{"id":27400,"date":"2026-10-06T16:14:24","date_gmt":"2026-10-06T20:14:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.f3winstonsalem.com\/f3\/?p=27400"},"modified":"2026-10-07T10:30:55","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T14:30:55","slug":"return-to-the-bourbon-chase","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.f3winstonsalem.com\/f3\/2026\/10\/return-to-the-bourbon-chase\/","title":{"rendered":"Return to the Bourbon (Chase)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Five years ago, YHC rode on the shoulders of giants and Zima to a beautiful land of horses, rolling hills, and distilleries still semi-closed due to Covid.\u00a0 The opportunity to run it back and see what was missed arose at the end of 2025 when a group expressed interest in doing a road \/ van race.\u00a0 In short order, 11 stout men were secured.\u00a0 Needing 12 to field a full team, we had several near gets, with Lunch Lady (we missed you!) even participating in the team drafting of legs but having to bow out due to injury.\u00a0 Near the last minute, Van Gogh raised his hand after having successfully convinced his wife that she should be a parent chaperon on a church retreat while he went to Kentucky to drink bourbon.\u00a0 We somehow then persuaded Van Gogh to both run and drive one of the vans upon assurances that he would get an extra 10,000 IPC reps added to his score!<\/p>\n

Aside from personnel shenanigans, the lead up to Bourbon Chase was unexpectedly tense, with rumblings of Ragnar being in financial distress.\u00a0 Those rumors became a three-alarm fire when the Ragnar Appalachian Trail race, a race that several of us have participated in for the past handful of years, was canceled in August.\u00a0 Thankfully, Bourbon Chase was rescued and our adventure was on!<\/p>\n

Warmarama: <\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Two vans departed at separate times from Alcatraz on Thursday morning, scheduled to meet up at Angel\u2019s Envy in Louisville at 6pm.\u00a0 Amazingly, the number of stops required by middle-aged bladders was minimal.\u00a0 Following race check in, we convened for pre-race dinner at Cattleman\u2019s Roadhouse at 139 Historical Trail; Shepherdsville, KY.\u00a0 Pro tip: there are multiple Cattleman\u2019s Roadhouses in the area and at least one of them has an address similar enough that Van Gogh took Van 2 to the wrong location.\u00a0 Eventually, we were reunited and carbs were loaded, protein was ravaged, drinks were drunk.\u00a0 We met a lovely gentleman who instructed other people at the bar to \u201cgrow some balls for Jesus.\u201d\u00a0 Man, that pumped us all up to get after it (and get to bed).\u00a0 After a short night of sleep in a nearby hotel, the six riders of van 1 plus our chauffeur Boomerang arose early Friday morning and drove 20 minutes south to the Jim Beam Distillery for Burns\u2019s 0545 first leg launch.\u00a0 At the start line, free coffee with Jim Beam cream liqueur was being served.\u00a0 As our team name declared, \u201cWe\u2019ve made worse decisions!\u201d\u00a0 It was delicious.<\/p>\n

The Thang:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Burns launched, and then one-by-one, the rest of van 1 completed their first legs.\u00a0 Throughout van 1\u2019s first leg, the threat of impending rain was pronounced, and Fois Gras, having leg 6, endured the brunt of a heavy rainstorm.\u00a0 Despite this, he surged toward the transfer zone at Maker\u2019s Mark and handed off to Rollback, the first runner of van 2.<\/p>\n

Despite being self-proclaimed party animals, van 2 took care of business and plowed through rain, albeit grumpily by some reports.\u00a0 Nantan Frostbite even ran a sub-8:00 6.5-mile leg, continuing his ascendancy to king of the hill.\u00a0 Schlitz brought it home, handing back off to Burns to begin van 1\u2019s second leg in downtown Danville, the most picturesque small town to which YHC has ever been.\u00a0 Danville is home to Centre College, the spelling of which was very displeasing to Boomerang, a public library with incredible plumbing, and smoked old fashions.\u00a0 Van 1\u2019s mostly dry second leg included stops in Stanford where the pastor is the sheriff, the middle-school teacher is the Ragnar enforcer, and roads are named Knob Lick.<\/p>\n

Van 2 then reciprocated, giving Van 1 just barely enough time to attempt to sleep in the van or on the gym floor at Anderson County High School, before the final legs commenced.\u00a0 Upon completing its third legs, Van 1 drove to downtown Lexington, had a lovely breakfast at Doodles, and were rehydrating at Lexington Brewing & Distilling Company when the text came through that Schlitz had launched the final leg for van 2.\u00a0 The entire team gathered near the end and drafted off Schlitz\u2019s shoulders to cross the finish line together; two hundred-plus miles and over 10,000 feet of elevation gain completed in just over 32 hours, finishing just after 1pm!<\/p>\n

The rest of the day was very boring.<\/p>\n

Fin.<\/p>\n

Announcements:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n