> 01:11:00,000
checkpoint 9, then check point 13 all the way to the finish. More than logistics. An anchor Shoes, and feet Hoka Teton X3 standouts. gaiters sealing out scree old Altras. One last race. Regular sock changes, foot cleaning, Vaseline right big toe blister popped near Goat Creek.
72
01:11:00,000 --> 01:12:00,000
320 kilometers. Shortest. Nap, two minutes. Longest, one hour Hashimoto's in the background. thermo regulation, energy recovery. Moving Targets managed with layers and pacing, ~problem solving and vehicle problem solving, and vehicle Bronco from Turo, great transport few, camper comforts, lost cords, iPhone Power draw.~
73
01:12:00,000 --> 01:13:00,000
30 minute pings. Pocket carry still vanished from the map because Spot Walla pulls from Garmin servers. Any delay gap, battery drop breaks the illusion of real time. For multi-day mountain races, that's a safety issue.
74
01:13:00,000 --> 01:14:00,000
naps and ditches. Conversations with strangers, Pacers, who showed up at the right time. Not a clean story, a mosaic. pressed into the plaque. The coin holds it all together.
75
01:14:00,000 --> 01:15:00,000
only half woke from when an ATV almost rolled over You. You think about your pacer Christopher, who crewed drove charged gear and then ran more than a hundred kilometers beside you.
76
01:15:00,000 --> 01:16:00,000
a literal piece of the course.
77
01:16:00,000 --> 01:16:00,000
episode. ~Next week we continue our series if only stories where history pivots on a moment where you can't help but wonder what if. Our next story is about Jeffrey Hinton. The man often called the godfather of ai. He spent decades chasing an idea. Almost no one believed in that machines could learn like the human brain.~
00:00:00,000 --> 00:01:00,000
Paul Johnson: ~from Get Some Podcast Studio. I'm Paul Johnson. One story every week. Stories that go where they want. We just follow. If you're here for great stories that connect, you're in the right place. Today. We continue our series. If only stories where history pivots on a moment where you can't help but wonder.~
2
00:01:00,000 --> 00:02:00,000
doesn't care. In 2024, Paul flew to his first airplane, ultra marathon minimalist kit.
3
00:02:00,000 --> 00:03:00,000
you'll be a dot on a map. People will know you're okay. Sure if only the dots obeyed. For context, the divide 200 is a 200 mile point to point foot race. Across the Southern Canadian Rockies, runners have five days to finish moving checkpoint to checkpoint with minimal outside support.
4
00:03:00,000 --> 00:04:00,000
a little bit of hate mail.
5
00:04:00,000 --> 00:05:00,000
real. They top out, they traverse, they descend, and then somewhere near 64 kilometers, one colossal mistake.
6
00:05:00,000 --> 00:06:00,000
Harder. Dawn, a blue object on the road below, not salvation. The water jugs at the bottom of Whistler Mountain. They've looped the mountains and returned to the start of the climb. Cut off, gone Race over humiliation is a quiet animal. It sits in your throat and won't swallow.
7
00:06:00,000 --> 00:07:00,000
torn space, blankets on ground that refused warmth, pushing over four climbs, and back to Kootenay Pass for the coin.
8
00:07:00,000 --> 00:08:00,000
fuel. So here's the 2025 thesis, no sugar coat. This is revenge and redemption, but not the movie version. No swelling strings. Just better batteries, cleaner systems, tighter crew calls, and the humility to stop and reorient when the data and the gut disagree.
9
00:08:00,000 --> 00:09:00,000
That costs a race and how you design a comeback.
10
00:09:00,000 --> 00:10:00,000
the third member of this little expedition.
11
00:10:00,000 --> 00:11:00,000
the way you do before a big effort.
12
00:11:00,000 --> 00:12:00,000
Lunch at Soo Sushi in Pincher Creek. Stop at the co-op Canadian activists collecting signatures to affirm Alberta's place in Canada, a small civic moment against the backdrop of his private physical quest.
13
00:12:00,000 --> 00:13:00,000
meeting and welcome dinner. ~Matt Shepherd's course Presenta~ Matt Shepherd's course presentation, sharp and detailed maps, elevations, warnings.
14
00:13:00,000 --> 00:14:00,000
runners surfacing footsteps on the stairs. Zippers a low murmur of strangers sharing the same nerves.
15
00:14:00,000 --> 00:15:00,000
drifting toward it, but not too close.
16
00:15:00,000 --> 00:16:00,000
Three Welshman at the start. Christopher Allen, Nicholas Lyons, Daniel Morgan, laughter, camaraderie. Temperature low, fifties exactly. 8:00 AM Friday, September 12th, 51. Runners step off. Brian Gallant, the race director on an e-bike.
17
00:16:00,000 --> 00:17:00,000
774 West Castle Valley opens part postcard, part proving ground pine and spruce forests clinging to the slopes.
18
00:17:00,000 --> 00:18:00,000
blade, Alpine meadows turning rocky snow fields lingering into August. Sunkist peak ahead beyond the tree line at kilometer 16. One false summit after another. Dark clouds to the west breeze, pushing them away.
19
00:18:00,000 --> 00:19:00,000
potatoes. Hot chocolate too early to know it yet, but he drew and Christopher Allen will all finish within 30 minutes of each other.
20
00:19:00,000 --> 00:20:00,000
kilometers of steady climbing to first peak at kilometer 59. Volunteers cheering lightning in distance above tree line at kilometers 60. Trail shifts from path to suggestion reflective markers blinking like breadcrumbs.
21
00:20:00,000 --> 00:21:00,000
under the Stars Checkpoint three at Beaver Mines Lake Road.
22
00:21:00,000 --> 00:22:00,000
Headlamp still holding strong since 8:30 the night before. 6:00 AM sun bleeding into the sky. Course bends north at kilometer 78. Couple of climbs after kilometer 80, but nothing like the ridges before kilometer 82. Trees open into Truck Box, meadow Trail, or Pine Martin Trail by kilometer 84, mostly downhill.
23
00:22:00,000 --> 00:23:00,000
AM. Kilometer 92. Christopher waiting.
24
00:23:00,000 --> 00:24:00,000
mountain air, but you can feel the warmth coming on. The kind of day where shade is currency, 19 kilometers to the next stop.
25
00:24:00,000 --> 00:25:00,000
95. Paul Ducks off the trail for a 15 minute nap. Forest, quiet ground as a rough pillow ~when he gets up. Drew Gibson ~when he gets up, drew Gibson is coming toward him. Worried. I haven't seen course markings in over a kilometer.
26
00:25:00,000 --> 00:26:00,000
rolling terrain. After that, up and down toward Lynx Creek kilometer 193. Merge with the great divide trail.
27
00:26:00,000 --> 00:27:00,000
PM. A small party in the wilderness. Nicholas and Daniel already there two volunteers dressed as Pickles. Brenda Shaughnessy, they shared miles last year. Jerry Diesel, D all warmth and resourcefulness.
28
00:27:00,000 --> 00:28:00,000
pouch bathroom, repack the vest day. Still bright. Ready for the next stretch of unknown.
29
00:28:00,000 --> 00:29:00,000
up to Willoughby Ridge. Two o'clock he pulls off trail for a 10 minute nap. ~ATVs buzz past in a string each time. He steps aside.~ ATVs, buzz past in a string each time he steps aside. No room for both. kilometer. 117, 3:30 pm Another short, spur, another nap.
30
00:29:00,000 --> 00:30:00,000
Mountain to the east. Darah McGladrey Coulthard to the west. Kilometer 1 24. A snarl of downed trees Paul turns right, leaves the Great divide trail.
31
00:30:00,000 --> 00:31:00,000
few cars.
32
00:31:00,000 --> 00:32:00,000
Switch into the old Altras heel, rubber flapping. Christopher calls them. Done Paul calls them comfortable. One last race together. Christopher will pace all the way back to checkpoint 10.
33
00:32:00,000 --> 00:33:00,000
Reflective tape glinting. Crows nest river below highway overhead.
34
00:33:00,000 --> 00:34:00,000
Nutrition is hard to get down.
35
00:34:00,000 --> 00:35:00,000
Climbing again. Kit Kats become Paul's secret Weapon breaks at 153 and 158. crest at a saddle at 159. Three more minutes at 161 Nausea, fades, replaced by brittle anticipation.
36
00:35:00,000 --> 00:36:00,000
closing around them.
37
00:36:00,000 --> 00:37:00,000
South race Horse Creek on their right for the first five kilometers. Water like glass Paul steps off for a quick bio break. A tiny ritual of order in a long day. Kilometer 1 78 Christopher Checks Caltopo.
38
00:37:00,000 --> 00:38:00,000
Racehorse Peak Mount Secord, Mount Domke ghost shapes on the skyline down 869 feet to kilometer 191 up. 853 to kilometer, 194 down 653 feet to 195, up 860 feet to 198.
39
00:38:00,000 --> 00:39:00,000
kilometer 199. Paul calls out runner number 12, volunteer Checks spot Walla. Sees nothing. All race. There's been no runner. 12. She says for a moment she wonders if Paul has wandered in from somewhere else. Paul hands over the Garmin in reach screen blank. Volunteer gives it a quick charge.
40
00:39:00,000 --> 00:40:00,000
Female grizzly with Cubs near Window Mountain Lake. Campers charged and followed. No injuries. Race halts runners. Approaching Checkpoint eight. Implements a reroute. Staff give directions. Paul asks, is it marked? Yes. Green course markers. They step out into a course.
41
00:40:00,000 --> 00:41:00,000
to the right mount ward to the left. Almost immediately. The reroute left turn tight switchbacks, green markers hiding in green trees kilometer 205.
42
00:41:00,000 --> 00:42:00,000
14 hook left onto the Great Divide Trail. Run the last kilometer into Western Adventures. 11:00 PM Sunday. Checkpoint lights spilling into the night.
43
00:42:00,000 --> 00:43:00,000
decides to go with Andrea, Mike, Wendzina is also leaving. ~He walks to the start of the next segment with mixed feelings like stepping off a ledge.~ He walks to the start of the next segment with mixed feelings like stepping off a ledge.
44
00:43:00,000 --> 00:44:00,000
his footing slips, he lunges, grabs bushes, a branch, pulls himself back up. Scrapes Bruises, a mental blow dim light course markers harder to spot ~back and forth at kilometer 220 before fi ~back and forth at kilometer 220 before finding one kilometer 221.
45
00:44:00,000 --> 00:45:00,000
Trail. Under power lines around the south side of the Coleman Fish and Game Pond kilometer 2 25, McGillivray staging area. Still under the wires
46
00:45:00,000 --> 00:46:00,000
Coleman Relief ~under the highway over the river orange cones.~
47
00:46:00,000 --> 00:47:00,000
with the Altras. Not ready for the other Hokas forecast. Rain all day. He remembers pacing this section last year with Scott Jenkins rain all night. Brutal, endless. Now it's Monday morning and he's heading back out.
48
00:47:00,000 --> 00:48:00,000
but the mysterious battery drain makes it useless for navigation.
49
00:48:00,000 --> 00:49:00,000
wet trail talking geopolitics while stepping over puddles.
50
00:49:00,000 --> 00:50:00,000
knees.
51
00:50:00,000 --> 00:51:00,000
Aravaipa jersey slips into the fire. Gone. Paul Shrugs reassures the volunteers
52
00:51:00,000 --> 00:52:00,000
as well as his own.
53
00:52:00,000 --> 00:53:00,000
594 feet to kilometer 2 68. Third climb at two 70. Cross Lost Creek on a warped bridge that still holds ~up again. 700~ up again. 705 feet, to 274. Sun sliding down the horizon.
54
00:53:00,000 --> 00:54:00,000
daylight Gone Volunteers tending a Fire. Larry Malmgren's there just down from the pass.
55
00:54:00,000 --> 00:55:00,000
to the pass. Volunteer points at a parked ATV pass on the right drop off on the left. Chris Brown and his pacer are likely on their way back.
56
00:55:00,000 --> 00:56:00,000
streak alive. Compliments Paul's pace disappears into the dark ~near the two kilometer Mark. Scott comes back down, you'll see.~ Near the two kilometer Mark Scott comes back down. ~You'll see soon.~ You'll soon see Chris Brown's headlamp and he does two small beams descending the mountain.
57
00:56:00,000 --> 00:57:00,000
places it carefully, securely in his pocket.
58
00:57:00,000 --> 00:58:00,000
AM kilometer 2 88. Paul reaches check point 12 again just before they arrive. Hot chocolate in hand. Scott announces you've got four hours to get out of check.
59
00:58:00,000 --> 00:59:00,000
stop. A male voice. What the hell? A female voice. What was it? It's the checkpoint. ATV. Scott leans out. If I don't see you within 30 minutes at the next checkpoint, I'll send help.
60
00:59:00,000 --> 01:00:00,000
Oldman part of the South Saskatchewan River basin. Known for trout and cold clarity ~mixed forests on both sides. Water threading the dark.~ Mixed forests on both sides. Water threading the dark. He focuses on efficient motion in the distance.
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Tuesday kilometer, 2 98, checkpoint 13 Carbondale Road Camping area five. He heads for the sleep tent. 20 minutes under Christopher's watch, wake Change clothes, clean and lube feet race official with a flashlight. How are you feeling? Good. How are your feet. They feel great. They look great. Good luck,
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23 kilometers, five hours noon or nothing. 5:15 AM Tuesday kilometer, 298, Paul and Christopher Johnson step into the dark. Headlamps on air. Cool enough to sting. Christopher Allen and Drew Gibson. Leave about the same time. They are the last runners still in the race.
63
01:02:00,000 --> 01:03:00,000
will be slow with the climb, he says, but we'll make it up later.
64
01:03:00,000 --> 01:04:00,000
bear scat laced with red seeds, dusky grouse, flushing like ghosts.
65
01:04:00,000 --> 01:05:00,000
side. Two of Emma's pacers are out for a jog. She isn't with them. A serious injury forced her to drop her pacers. Moving is like a parallel universe. A flicker of normal life in the middle of Paul's long March
66
01:05:00,000 --> 01:06:00,000
says he's been sent to guide them in, says they've got plenty of time. After days of climbing, guessing, and clock watching, the finish line feels close enough to believe in.
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The metallic clink of cowbells, the smell of food that isn't freeze dried. Scott runs just ahead. Turning back every few seconds, urging them forward. Like a pilot car leading a convoy.
68
01:07:00,000 --> 01:08:00,000
headlamps drives through the night, course marking and quiet watchfulness.
69
01:08:00,000 --> 01:09:00,000
fields, all telescope down to this. Standing at the finish line alive. Still moving, officially finished.
70
01:09:00,000 --> 01:10:00,000
power with Christopher Pacing first action at crewed aid. Plug in everything. IPhone, Coros, waist lamps, headlamps, meta glasses. The iPhone remained a black hole dead minutes after leaving. Navigation and stress both took hits.
71
01:10:00,000 --> 01:11:00,000
checkpoint 9, then check point 13 all the way to the finish. More than logistics. An anchor Shoes, and feet Hoka Teton X3 standouts. gaiters sealing out scree old Altras. One last race. Regular sock changes, foot cleaning, Vaseline right big toe blister popped near Goat Creek.
72
01:11:00,000 --> 01:12:00,000
320 kilometers. Shortest. Nap, two minutes. Longest, one hour Hashimoto's in the background. thermo regulation, energy recovery. Moving Targets managed with layers and pacing, ~problem solving and vehicle problem solving, and vehicle Bronco from Turo, great transport few, camper comforts, lost cords, iPhone Power draw.~
73
01:12:00,000 --> 01:13:00,000
30 minute pings. Pocket carry still vanished from the map because Spot Walla pulls from Garmin servers. Any delay gap, battery drop breaks the illusion of real time. For multi-day mountain races, that's a safety issue.
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naps and ditches. Conversations with strangers, Pacers, who showed up at the right time. Not a clean story, a mosaic. pressed into the plaque. The coin holds it all together.
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only half woke from when an ATV almost rolled over You. You think about your pacer Christopher, who crewed drove charged gear and then ran more than a hundred kilometers beside you.
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a literal piece of the course.
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episode. ~Next week we continue our series if only stories where history pivots on a moment where you can't help but wonder what if. Our next story is about Jeffrey Hinton. The man often called the godfather of ai. He spent decades chasing an idea. Almost no one believed in that machines could learn like the human brain.~
