After running a fast six miles Saturday morning, catching a 3 hour nap, driving 2 hours so Westville, Okla and then back, I readied myself for my all night run. My house, to 11th Street near downtown, and then south to Jenks, east to Broken Arrow, and on to NSU, and then back. There were 20 people running with me for some of the way during the night. I truly have awesome friends!!

Pictured from left to right are Tatur Uno, Tatur Dave, Charlotte, Curtis, Alex, Earl, Kathy, Dennis, Rob, Mark, Cameron (the little guy), Vicky (in back), Ken, and Aaron, Me sitting, and Brian acting goofy. Glenn must have been powdering his nose, because I know he started with us.

We headed north down the new paved trail on the west bank. Quickly, we divided into two groups....the FAST group, and the group I always seem to be in. 7.25 miles later, we hit our first aid station. Dana had brought a huge ice chest full of water and Gatorade, chips, Fritos, and a few other snacks.At this point, Mark and Cameron, Curtis, Alex, and Brian caught a ride back to their cars. Earl had ran from his house, and was through when he passed his house. By the time I reached his house, we was showered and had his jammies on. Smart man!

Because of the demolition of the trail on Riverside between 31st and 51st, we detoured and ran through Brookside right down Peoria. While running by Crows Creek Tavern and some of the other watering holes along the way, we were cheered along by some of the patrons. I had no idea that Ultra-running was followed so closely by the main-stream beer drinkers! At one of the bars, a couple of girls joined us in our run. Tina and Tracy actually ran about 5 blocks with us, in street clothes and flip flops. Kind of like "running with Karno" except it was running with Ken.Tina and Tracy, you were good sports!

Dana met us again at 71st Street where Ken Saveth caught a ride back to his car. Dennis and Charlotte ran with us to Jenks, and then returned northward and crossed 71st and headed to my house ending up with about 23 miles. Roman jumped in with us at Jenks and ran with us all the way to NSU for 15 miles.

Tatur Dave had said in his blog that if we did not hear from him after this night run it would be because he had died. I am sad to say that he did indeed die along the way, right in front of a MEC unit.Kathy checks for a pulse....no....he's gone.Never being one to miss out on an opportunity, Kathy promptly "lifts" Tatur Dave's wallet.

Along the way, Bee Sting Bob joined us, and he ran with us until Sheridan where he and Glen called it a night. Bee Sting had stashed a very nice array of goodies at Sheridan including BEER, cupcakes, and other goodies. Curtis also had an oasis placed at Harvard. Vicky placed several other aid stops every 3 miles or so all the way to NSU. We never went hungry or thirsty despite the long night and humid conditions. Aaron called it at Garnett, and Rob and Vicky kept a torrid pace all the way, steadily increasing their lead on us all night long.

The night wore on, and we kept the pace. Roman, Kathy, Tatur Uno, and I (and Tatur Dave! I was just kidding about his untimely death!) stayed together, and laughed and joked, and sang song....very old songs. Dave knows songs that were in the top 40 before Marconi invented radio.

Tatur Uno chilling at a water stop.
Kathy adds to the rust problem on this steel bridge. Finally, after 32.7 miles, we reached NSU. I drank some flavor of Gatorade that did not set well, ate a couple of PBJs, and considered dropping. Uno was through, Kathy was feeling a little sick, and had to work the next day, so she called it a night as well. Rob and Vicky had finished earlier, and they were on their way home. That left Tatur Dave and I. We decided to go for it. This was Dave's longest run ever. Dave has done a a few marathons and a couple of 50Ks, so every step was in uncharted territory. But with 20 more miles, it seemed doable. So away we went. Our pace was as quick as 9:30 at times, and averaged between 10:10 and 12:50 for most of our mile splits on the return trip.

Now long distance runners let gas rip along the way. Be honest, you know you do! Somewhere before crossing Elm in Broken Arrow, Tatur Dave said he needed to find a Quik Trip soon to tidy up a little. One such letting had turned out to be a little more than he expected, and to avoid having a major rash, he wanted to freshen up. I told him that at Elm, a Quik Trip was about a mile north, and at Sheridan a QT was about 1/2 mile south. But at Elm, there was an all night Wal-Mart right there. However, the entrance to the store was maybe .25 miles from where the trail crossed, and then .25 back. Dave decided he had sweat enough that maybe he could get by without any attention. It was at that very instant that I saw a nice clean washcloth right in the middle of the trail. I pointed at it, and Dave said, "Hmm, a wash cloth."
"No," I said, "It's a blessing from Heaven. Just as God provided manna for the Israelites, He had provided a clean wash rag for you to wipe your butt!" So, business was taken care of, and Dave mentioned that he hoped someone did not find the washcloth and think God had provided a rag for them to blow their nose with! TMI??....maybe!

Later, it was warming up, and I mentioned that it would be so nice for a north breeze to blow in. Not 30 seconds later, we got that breeze, and it stayed with us for much of the remaining run. With temperatures rising to 83, the breeze made the run bearable.

After 46 miles we had somehow gone the wrong way!!!!

The last 1.6 miles were uphill across the 71st Street bridge. I run this a couple times a week, and run it non-stop, but this morning after 50 miles, it was a real challenge. We did walk about .25 of the steepest part. A marathon is 26.2 miles, Two marathons is 52.4 miles. Tatur Dave and I ran 52.6 miles overnight. Not bad, I think. Just knocked out a couple of marathons for a long run.Next time you see Tatur Dave wearing his RunnersWorld shirt, ask him.