Hey Everyone, for the last time. Well, what a roller coaster it's been! For those of you who weren't aware, last night and earlier today was nail-biting material. Yesterday, every follower of "The Nutter" and the MickRooCrew were handed a seed of doubt when we were told Mickey might not make the cut-off time for the end of the race, meaning none of his RAAM achievements would be recognised. But we all had faith in Mickey's abilities, feeling that he had beaten the odds before so why not again? Messages of support and motivation flooded in, in a last desperate attempt to spur Mickey on. My message told him to channel Pat Farmer but instead of one foot in front of the other, one pedal in front of the other. The sense of worry that I felt for Mickey as I travelled to Acer Arena to see Miley Cyrus was almost overwhelming. Today I didn't go to school as I was too wrecked from the night before and I was in bed until after 9:00. I was quite sleepy and had trouble getting my brain to function. Suddenly in my state of sleepiness, one thought was crystal clear - what was the story with Mickey? Yelling for my mum to come upstairs and help me out of bed, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. My mum's face was grave as she entered the room having just got off the phone with member of the ShaCrew (Julie Wallace). With a sinking feeling in my stomach and fearing the worst, I asked the inevitable question - "What happened" My mum then informed me that Mickey had missed the cutoff time by a mere 5 minutes. It felt as if a weight had been hurled at my chest as I tried to absorb what had happened. Tears were ready to fall when I realised Mickey's online status was DNF (Did Not Finish) but those tears turned to cries of joy as we received news that his status had changed to Unofficially Finished due to a successful appeal made by the crew. To top it all off Mickey and the gang won "Sportsmanship Award for RAAM 2011 because of their honesty. All in all a sensational and inspirational effort by the MickRooCrew and my hero Mickey Campbell.
Hannah
What courage shown by you all, congratulations Mickey and the team. Inspiring is the word.
ReplyDeletelove Tec xxxx
Mikey & MickRooCrew - you are our Hero and you did cross the finish line!!! You are all one hell of an inspiration. Well done & congrats from Paul & LO xxxx
ReplyDeleteHope you are all celebrating (and recovering from) this momentous feat. This has been a ride - for us all! Thanks also to Hannah, Molly and the MickRooCrew for such an entertaining blog - my first real blog experience. Safe travels home Mick and crew, Sarah.
ReplyDeleteMickey you're the man. You made it across America and even got a trophy! Whoo. Love from Hugh.
ReplyDeleteTo Mickroocrew: Thank you all sincerely for sharing this life changing event with us back here watching MasterChef. Hannah say's it all, thank you Hannah, Molly and Paddy for all the updates, the world is your Lobster, now you know you can achieve anything, if mum says its OK!! Whimseys
ReplyDeleteMickey forget about the artificial man made arbitrary cut off time - you have just safely cycled from one side of America to the other - you are a bloody champion. Love your work and what you have done for such a good cause. See you when you get back.
ReplyDeleteTudj and your friends from the Engadine Triathlon Club.
PS we are on the grog again!!
What a rollercoaster of emotion; yes the MickRooCrew have taken us all on this amazing ride with them; both in mind and spirit, but thankfully not in body!! Hannah, your words ring true when the initial RAAM decision was so hard-hitting, and hard to believe. It was a relief to know that the decision was reviewed and your tremendous effort was recognised as finishers of what is known as the toughest cycle race in the world, and in addition that you were recongised as finishers who were awarded the RAAM sportsman award for the team that demonstrated the spirit of RAAM and great sportsmanship. It truely is an amazing achievment that a rider and team who were pulled together in less than four months before the start line could make such an impressive finish, especially with the unforseen challenges that presented along the way. You are all living proof of what true team spirit is. With heartfelt pride and true admiration we are so looking forward to welcoming you all home on Thursday. And Mickey, my mad but truely inspirational man, you never cease to amaze me! You take on such crazy challenges that to most are considered impossible, but you continue to prove that so far nothing is impossible and beyond reach. However, I am hoping that this will be it for a while!!! Love to all, Sharon, Molly and Paddy xxx
ReplyDeleteWell done Mickey & Crew.
ReplyDeleteHeard the news via Sue who called in on 'gets my ghoulies' on Jonesy & Amanda's radio show this morning and my heart just sunk but was glad to know you'd finished safe. Great to hear all turned out well. Hope you celebrated in style and got some well deserved rest - not necessarily in that order. Carole C x
The rules seem to say that the cut-off is 12 days at TS55. But it appears that the officials are instead using TS54 as the cut-off, as evidenced by your missing it by 5 minutes, and Samim Rizvi making the cut-off at TS54 by 1 minute, but past the cut-off at TS55. Did RAAM-HQ offer any clarification on this?
ReplyDeleteWhat a journey for Mickey! It is amazing what he has accomplished, despite being a mere five minutes over "official" time. I'm so amazed and humbled by the RAAM solo riders. You all are just incredible.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations Mickey and team. I've been following you since the start as the only solo Australian. What a fantastic achievement to finish the race. Inspiring.
ReplyDeleteHamish,
Melbourne.