Day 1 - 400 miles in 26 hours

A lovely morning in Oceanside, everything calm. The race started at noon, Daniel is in good spirits. The first 40 miles is done without a follow vehicle, for safety reasons - to allow the riders to space out a bit. After the first twenty the support vehicle can "bunny hop"; thus being able to give the rider water etc and then moving on to a spot further up the route. The next few days will be tough as Daniel and crew head into the desert.

Daniel made terrific progress, arriving in Prescott, AZ, having completed 401.4 miles in a race time of 1 day, 1 hour and 57 minutes. Having coped well in the cool overnight conditions, Daniel arrived in Hope Arizona at 9.00 am east-coast time with 284 mile complete. However, the rising sun in the Arizona desert meant for a tough end to the first day. The 6th leg, included the big climb from Congress into Prescott, AZ, completed in the heat of the afternoon sun. Daniel had to grit his teeth and fight the 3000' ascent into Prescott overcoming the physical and mental fatigue of a tough first day. In Precott, a motel room was obtained to enable him to shower ,eat some rice and chili and have a well earned three hour sleep in a cool, room on a proper bed. His progress to date is shown below. The next two sections take him to Flagstaff, (490 miles), both will be taken overnight on day 2. Daniel Rudge’s Progress (RAAM 2008): 7th in Age Group Time Station Location / Position / Date Arrival Time 1 Lake Henshaw, CA / 20 / 08-Jun 18:51 2 Brawley, CA / 18 / 08-Jun 23:58 3 Blythe, CA / 23 / 09-Jun 06:07 4 Hope, AZ / 22 / 09-Jun 09:00 5 (344.9 miles) Congress, AZ / 18 / 09-Jun 12:52 6 (401.4 miles) Prescott, AZ / 13 / 09-Jun 17:20 Stay Upto Date by Checking: http://stats.raceacrossamerica.org/2008/reports/overview.html