Congrats Mister Crisman :)

Slugs,
Below note from Mark Crisman, who finished his 100th marathon/ultra in Austin last Sunday.
Congrats Mark! It's been a BLAST getting to know you.
Happy Days,
Hitman.

All-

In the grand scheme of things what I'm about to share
with you pales in comparison with what truely is
important in our world today such as the gift of life,
family and friends.

I, like many of you, have relied on my love of running
to deal with the stresses that life challenges each of
us with. I've witnessed absolutely incredible mental
and physical feats by individuals who from at first
glance seem nothing but ordinary but in reality
possess unbelievable inner fortitude, drive and desire
that the common man will never achieve.

Last Sunday, I completed the Austin Marathon which was
my 100th marathon or longer. This was only possible
due in large part to my good fortune to be associated
with most of you. Your encouragement over the years
was the catalyst that enabled me to reach this
personnel goal.

I want to thank my wife Nikki and my daughter Calley
for understanding my sickness (running) and supporting
me even when I can hardly walk and limped around for
days like 90-year man after every run. Of course, it's
understood that I receive no sympathy for my
self-inflected injuries.

Dann, thanks for constantly pushing me past my own
perceived limitations and providing miles of good
conversation and friendship.

Phil and Stacy, thanks for promoting our sport and
giving so much for so little in return and always
having cold Coors readily available at the end of a
brutal run.

Chong-Pin, thanks for exposing me to the Korean
culture and sharing many miles of running. I can
never fully repay you for your hospitality.

Team Slug (da hit man), thanks for making running fun!
I wear the Team Slug truckers hat with pride! I will
return to the Delaware coast one day.

Paul and Tony, thanks for kicking me in the ass when
running just wasn't doing it for me.

Jared, thanks for sharing my 100th and walking up the
damn hill at the 25 mile mark. I look forward to a
flatter, faster Houston course next year.

Thanks to all and look forward to sharing the road and
trail with you soon,

Mark

Congrats to Alisa Springman...

...of Mercersburg, PA; who won the 2007 RBC50K. She has been accepted into the 2008 Badwater Challenge.

Good Luck from all the Slugs.

Full list of entrants at: http://www.badwater.com/2008web/2008roster.html

Crazy Horse Ale being replaced???

Yes, the rumours are true! This is good stuff...with limes...
happy days from key west,
flatfoot freddie

Somebody call the Guv-ner of Florida...

...because when da'hitman and i; end up in the same state, for any amount of tyme, nothing good can happen. it'll be a miracle if i don't up in the brig before the end of the month; especially with runnin' man ratcheting up the rhetoric concerning the resurgence of the boggy bayou stomp. there be alli-gators down here, and da'hitman AND runnin' man don't seem to understand that antagonizing alli-gators by slogging through their swamp is NOT a good idea.

anyway; jimmy buffet's taking the edge off, and 'dem grapefruits looking good, and tasting mighty fine fer breakfast, with a tad of rum soaked in. hope all in slug-land are keeping warm tonight.

keepin' da'hitman outta trouble, flattest foot freddie

Asteroids, and The Planet Earth...

From the AP Wire Services:
The largest asteroid in more than 20-years missed earth early Tuesday
morning.
The asteroid, dubbed TU24, is two-thousand-feet wide and passed 334-thousand
miles from Earth a little after 3 o'clock in the morning. The city-block-sized asteroid
moving at a speed of 6 miles every second has 60 times as much energy as the
largest hydrogen bomb during the cold war. The next one that is expected to
pass as close or closer than TU24 will not occur until 2027 according to
scientists.


Tonight I was out in the cool evening air. It was very dark, and as I slogged along the sky kept drawing my attention. It seemed more expansive tonight, more incredibly, inconceivably huge. Tonight running in the dark, i felt small, and helpless, and lonely. And I thought about this huge rock that just came hurtling by our little planet. And I started thinking about life, and time. You see there is a rock coming, the size of a city block, at six miles a second; that is going to hit our fragile Planet Earth. Life as we know it will change forever. This is a fact. The only question is whether or not we'll be here when it happens.

And so when I get to thinking about these things and looking at the sky, I start to consider actions I've taken in my life, and how I've treated my family and friends. I've made mistakes, and I'm sorry for them. Further, I know that I don't tell them often enough that I care about them, and love them.

So tonight my friends, I want to share how much I appreciate the kindness that each of you have shared with me over so many years. Life, and time is precious. Please, please, take care of yourself, your family and friends. Make sure they know how much you care about them. In the end, nothing else will matter.

Happy Days,
john.

Wise Pokey Say,

" As with anything Team Slug, everything for us is a nonevent and as far as Ranger Rick is Concerned, we were never there."

Booty Rumble; Shake it, but don't Break it???

Okay guys here's what I came up with for the Booty Rumble nonevent in June:

Shake it, But don't Break it, it took 9 months to make it!
TSI presents the 2008 Booty Rumble 25K/50K Saturday June 21st, 2008

Team Slug is proud to offer a nonevent in the Delaware Heat in June. That's Right on June 21st, TSI is going to make history by bringing the Big, the Wide, the Flat, the Teenie, the Tiny, and Even the Broken Hineys to the first state for a Booty Rumble. For those desiring a fast trail run without going the full Ultra distance we offer the 25K and for those desiring a challenge and a crack at owning a world famous black slug shirt we will also have a 50K. Entry is limited to 15 or less. Remember this is a nonevent, Ranger Rick needn't know all the details. Cost is nothing for both 25K or 50K, although is you want a Rumble T-shirt and/or a teamslug shirt you'll need 10 US dollars a piece. Designs for the Rumble T-shirt will be made public sometime in the future, after consultation with Rumpshaker Slug to make sure we accurately capturing shaking it and having a good day. The course used is the same as RBC and Fattest Butt.
--
Pokey Slug...
e-mail threats to...
jtkrizzo@att.net

Congrats to All R.R. finishers!!!

And looking down the list,

2008 Rocky Raccoon Finishers

, I see da'slugs were well represented. Congrats to each of you, there's no doubt that finishing the hundred is an incredible athletic, and emotional, accomplishment. I don't want to go through all the names, as many of the slugs stay undercover (until the beer gets here), and i don't want to miss anyone.

Special congrats must go out to TSI Exec Board member King Slug, who reports,

When I started my last 40 miles I was nauseated. In fact, I was in Oh-No land. I made it 66 miles and was not able to keep anything down. I was a bit panicked but I just said that a 24-hour finish was not going to happen today. I pulled to the side and into the woods where no one could see me. I lay down and took a nap. I guess I slept about 25 min., I got up, and threw up for my 5th time and only had dry heaves from there out. I know this is strange and sick. Imagine being the guy or gal that heard this in the woods late at night. Blahhh Blahhh Blahhhh!

p.s. Perverse, Unsubstantiated Rumours are that The King Slug borrowed Catra's sunglasses in da' middle of da'nite... It's good being King.

Hope all are well in Slug-Land,
happy days from key west,
flattest foot freddie

Permits, Parks, and Ranger Rick.

For the Sluggos without access to the ultralist. Kind of long, but I believe all will appreciate it. Hey, enjoy the Super Bowl; and have some hot wings for me.

This being Superbowl weekend and I've just recovered from a visit to Costco where everyone seemed to be shopping for eats for tomorrow's game and since I've been fascinated in the past here on the list by correspondence having to do with Barkley and park closures, I thought it would be timely to share the following correspondence. I did label it NUC so I suppose not too many people will read it, but it's funny.
Jennifer Aviles
Tucson
The Dam

This is an actual letter sent to a man named Ryan DeVries regarding a pond on his property. It was sent by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Quality, State of Pennsylvania. This guy's response is hilarious, but read the State's letter before you get to the response letter.

Dear Mr. DeVries:

It has come to the attention of the Department of Environmental Quality that there has been recent unauthorized activity on the above referenced parcel of property. You have been certified as the legal landowner and/or contractor who did the following unauthorized activity: Construction and maintenance of two wood debris dams across the outlet stream of Spring Pond

A permit must be issued prior to the start of this type of activity. A review of the Department's files shows that no permits have been issued. Therefore, the Department has determined that this activity is in violation of Part 301, Inland Lakes and Streams, of the Natural Resource and Environmental Protection Act, Act 451 of the
Public Acts of 1994, being sections 324.30101 to 324.30113 of the Pennsylvania Compiled Laws, annotated.

The Department has been informed that one or both of the dams partially failed during a recent rain event, causing debris and flooding at downstream locations. We find that dams of this nature are inherently hazardous and cannot be permitted.

The Department t herefore orders you to cease and desist all activities at this location, and to restore the stream to a free-flow condition by removing all wood and brush forming the dams from the stream channel. All restoration work shall be completed no later than January 31, 2006.

Please notify this office when the restoration has been completed so that a follow-up site inspection may be scheduled by our staff. Failure to comply with this request or any further u nauthorized activity on the site may result in this case being referred for elevated enforcement action.. We anticipate and would appreciate your full cooperation in this matter. Please feel free to contact me at this office if you have any questions.

Sincerely,
David L. Price, District Representative and Water Management Division.

Here is the actual response sent back by Mr. DeVries:

Dear Mr. Price,

Your certified letter dated 12/17/02 has been handed to me to respond to.

I am the legal landowner but not the Contractor at 2088 Dagget Lane, Trout Run, Pennsylvania.

A couple of beavers are in the (State unauthorized) process of constructing and maintaining two wood "debris" dams across the outlet stream of my Spring Pond. While I did not pay for, authorize, nor supervise their dam project, I think they would be highly offended that you call their skillful use of natures building materials "debris."

I would like to challenge your department to attempt to emulate their dam project any time and/or any place you choose. I believe I can safely state there is no way you could ever match their dam skills, their dam resourcefulness, their dam ingenuity, their dam persistence, their dam determination and/or their dam work ethic.

These are the beavers/contractors you are seeking. As to your request, I do not think the beavers are aware that they must first fill out a dam permit prior to the start of this type of dam activity.

My first dam question to you is:
(1) Are you trying to discriminate against my Spring Pond Beavers, or
(2) do you require all beavers throughout this State to conform to
said dam request?

If you are not discriminating against these particular beavers, through the Freedom of Information Act, I request completed copies of all those other applicable beaver dam permits that have been issued.

(Perhaps we will see if there really is a dam violation of Part 301, Inland Lakes and Streams, of the Natural Resource and Environmental Protection Act, Act 451 of the Public Acts of 1994, being sections 324.30101 to 324.30113 of the Pennsylvania Compiled Laws, annotated.)

I have several concerns. My first concern is, aren't the beavers entitled to legal representation? The Spring Pond Beavers are financially destitute and are unable to pay for said representation -- so the State will have to provide them with a dam lawyer. The Department's dam concern that either one or both of the dams failed
during a recent rain event, causing flooding, is proof that this is a natural occurrence, which the Department is required to protect. In other words, we should leave the Spring Pond Beavers alone rather than harassing them and calling them dam names.

If you want the stream "restored" to a dam free-flow condition please contact the beavers -- but if you are going to arrest them, they obviously did not pay any attention to your dam letter, they being unable to read English.

In my humble opinion, the Spring Pond Beavers have a right to build their unauthorized dams as long as the sky is blue, the grass is green and water flows downstream. They have more dam rights than I do to live and enjoy Spring Pond. If the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection lives up to its name, it should protect the natural resources (Beavers) and the environment
(Beavers' Dams).

So, as far as the beavers and I are concerned, this dam case can be referred for more elevated enforcement action right now. Why wait until 1/31/2006? The Spring Pond Beavers may be under the dam ice then and there will be no way for you or your dam staff to contact/harass them.

In conclusion, I would like to bring to your attention to a real environmental quality, health, problem in the area. It is the bears! Bears are actually defecating in our woods. I definitely believe you should be persecuting the defecating bears and leave the beavers alone If you are going to investigate the beaver dam, watch your step! The bears are not careful where they dump!

Being unable to comply with your dam request, and being unable to contact you on your dam answering machine, I am sending this response toyour dam office.

2008 Crowder's Mt. set for 4/26...

...in Gastonia, North Carolina. Link to Race Application may be found at www.teamslug.com or on the Runner's From Hell homesite.

RD Sam b. warns,

RFH/Team Slug reserves the right to refuse anyone who they don't like from running in this race. You know who you are. If you are offended by this application then you are too sensitive to run this course.. It will probably be cold, raining, snowing, or something and you will probably fall. People fall and are killed yearly at Crowders. Usually it is a drunk trying to fly like Superman off one of the cliffs. I release all of those involved in this race from liability. I have been informed not to complain about the hills.

I've known Sam for a long tyme; I'd take him at his word.

Happy Days, Hitman.

Mr.Cantrell on "Why they quit."

Originally posted on the Ultralist, and republished here with permission of Mr. Cantrell. The Barkley is a special event, and for all who have been "out there" it holds an eerie, and dangerous attraction. happy days, john.


"with apologies to those few who have finished the barkley 100,
i dont really believe that it is the exclusive realm of the trail running gods.
as a matter of fact, the fastest 100 milers who have taken to the course
have seldom even finished a fun run.
on the other hand, some of the most successful barkley runners
have never made much of a splash anywhere else.
about the only credentials that seem to translate directly into barkley success
are multi-day trail "records".
people with fast thru-hikes on the AT, PCT, etc, have done quite well.
past & future winners of 100's like WS & Vt have had their difficulties.

for the experienced trail runner, Barkley is a different sort of animal.
the suicidal downhill speed that translates into fast times elsewhere is just
suicidal here.
the key abilities, instead, are a high tolerance for climbing and sleep
deprivation.
this one is more geared toward an ultrarunning vito antofuermo than a sugar ray
leonard.
(yeah, people are lining up to become human punching bags. go figure?)

unlike most ultras, the fast runners dont exactly run off and leave the slow
runners.
people who hike up to the fire tower to watch the runners pass thru the 12 mile
checkpoint
almost always comment on how close together everyone is.
"i thought they'd be all strung out, like other races. but everyone is really
close."
the leader at 20 miles is usually around 8 hours and the laggards around 10,
altho once a runner spirals into despair, with the attendant twenty rest breaks
a mile,
miles per hour turns into hours per mile, and the game is over.

why is this?
i think the answers are in the numbers.
when a highway has a 3% grade, they put up signs warning trucks.
when a highway has a 5% or greater grade, they have special speed limits,
and runaway truck ramps.
in 100 miles of barkley, 95 of those miles are on gradients of more than 5%.
87 miles are on gradients of more than 10%.
50 miles (fully half the race) are on gradients greater than 20%.
there are even 11 miles done on gradients over 30%.
some people love the thing, some hate it.
i think they will all agree, it is hell out there.
normal humans can only tolerate so much abuse.

no one can go fast, but as long as you keep going, you can only go so slow.
it isnt likely that you will exceed the time limit, until you have given up.
the nastiness of the 60 hour limit is that, while attainable,
it does not leave enough time for rest.
once you figure in the night-time slowdown,
there simply is no chance to dawdle anywhere, much less sleep.

and this is why people quit.
taking an endless hammering from the course,
the clock constantly nipping at their heels,
trying to adjust as the weather fluctuates wildly from hour to hour,
staying focused every second, so they wont get off course,
lonely, in pain, no chance to relax,
the relentless pressure, all day and all night, day after day,
sooner or later, something has to give.
99% of the time, it is the runner.

i can excuse people who want to try it once,
it sounds so cool and exciting.
but those who go back are very special people...
only in the short-bus sense of the word special.
because the reality is like being punched in the face for 2 and a half days."

laz

Wrong-Way Charlie sends greetings...

...and no, I am not making this up. All Slugs eventually come home, All of Them. and there is no better slug out there than Charlie. he says,

Hello 'hitman'?
Long thyme Know sea?
Sorry I missed the 18th annual fattest butt ... My black slug shirt has been in the ash bin of history for about ten years. Hope that you're doing well.
charlie wojcik

and in honor of charlie, we're reposting one of his greatest essays...

How to Finish Last Anywhere/Anytime

Are you considering running your first marathon or ultra and worried about coming in first, or even just beating another runner? Well, fast forward right past that, because it doesn’t have to happen. Not if you listen to me. This article will address the likelihood, however distant, that you will be last. This is an area in which I excel. I have had three or more last place finishes in each of the previous seven years. With the right training and preparation, or should I say the lack of such, you too can finish last. That is assuming you are not in direct competition with me. After all, I am the master.

There is no steadfast rule to being last, and luck helps. To increase the odds of being last you must first visualize it in your mind. Believe it deeply and know it to be so. Prior to the race go around behind all the runners and look at the back of their heads. If it’s a track run, that’s all you should ever be seeing. If it’s a trail run, you’ll only see them once, and then their heads will slowly shrink, then quickly disappear. In a large group at the start line close your eyes, look skyward, spread your arms like an eagle, and begin chanting out loud. This will give you a lot of starting space and help to size up your competitors. Start slowly and ease off. This is an area where Slugs have a great advantage. They not only preach this philosophy, but they live and breathe it. Be in no rush out of the starting gate. If logistics allow, begin running in the wrong direction. As people yell for you to stop, just wave at them and smile. This most certainly will confuse the race workers and allow you to waste a bit more time.

Finally however you will be forced to start. Pick up the pace ever so slowly. Watch the cutoffs; they are there to give prima donna race directors a chance to discredit the truly slothful. Remember if you get pulled, you will be unable to finish last. This defeats your goal. Maintain constant glacier-like speed throughout the run. Avoid “jack rabbit” starts and screeching stops. Take a break at the aid station. Relax, have a cup of coffee and make faces at the other runners at they roll by. Remove shoes to check for foreign objects. Tiny rocks do bad things to tiny toes. Ask for some Vaseline, and request assistance in placing it on your most delicate parts. Consume mass quantities of fuel and liquid. Instead of grabbing two Oreos, pick up the entire package and gobble them down. Shovel them in and chew. Get that good full feeling going. Remember watering the flora and fauna with blown pretzel chunks and bile is sound ecological policy and earns you bogus points in the standings. Ask the other runners and aid workers lots of meaningless questions. After asking, refuse to listen to their answers. Start humming profusely. Absolutely confuse them with your wit.

Dehydration, boredom, and loneliness are the three biggest obstacles for the mental deficients drawn to running insane distances. Avoid running with friends. Even better, avoid having any friends. After all, you never know where one may appear. It will be hard not to resist picking up the pace during times of high spirits. If you feel good immediately stop running. Begin doing jumping jacks on one leg until you feel dizzy and sick. Then continue running. On the other hand, you will have no trouble going slowly when you feel lousy. And you will. Enjoy it, soak it in, and share your agony with anyone who will listen. Cry, moan, and howl out loud. The more noise you make, and attention you attract the better. On a track run, practice getting in the way of the real runners. If possible trip and fall over at least once an hour. That means in a 24-hour run you should trip at least 24 times. My personal record is 39 falls in 24 hours. Granted, it was raining. On a trail run, enjoy a hobby such as stopping to gaze at wildlife, or turning wayward turtles upside down. Don’t worry someone will put them back.

If someone tries to get behind you, immediately lay down on the ground. I don’t care if you’re at an aid station or not. Just lie down and begin sobbing. Do not move until that runner gets back in front of you. This is your race to lose, your time in the sun. Don’t let some other loser take what’s rightfully yours. Stand up, be proud, and finish last. In conclusion, and most importantly, please make note of the irrefutable physical fact that it takes the same amount of energy to run slowly as it does to run quickly. This is the law. The Running Law and thou shalt not break it. Do not be concerned with being barred from the event. There are thousands of events. It would take 200 years to get kicked out of all of them. You’ll never live that long.

In my next article, I will share helpful hints for failing in a 100 mile run. Those are going to take a lot more, or less, effort. Work hard on today’s lessons, worst of luck to you, and see you in the loser’s circle.

Charlie “Wrong Way” Wojick

Salt at Barkley??? That Explains IT !!!

Laz,

If memory serves me correctly, you started the RFH and TS feud years
ago at the Strolling Jim. You said those exact words regarding the same
table with Slugs and RFH members. I always wondered why you salt the trails
and now I know.

LV would be your kind of race/run/walk/etc.

TAZ
Pres, Slugs From Hell

Yankee Slugs...headed SOUTH !!!

i think we all know the slugs are not worthy to eat at the same table with
the RFH.

and it warms my heart to know that SC parks love ultrarunners almost as much
as the tennessee parks love us.
if ya'll are gonna run as bandits i might have to try & enter.
havent ever been arrested for walking on a hiking trail.... yet.

if i am in the company of a terrorist leader at the same time,
it ought to make a good clipping for my scrapbook.

laz

Ranger Rick harassing one of our Finest!

Hey Ultra Runners,
The religion debate will piss many off. I am one of those in
the majority and a Christian. Proud of it and don't care what any of
you think.

Now the real questions. Are Runner from Hell runners better than Team Slug
runners? Or will a truce be signed and both groups crash the Laurel Valley
Ultra because a permit has not been granted after several phone calls and
the application for a permit was sent in August. The Special Use Permit
Ranger said that my application is in a stack of papers, "over there".

And according to Janet Reno I am also a leader of a terrorist group.

Claude Sinclair
Runner from Hell and SC Team Slug

Pokey / Grand-Poobah Promoted !!!

Chief Slug Running Man has sent top-secret, slug-coded notice (via FedEx) to the East Coast Director of all Team Slug Operations that promotions have been approved. Pokey-Slug has been named President of all Delaware Slugs, and will be assisted by the Grand-Poobah of the Eastern Shore.

Pokey comes to the Slugs with outstanding slogging credentials, and a big heart. Unlike most of the Slugs she is highly-educated with a real job. As a biochemist she shares two thoughts. First, don't drink the water directly out of the Slug-pond. And second, Mexico makes fine tequila. Finally, Pokey is a Hokie. Now how ya gonna beat that!

The Grand-Poobah (due to ongoing numerous slug-names) appears to be ably following in the slug-tracks of one Mister John Clark, The man with a thousand nicknames, the famed overhand midnight bowler, the man with two much scalp and not enough hair. Yes, the same John Clark that shoved da'Hitman over a fifty foot sand bank in Virginia Beach so as to secure third place at the '94 Flatlander, and gain a coveted bottle of Jim Beam for himself. Dang we miss ole JC, and his gal-pal
Big Bertha.

Salaries and benefits have not been made public, however it is suspected that the compensation package includes lots of Dogfish Head Ale, and Ginger Brandy. Expect more information to follow in the weeks and months ahead. Regardless of Ranger Rick, an abundance of sea-salt, and absolute disregard for any moral decency, the Slugs appear to have gained a foothold, and should be leaving a slimy trail through the First State for years to come.

From Key West (where da'fishins good, and the beer is cold)
Flattest Foot Freddie.

Everything's FROZEN in the First State...

Yes, it was twelve degrees on the back porch this morning; and i thought hard about getting back into bed. But, if i'd crawled under those warm sheets, and fallen asleep; i'd have missed those couple of hours with pokey on the frozen tundra of central delaware. and, God knows; i enjoy my time on the trails; with pokey. the pond was frozen this morning, and nothing was crawling out of it. bright sun, clear day, with absolutely "pizzed-off" squirrels throwing stuff at us...perfect day; perfect run, as we wake up daily, one day at a time; and try to get fit, for the spring; frozen and iced up beard, beer slushies, and a glazed pond. life is good in delaware; but lets face it. Sluggos belong in Florida!!!

happy days,
hitman

Tornadoes hit Mississippi...Too Close Home...

"If anybody is wondering:Where are the young idealists? Where are the people willing to devote themselves to causes larger than themselves? They are in uniform in Iraq and Afghanistan straddling the divide between insanity and order." David Brooks

hitman and allslugs;

forwarding pics of recent tornado at caledonia high school. you know sometimes we take our life and our possessions for granted. we get upset over things that don't even matter. i'm sending you a couple of pics to share how quickly life changes. i miss my slug-buds and hope to see ya back in n'orleans real soon. for God's sake; ENJOY EACH MOMENT, and try to stay out of trouble :)

gator-bait
gulf coast ufo division
team slug int'l.

State of the Slugs : 2008

We live in a crazy world; that's for sure. Change seems inevitable and constant. And, we live with it. Over the past nineteen years we've all evolved; we're definitely not the same people we were in 1989. Looking at this pic, always takes me back. Me and da'hitman were brothers, and always will be. We didn't save the world, but we sure made a lot of friends.

First, I see below that Mr. Clean checked in, and I have to agree with him in congratulating the newest Sluggos. Welcome aboard! I really have a hard time imagining we're still handing out those old black slug shirts. But we are. You know I've tried to explain Team Slug over the years to hundreds of people. At marathons / ultras around the country that shirt is a great conversation starter.

I try to share with other runners that TSI is not actually a running club. Not like the Peninsula Track Club or Virginia Happy Trails Club. Rather, we're a "state of mind", maybe an idea whose time has past. Hitman and I, all those years ago decided we weren't going to change. We would hold olde-tyme events, all fat-ass style; no aid, no fees, no rules, etc. Period. Always. And it's worked.

While other clubs are holding events with hundreds of entrants, waiting lists, etc; Team Slug is lucky to get twenty to the starting line. And I say "lucky" in the most respectful of ways. Hitman always say, "The right folks show up." And, after all these years I have to agree with him. TSI appears healthy, and poised to continue in holding the most worthy of all non-events.

I think the news has leaked out already; but TSI will be offering "20th Anniversary Beer Steins" to all the Slug-finishers in the fall in Delaware, Carolina, and Florida. It will be to "kick off" Team Slug's twentieth year in the ultra community; and at the request of one of the original slugs, Mr. James "The All-Niter" Moore.
Rumour also has it that the "Boogy Bayou Swamp Stomp" will return to Okaloosa County out in the Florida Panhandle. Can anyone say, GATOR!!!

Friends, Life is Good; and I appreciate each one of you, and look forward to seeing you on a trail someday soon. Don't worry about looking for me, I'll find you.

Happy Days,
Chief Slug Running Man

The Spell of the Yukon

I wanted the gold, and I sought it, I scrabbled and mucked like a slave.
Was it famine or scurvy -- I fought it; I hurled my youth into a grave.
I wanted the gold, and I got it -- Came out with a fortune last fall, --
Yet somehow life's not what I thought it, And somehow the gold isn't all.

No! There's the land. (Have you seen it?) It's the cussedest land that I know,
From the big, dizzy mountains that screen it; To the deep, deathlike valleys below.
Some say God was tired when He made it; Some say it's a fine land to shun;
Maybe; but there's some as would trade it; For no land on earth -- and I'm one.

You come to get rich (damned good reason); You feel like an exile at first;
You hate it like hell for a season, And then you are worse than the worst.
It grips you like some kinds of sinning; It twists you from foe to a friend;
It seems it's been since the beginning; It seems it will be to the end.

There's a land where the mountains are nameless, And the rivers all run God knows where;
There are lives that are erring and aimless, And deaths that just hang by a hair;
There are hardships that nobody reckons; There are valleys unpeopled and still;
There's a land -- oh, it beckons and beckons, And I want to go back -- and I will.

There's gold, and it's haunting and haunting; It's luring me on as of old;
Yet it isn't the gold that I'm wanting; So much as just finding the gold.
It's the great, big, broad land 'way up yonder, It's the forests where silence has lease;
It's the beauty that thrills me with wonder, It's the stillness that fills me with peace.

Robert Service in 1907