Associated parks:
None
I arived and noticed that there were only afew people there and was wondering if there would even be enough to fill a train but afew minutes before seven there was a giant influx of ACErs and there were more than enough. we were giving our badges so people would know who is who and who was starting and who was going to be on stand by. I had been chose along with afew other people at Spring Fling to start when the Marathon began. I was not even sure if I could make it the full 30 hours, but was going to give it the great collage try and was given seat 9a as my place I had hope for the next 30 hours.
Alittle after 7:30 we entered the park via behind Superman and dropped our things off in the tent near the rock climbing wall and just hung out till it was time to start. We saw the carpenters finish walking the track and heard the horn to let you know that the train was about to roll out on some test runs. We gathered around the exit and watch the train climb the lifthill and someone said we must be crazy for doing this and we all laughed as we entered the exit to take our places in our seats. They asked which train we wanted and everyone said blue train since it was not as rough as the red train.
So at around 8 am friday the train leaves the station and lap one has started. SInce both trains were on the track, we had to wait till the the red train had cleared before we were dispatched. We just sit in the train and chatted with each other and with the workers that were there to operate the train till we were cleared to leave. Now I am not going to talk about each hour since it would bore the living crap out of you. I will only touch on afew things and leave it as that.
Around 10 am the GP made their way and I was thinkiong there would be backlash since we were in one train and the GP only had one train, but there was really nothing negative said that I heard during the whole time. They were alot of support and cheering plus alot of are you guys crazy or insane for doing this. But there was really no backlash that I saw, but I could have missed something while we were out of the station. The GP seem to be supported of our attempt to ride the GASM for 30 hours or either they thought we were totally out of our minds.
We were allowed five minute breaks at the top of each hour to strech and hit the can, but it is amazing on how short of time that really is. We were allowed abit longer when Lunch and dinner was served and no we did not eat it while on the train. It would have been interesting to see what the sub for lunch would have survived the first few hills. I would say the folks near the back would be covered in it. It would have been a sight though.
There were two times during the 30 hours that the ride had to be shut down. the first was for lighning that just happend to take place during the time we were eating dinner which was great timing since the sorness was starting to set in pretty good with the constant riding. It helped everyone out, but some had already sit out a lap or two to rest before joining back in on the fun. And the second time was when a problem with the blue train caused them to take it off the track and replace it with the red train for afew hours.
We hit number 300 around 6am saturday morning. We stopped and took out break and a picture was took of the 8 that had been in on every ride so far. I was saying to myself that I was not sure if I could last till 2pm, but was going to try. The ride had to have its daily morning inspection with the carpenters so we took time out to enjoy a biscuit while this was taking place. so when that was done it was time to get back under way with #301.
It seem that the last few hours seem to go by alot faster than before. I guess the light and the thought of 2pm that made it go by faster plus the GP joined us once again at 10pm after the sprint towards superman was over with. Once again the GP seem to want to know how it was going or how many laps have we had done or the what do you get for doing this questions. Alot seem to be interested in how was the rain afew hours ago and did we ride in it. I enjoyed seeing their faces when we told them we rode it in the rain. Afew said you guys are out of your minds.
John Odum stopped by around 11am to check on us. He was pretty impressed with seeing the train almost full and we talked him into a ride with us and he took the seat by me. He was pleased to see that everyone was still holding their hands up going through the course. He said he would see us in afew hours at the end of the marathon. At this time there were seven of us that had sit in on every lap.
So at afew minutes till 2 we were told that this lap would be our last lap and we all cheered as did the people in the q-line. We left the station and began our last trip up the lift and near the top every arm went up. The train cleared the lift and were off to complete lap #367. There was alot of cheering when we hit the brake run and even more as we moved into the station. There was an announcement made that the Marathon was over and a brief history was given out on the GASm and there was even a cake that was brought in. Everyone sang Happy Birthday to GASM and we parted the train. I got up out of seat 9A since I had sit in it for the whole time.
We moved on down to the area were our stuff was and enjoyed cake along with a speech from John Odum. We were thanked of helping the park celadrate the 30th anniversary of the Great American Scream Machine. We were told we could hang out the rest of the day but I decided to bug out and head home.
All in all it was a great time though I am abit sore this morning but that was expected. What do you expect from riding 367 laps or 248 miles on a coaster in 30 hours.
------------------
-Vortex Crew 2003-
------------------
Mike T.
RCT2 Wizards-Medusa99
Current track record: 25
------------------
**Why does Sea World have a seafood restaurant? I'm halfway through my fish burger and I realize, Oh my gosh....I could be eating a slow learner.**
You must be logged in to post