When his alarm went off, his body woke up, but his mind didn’t. He was still in a dream. And in that dream he was standing with two other people, waiting for a bus that would take them to Hachita.
“I sat on the side of the road for 30-40 minutes waiting for that bus, talking to people that weren’t there,” Leveika said. “But eventually, the lady that was there said to me, ‘Isn’t there a race you’re doing, and isn’t there anyone waiting for you at the finish line?’ And that’s when it started to come back to me that I should maybe go.”
When Leveika reached his final destination, he felt a deep relief. The fanfare at the finish line was small but joyous. The welcoming committee consisted of two dot watchers who drove from Tucson to congratulate him, a photographer named Eddie Clark, and Jeffrey Sharp, who runs a bike ranch where hikers and bikepackers can stay in the Hachita Valley. There was no finish tape to cut. The race ends at a Border Patrol office that stands indifferent to being one of the most welcome sights in ultra racing.
