Words by Tracy Fawns
Just got off the phone with a pedaling Catharina. She was having a bit of a down moment and she and her crew thought it would lift her spirits to chat for a bit. It was a little difficult to hear her due to the wind factor while on the bike, as I'm sure some of you that have talked to her have found out, but her voice sounded strong and chipper and she giggled a few times throughout the conversation. She told me a couple of times during our chat that she had got caught in the rain today and that really bummed her out, made her cold, and just brought on some of the harsh realities of RAAM. The rain was over now and her spirits lifting.... she has her sister Susanne in the pace van behind her and her parents are close by the race course in their rental car.
Cat just checked into Time Station #41 at 21:21 EDT on Monday evening, getting ready to head into another night on the course. She has 740 miles left to go. For some reason, my mind is getting screwy and 740 miles sounds like nothing now and I think "Oh... just a handful more time stations"... WHAT?!?! Am I crazy?! Something about the enormity of RAAM makes the 3,000+ miles feel like anything in the triple digits is just a hop, skip, and jump away. But, what Cat and the other racers are faced with now is the grueling last 2-3 days of the race... just wanting it to be over.... just wanting to get to the next time station, the next state.... There have been past RAAMers that have DNF'd within the last 100 miles; mental capacity just depleted and physically unable to fathom another pedal stroke. Cat needs our prayers, support, and encouragement more than she ever has thus far on her journey. Pray for her hands, her feet, her saddle sores, her knee, her back, her neck, her mind, her vision..... these all get beaten down during RAAM and she did not get the luxury of bypassing any of these issues.
My emails/updates have waned in the last 1-2 days due to the complexity of full-time school, work, and personal commitments... but after talking with her tonight, hearing her desire to finish, I am now again completely and 100% focused on getting Cat to the finish line. She called me "home base" for her.... manning the website, sending the emails out, acting as the press coordinator... and I know that we are ALL "home base" for her, because she needs our earnest prayers and we are here for her in any capacity possible right now.
And her crew. What can I say? They are the backbone of Cat's race. Without them, there would be no RAAM finish. They have committed 150% of themselves to one individual for the past 8-1/2 days and have sacrificed comfort and sleep, put aside personal concerns, threw themselves into a cramped van with complete strangers, and have managed to take care of Cat to their best ability. Each crewmembers' selflessness has ensured Cat's safe and relatively pain-free RAAM experience. Let us not forget this essential part of Cat's race that the crew plays.
Overall she is very happy with her race, her average speed, her placing. She isn't concerned who is ahead of her or behind her and she is focused on finishing the race safely. While she is not aware of Dr. Breedlove's tragedy, she does know about Mike Trevino's DNF due to crashing and breaking his shoulder... and she is attributing this to sleep deprivation and being totally fatigued. She is determined not to let this happen to her and is getting plenty of rest and sleep. She has plans at the next time station to take a 10-minute rest and stretch a bit.
Cat shared with me how blessed she has been with fans along side of the road, with people who are telling her how much of an inspiration that she is, and with people in the wings praying for her. She is racing for God's Glory, she said, and this race is for Him.
Godspeed, Anna Catharina, and may the angels protect you all of the way to Atlantic City.
