Pinhoti Trail Adventure Run

Here is Eric's list of memorable items from the Pinhoti Trail Adventure Run.

1. Best solid food: Vanilla Boost, string cheese and Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pies
2. Hydration choice: Strawberry HEED by the gallon
3. Best energy source: Honey Stinger Gold
4. Best motivational line: "It almost never gets any worse" - Dink Taylor
5. Second best motivational line: "Pull your head out of your ass!" - Kathy Youngren
6. Worst chaffing?  Right inner thigh in the middle of day 1 that required me to wear the liner of my split shorts on the left side of my man-hood and free balling for the rest of the day
7. Worst hotel: America's Best Value Hotel in Hefflin, AL.  (They didn't even serve breakfast.  Not much of a value if they don't serve breakfast)
8. Best post-run meal: Cold Mellow Mushroom Pizza at the end of Day 2
9. Funniest sign: No Tresspassing Signs near Weogufka, AL that had the 'N' backward
10. Best Attraction I would return to visit: Mule Days convention
11. Shoe of choice: inov-8 roclite 305 (although feet were so swollen toward the end, the only shoe that fit were my Asics DS-Trainers)
12. Best Pacer Antic: David Riddle balancing on one foot atop a tree stump to take pictures as we ran by
13. Highest drop of urine off of a cliff: Pacer John Nevels at Cheaha Mountain with a drop of several hundred feet
14. Best Customer Service: Save-A-Lot grocery store in Dalton, AL where they could not point to an item but had to walk you there and ask if you needed anything else
15. Best Motivational Theme Song: "The Climb" by Miley Cyrus.  Seriously.
16. Most Useful Gear item: Black Diamond Spire Elliptic Trekking Pole
17. Funniest Thing I Wish I hadn't heard: "Maybe he is passed out" - Rob Youngren in reply to Josh Kennedy's "I've never heard anyone NOT scream like a little girl when applying this" after he just cut a blister on my right forefoot and having applied Benzenoid
18. Best Non Human Company: The Yellow Lab in Weogufka that ran with us for 2 miles
19. Worst Snake Encounter: Rat Snake in the dark at the end of day 2 discovered by Rob several feet in front of us on the trail
20. Toughest Climb: 2nd Comms Tower near 50km mark on day 2
21. Best Naked Running Moment: Mile 2-3 on day 4 on the climb up Dugger Mountain to help break me out of a funk of 34 minute miles averaged to that point
22. Best Stream Crossing: 40' wide ford near the end of day 7 about 200 meters before the finish where we laid down to ice up
23. Funniest Thing Uttered by Rob Youngren: "If that pack goes with me into the woods, it's not coming back out!"
24. Lowest Point (motivationally): Logging 34 minute miles for 4 miles on the climb up Dugger Mountain on day 4 after barely being able to stand up on my blistered feet at the start of the day
25. Highest Point: Coming over the final peak with Dink Taylor and seeing the rest of my crew and wife standing at the Alabama / Georgia State Line as I knew I was finally done.
26. Bittersweet Moment: Finishing at the state line and having to hike 2.7 miles to the trail head to get into the truck.
27. Best Comedic Line at a post run meal: Waitress at Steak and Shake taking to a customer about his "baby's mama"
28. Best Non Running Yet Sporting Related Moment: Eric finding a bowling ball and rolling it down a country road toward Rob, Kathy and Eric Fritz
29. Hardest section of trail: 27 miles from Porter's Gap to Adams Gap and then to Cheaha State Park
30. Best Idea of Post-Run Shirts: A simple dial that points anywhere between "Sucks the Most" to "Sucks Not So Bad" as coined by Rob after noting that the Fun Factor had just gone down at the end of day 1
31. Worst Near Death Experience: 40mph in Josh's Xterra with 4 skinny and sore ultra runners piled into the back set from the final trail head back to the Fritz's van
32. Funniest Drunk Girl Moment: Tie for 1st between the woman who hit a gas station pump protector followed by a telephone pole on day 1 and a woman looking to use our cell phones on a gravel road on the final day
33. Closest Lord of the Flies Moment: Josh and Mathew running around without shirts near the top of Pinnacle at the GUTS Pinhoti 100 fried egg sandwhich aid station
34. Biggest Revelation: Eric Fritz not realizing that he was running an ultra marathon on day 6
35. Best Adhesive Tape Job: Duct tape on Rob's nipples that remained on for all 7 days of running
36. Stupidest Request: Asking Eric Fritz to pull my blister band-aid off quickly as it was not meant to be removed and stretched out to 4 feet before it snapped back on my foot.  Ouch.
37. Best Impersonation: Rob doing "the triple Fritz" exhaling deeply three times in a row.
38. Best Joke during a quiet moment: While sharing an all too small double bed in a hotel and just after lights out on day 6, Eric C asking Joey B if that was "the stick" in between them (referring to the muscle rolling stick)
39. Hardest morning to get out bed: Day 3 when it had been pouring rain all night
40. Best greasy breakfast sandwhich from Hardees on Day 3: A greasy breakfast sandwhich from Hardees on Day 3