Dag Gone if that wasn't a small grenade. When the Modern
Day Sport of Endurance was created by Wendall Robie, it was a one day 100 miles
and they called it Endurance. When FEI took it up on the International
level it was a one day 100 miles. Looking at the Newsletter of the
Carolina 100 results... i see that there were 17 starters w/ 5 finishers and
that is one of the easier managable courses in the country and there used to be
50-60 starters. Looking at the graph of my first 100 in 1977 the OD i see
that there were 46 starters and 32 finishers and lately the OD hasn't even had
that many to start. So when we were dumb and didn't have the selection of
horse or tools like heart moniters, gps, electrolytes, saddles or shoe knowledge
the OD in 1977 had a 69% completion ratio while the Carolina in 2002 had
29%. The AERC membership has more than doubled during that
time. So my questions are? Where did those 100 milers go and
why? What do these #'s say about the Sport of Endurance today?
I know everything is relative and sometimes just to get out of bed in the
morning can be a test of endurance and i honestly mean no offense to
anyone. 25 years ago Tommy Lewis rode Spiderman on his first 100 and this
year his son Cliffie rode Spiderman on his first 100 and people are calling for
rule changes. How far have we come or how far have we come away? "to every
side there is another side" tom sites
