This is Nii Anyetei Akofio-sowah, he is the gentleman who had an unfortunate end to his attempt at finishing the 50 mile course by slashing a tire about 10 miles in during the 2015 race. His solution; ditch the bike and run back to the start. Why is this out of the ordinary? Nii prefers to run barefoot.

One of our volunteers came to us and said that they had seen him running back and offered him a ride; he declined. Nii cruised in to the finish line and told us of his misfortune and that he was a DNF. 

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I'm not sure which one of us was taking it harder, I mean, this was one of the grittiest things that I have seen at a gravel race. This is quite possibly the most inappropriate use I have ever seen for those 3 letters, DNF. Then it happened again...

As if it wasn't bad enough that Nii was taken out of the race, his comrade Dustin Berry was stricken also. Not with bad luck though, but by his resolve to leave no man behind. He had waited up for his friend and when Nii did not show, Dustin backtracked to find him. They both ended up at the finish line, just not by the course they had hoped.

Because of their determination, loyalty, and hardheadedness, we are 100% certain that both of these men would have finished. As a show of appreciation for this kind of sportsmanship we would like to offer Nii and Dustin free entry to our second annual Cuban Gravel Crisis, to be held on October 15th, 2016. Also, we will be changing your race results from DNF to HSF* (Honorable Shortened Finish)

Well done men, it was our honor to have been there to see you finish. We thank you for coming and for your service to the USA.