By Polly Choate
The FlatRock 101K course
Is treacherous indeed
37 brave individuals
Came out to compete
Mile for mile the course
Is the toughest in the Midwest
Only the strongest showed up
To give it their best
In the end it was clear
“The Rock” eating its prey
Overtaking fifteen
While twenty-two found their way
Adam Dearing the winner
12:44 was his time
And female champ Sherrie Klover
Feeling quite sublime
Others who finished
Not far behind
Stuart Johnson for one
And David Box toed the line
Joshua Watson finished fifth
Followed by Zach Adams too
He’s our Epic Ultra blogger
Will he write about you?
Candi Paulin was second female
To conquer “The Rock”
Followed by Marcus Needham
And neither lost a sock!
Earl Blewitt from Tulsa
Came through next
And John Weatherly from Nebraska
I bet he was perplexed
Coming to Kansas
Did he expect all flat?
Don’t let the location fool you…
For you’d be wrong about that!
Nicole Parkhurst for round two
With her buddy Genevieve Spivey
Two hardcore ultra chicks
We all certainly agree
Jeffrey Williams also conquered
The tough course as well
Followed by Sam Severson
Who was concerned about a “cell”
Threatening storms were in the forecast
For race weekend indeed
And him being from Wisconsin
He stated “A tornado, we do not need”
William Sprouse is another
Who prevailed on race day
Jason Dinkel followed him
All along the way
Mike Rives came from Tulsa
Filming the course as he ran
The trail video he made
Was all part of his plan
Robert McPherson from Missouri
Finished in 22:24
What an amazing feeling
Wonder if he knew what was in store?
Jorge Gonzalez
From Waxahachie
Was thrilled to finish
Truly amazing…indeed!
Melissa Bruce was next
She’s no virgin to this course
Training here frequently
With shear, brute force
The final two finishers
Were a thrill to see
Joseph and Carson Galloway
Two men quite gutsy
One of them the oldest
Finisher that day
The other, his son
He was the youngest…by the way
Each of them conquering
“The Rock” as they should
Slapping “The Hand”
That hung where they stood
The Epic Ultras Brigade
Continuing to co-create with you
Those of you that came out
All felt the powerful “juju”
The bells and the lights
And the huge black arch
Everyone screaming and yelling
As you made your mark
On the FlatRock course
For it devours many who come
But those of you who survived
Did so based on a sum…
A sum of events
From beginning to end
All of the planning and training
We have to commend
For you all are few
And far between
An elite group of athletes
Racing with vigor and steam
So here’s to another
Incredible Epic Ultras race
RD Eric Steele
Puts on each show with passion and grace