The above painting was done by our dear friend and ITI 350 foot champion, Kari Gibbons. The painting is of Ryan walking down the trail, with his ruff and headlamp ushering him forward. It also looks like a nicely packed down trail, so good for them in this moment ;-) You can see it displayed in our house all year, but I look at it often during race month. It was such a fun gift Kari gave me, asking to present this gift to Ryan...I'm not saying full water works, but there may have been some single tear action.
In 2020, Kari and Ryan, along with current 1000 foot racers, Faye and Jeff, tackled the ITI 350 on foot as rookies...their midwesterness bonded them, as did their wide eyes at the whole thing. It was perfect. That and Kari's a hysterical, wonderful breath of fresh air (my Mel George's fam, Kari's real fam, Rhende and Fred aren't too shabby either...dingah, dingah!)
Kari came back in 2021, winning the Women's ITI 350 Foot race. Bad. Ass.
If the name Kari sounds familiar to you this year, it's because she, along with a number of other Bad. Ass. current and/or former ITI female racers are providing significantly superior recaps and updates as the race unfolds (and here's where I also give a special thank you to Jill Homer, who's partner Beat Jegerlehner, competing in the 1000 foot race, has spent numerous hours with Ryan...both are uber veterans of the race, and their insights on the trail have been invaluable over the years...this year is no exception! I'm only sorry I don't have any pictures of you to share Jill!) . If you want, head on over to the ITI website for a much better sense of the race!
Now, on to Ryan's race (sorry, I had to justify the random pictures, a result of no pics from RyWan):
Ryan left McGrath (306) after 18 blissful hours of camaraderie, rest, and repair. With fellow racer Leah's new tracker in tow, Ryan pedaled on to their meet-up spot in Takotna (325). The trail was painfully slow, softening up with the rising temperatures. If it's not bitterly cold, it's too soft and slow...apparently, ITI can't win for losing.
Ryan arrived (8:30pm) to a surprise accommodation of "a little red cabin. Before the school. With a satellite on the roof. [that] You can use stove/bathroom or nap...[and] Great heater in it too for drying clothes." Yes, we communicate like cavemen..got to love the lack of context and detail provided through inReach communication ;-) Ryan took off about 8 hours (naptime!) later at 4:30am. It may seem unnecessarily early, but if the trail's soft the best time to move is during the coldest hours of the day. The goal was to hit the town of Ophir and continue on to the Carlson Crossing Shelter Cabin; all dependent on whether the trail allowed. The trails must be decent, as he turned and burned in Ophir (346) at 2:10pm, staying about an hour.
Hopeful for 28 more miles down the trail and the shelter cabin at mile 374. Ryan's currently listening to Rascal, a childhood favorite...maybe it's been long enough he doesn't remember how it ends and will keep pedaling until he hears the end. Maybe? Probably not.
On an unrelated note, I got Theo a basketball...it's my hope that he'll exhaust himself trying to dispute the fact he can't physically get this in his mouth. Even if it's punctured and flat after 4 hours, it's $5 well worth it! [update: it lasted 6 hours on the nuts...dog teeth are not to be trifled with]
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