Chapter Four - part five

    The next day was the beginning of a very long week. It didn't take James long to see the first sign that the warning from Sabella had been dead on. It was on one of the first courses; a cadre stumbled as he was screaming at another Doolie and almost caused James to take a bad fall. It could have been purely an accidental event, but James knew it wasn't. That was the first incident, but it wasn't the last one. James had absolutely no doubt by the end of that first day that there were cadres who intended to see him fail no matter what they had to do. The only thing that gave him hope was the way other Doolies suddenly seemed to be making a point of staying close to him and more importantly between him and those few cadres. That was enough to make him even more determined. They never said much of anything, but the looks they gave him made it clear that they were aware of the situation. They had his back and some of them paid for that with extra bruises of their own.

   As the week passed, the cadre tried several times to cause problems, but James managed to avoid most of them. Most of the time he was able to handle things without much help, but a couple of times he would have been in real trouble if not for another Doolie stepping up to take a hit meant for him. It was never anything that could be proven, but there was little doubt of the actual intent. James made a point of noting two things when it happened. The first was which cadre was responsible. The second was the name of the Doolie who was there with him and often for him. He wouldn't soon forget those Doolies. As for the cadre, well one free shot was all he planned on giving any of them. Once he knew who they were he watched every move they made around him.

     The worst came in the combat exercises. There was little that could be done there except face whatever came at you. The only good thing about it was that they had waited too long to be able to pit a cadre against him. They had to try and work it so that he would face a Doolie who they could control. James was good at the combat, but there were others who were much better than he was. He managed to win several rounds against some very good opponents. Then he did something he didn't like doing, but he knew it was necessary. He was facing one of those Doolies who the cadre had convinced to try and do some real damage. James let him have a couple of clean shots. He went down hard and he stayed down after taking those hits. Padding or no padding James head was ringing and he would have bruises for days, but he had done well enough to pass and he hadn't taken a fall before getting in a few of his own blows. At the end of the week James had managed to finish first in his unit on the obstacle course. He had also finished first overall in the run. That had stunned everyone. He had never shown his full sprinters speed before. This last run he used it to build a good lead on the time and then he had finished as strong as he could over the distance. As a result nobody was even close to his time. That alone ensured James of a spot in the Ironman.

    The Ironman run started that last Friday morning in Jack's Valley. They would let the runners go one at a time, spaced out three minutes apart. They rest of the Doolies had to march back in formation, just like they marched in. The Ironman was designed to be as difficult as possible. The terrain was the most rugged and difficult they could possibly use without making it too dangerous. The packs were loaded with bulky weights that shifted making it hard to keep it balanced or to spread the load out evenly. The worst thing of all was the psychological part of it though. They stationed cadre all along the route. They were stationed to watch the runners and make sure they didn't get dehydrated or hurt too bad to continue. They were supposed to just be observers and offer encouragement along the way, but they were anything but that. They did observe the runners and if you were one of those who they deemed to be acceptable they would encourage and even assist you. If you were one of those 'selected' to compete that encouragement was more like harassment and they did all they could to hinder rather than help. There was one additional dirty trick they used too.

    They would very carefully select the starting order of the participants to insure that the slowest and those who would have the hardest struggle to finish were among the first to start. The reason given was so that they would have extra time to complete the run before the sun went down. The real reason was so that the faster runners would be able to run by them. The longer it took them to finish, the more runners there would be passing them. That alone would be demoralizing, but the cadre stationed along the route as observers would be constantly screaming at the slower runners about how slow they were too. They would hear a constant barrage of words telling them that they were failures and unfit to be here. James was also pretty sure that the cadre wouldn't be making sure those 'selected runners' stayed hydrated either. They would also be watching for any chance to make them quit, before they were actually injured. If they convinced a runner to leave and then medical people, more cadre controlled people, deemed them fit or unfit to have continued. Those runners would either be put out or at best on probation if they were deemed unfit. Probation was just one step, one mistake, away from being out of the Academy. It was all psychological warfare at its worst.

    The next morning they were up before dawn breaking camp. Only after everything was packed and ready to go were the competitors allowed to start getting ready for the Ironman run. Many of them, James included, weren't allowed time to eat. They were just formed up and loaded down with packs for the run. Then they took up positions and stood waiting for their turn to start. That was another added difficulty for the runners. They were made to stand in formation until it was their turn to start the run. Standing wasn't so bad, even with the added weight in their packs. What was really bad was they weren't allowed to move around enough to stay loose. That would make it very hard to avoid strains and cramps when they began the run unless they were extremely careful. James and others who were runners knew a few tricks that allowed them to stay fairly loose. Once they could begin the run they would do it slower than others who didn't know better too. That would allow them to work out the remaining stiffness before they had any major problems. It was a long wait for James. He watched the other runners as they started. Many of those who were among the first had no business being 'selected' to do this run. He recognized several from the Sunday services they had attended together. Others he didn't know personally, but it was easy to see that they would have a very tough day ahead of them. One by one the runners left until it was finally his turn. There were less than a dozen runners left when he started.

    The first mile James ran a much slower pace than he would normally have run. Even doing stretches as he stood in place hadn't allowed him to stay as loose as he should have for a long run like this. By the time he reached the second mile marker he was ready to open up his stride and start running for real. A couple of runners had passed him quickly at the start of his run, but he now passed them. The route was crooked and difficult, but it was clearly marked and the cadre had been stationed so that you were almost never completely out of sight during the run. James had done something that was allowed, but many runners didn't do. He had added his camel pack to his other pack. It was filled with plain water at the start of the race, but he had brought some packs and it was now filled with a Gatorade mixture. That would be a great help before this run was finished. It was already a very hot day. It would only get hotter as the miles and minutes passed. At five miles James had started to catch some of the first of the runners who had left well before him.

    Mile by mile he continued to gain ground and pass runners. Most of these were runners who were well qualified to make this run. They were in great shape and most of them were runners to begin with. The packs and rough course was taking a toll on them, but nothing that would keep them from completing the run. It was at the ten mile marker that he saw the first of those who should never have been 'selected' to do this Ironman run. As he began to pass those he made another choice. He would slow down and run with each of them for a short time. He offered words of encouragement and even gave them a packet of mix to add to their water. He had brought those extra packets along for just that reason. He never stayed long, but each time he tried to leave behind something to help them finish the run. The cadre didn't like it and it wasn't long before they were yelling more at him than at the slower runners. That was alright with James too. He ignored their screams and just focused on the next step.

 As he approached the fifteen mile mark James was beginning to feel that extra weight himself. This was one of the worst sections of the run. There was over a mile long stretch of ground that ran along a slope of very loose, very steep, rock and gravel. You were steadily climbing and if you fell you could easily end up in serious trouble, because it was easy to start sliding and end up far below where you should be. Above you there was an almost sheer wall of rock that made the sun seem even hotter as it reflected the heat back. You had to stay on a very narrow trail, if you could call it that, as you crossed the slope at a long angle. The worst part was that for every two strides you took forward and up you would slip and slide one or more back and down in that loose gravel. It was meant to wipe out any remaining strength you might have left. As James approached the top of the slope he began to hear a cadre he knew well for his abusive attitude. He was screaming at some poor Doolie that James couldn't see yet.