Jake was absolutely remarkable yesterday.
Story time.
I walked the 17+ miles from San Quirico to Radicofani in abt 6.5 hrs. I am not fast. But neither am I slow.
Jake could not leave San Q till 630 pm, because he stayed behind for biz reasons.
I asked the hostel in Radicofani to allow me to let him in at 11 or so.
The hostel in Radicofani adamantly refused to accept new guests after 7:30.
I pleaded with them to let Jake in later.
They finally agreed on 9:45 at the absolute latest. I relayed the time to Jake.
Jake said matter of factly, “I’ll make it.”
He needed to carry his back pack, spingen, et al, abt 15lb total and make the 27km trip, including the brutal climb at the end in 3 hr 15 min in the dark!
There are 80+ climbs on the VF app, rated by difficulty. This section is ranked most difficult – very challenging. I walked it earlier in the day. It was in my top 3 of difficulty.
The hostel refused to believe it was possible.
The 2 Czech kids, 30 and 29, cringed at the attempt. Sneered? Laughed out loud. They had just completed it as well. Coming in after me.
Jake stuffed his speakers and everything else in his backpack and took off running. The road was barren, isolated and there was no water or food along the way.
No support. I tracked him on WhatsApp.
The turn into town was not clear, and finding our hostel was tricky, so I walked the half mile or so to meet him.
When he got close enough I began to call out his name to encourage him.
We met. Hugged briefly. I might have choked up but I’m not saying I did. I grabbed his backpack and carried it for him for the final stretch.
He pulled up to the hostel door at 9:42 pm. Just over 3 hrs of running.
Incredible stamina, imo. Jaw dropping effort in all respects. He did what no one in the know could believe was possible.
We had dinner, cold, ready for him. He gobbled it up.
For him, just another day. He didn’t ask for nor accept praise. He smiled, took a shower, and fell into a deep sleep.
Oh. He turned 51 a couple of days ago.
Jake, simply put, does not complain. He did, however, manage a whisper to me, “That bag got pretty heavy.”
