SBR Chapter 10

Final Straight 2,000 Meters Left is the tenth chapter of Steel Ball Run.

Summary
This chapter starts with Lucy Steel in the train watching the race commenting " They just passed the 2,000 meter line the train is finally rounding the hill what's going on? So that's what's happening." As another passenger next to Stephen Steel shouts " He's running on foot  that guy how the hell is he even keeping up he's running even faster than the horses but that's impossible!!" The announcer exclaims " This Sandman is fast just look at him now he's running over the hill this downhill race will end soon and the final straight will be seen the running time has already passed 17 minutes!!" Stephen Steel watching the race comments to another passenger " A human running faster than a horse yes that's impossible if you think about it rationally but it makes sense when you see it he's going over 30 km/h  no it might be closer to 40 km/h." The other passenger replies " 30? Hang on there a second Mr. Steel  40 km/h is that even Sandman's speed what are you talking about? Running 100 meters in 10 seconds is 36 km/h  the world record isn't even close to that  running a long distance marathon in 2 hours is 21 km/h he really is running faster than all these horses!" Stephen responds by saying " And the secret is in his running style it all makes sense look at how he is running over those cliffs alright i'll explain to you how there's a way to run and achieve speeds of 40 km/h when humans run there's an impact when the foot hits the ground the force of this blow knocks the joints and any muscle around causing them to become fatigued there isn't a way around it even the strongest of legs will get tired but in Sandman's case when he runs his heel touches the ground for only a brief moment that style of running even if his heel touches the ground he never steps through and thus the impact moves to the tip of his feet and then he kicks the ground at the exact moment using the force from the impact to propel himself forward understand now  the flow of impact is going behind him not in front as such his feet don't have any damage nor do they suffer from fatigue and he is able to recycle this force and uses it to accelrate even further this way his speed increases everytime he kicks off the cliffs there you have it that's how he's going over 45 km/h and when landing he kicks the ground a few times letting out energy and reducing the impact again the longer he's in the air the more his muscles are able to relax his heels are probably as soft and smooth as an infant child's." Lucy says " Doesn't that make you run like that but you would need very long legs and incredible agility in order to do that." The passenger then asks " That kind of running where did he learn it?" Lucy answers " Who knows he probably learned it from his surrondings." The announcer proclaims " And now he's climbing up the rocks  using his hands, feet, and all the muscles in his body  he's just like a cougar he doesn't put any force onto his feet and he's much faster on the rocks Sandman's style puts the entire earth on his side so long as Steel Ball Run uses the land as its stages, we can't predict the outcome even if swift horses are his enemy  after Sandman it's PocoLoco and only a horse-length away from him is Gyro Zeppeli the rest have also finished coming downhill we've run nearly 13,000 meters the wind is coming from mexico  Santana is blowing how can we even dictate this race." As the announcer finishes speaking Gyro comments on the situation " What the fuck is going on here shit he's ahead of me after resting on that hill for a good 1,000 meters and that running man also took a shortcut over that cliff but the first stage's only real enemy is this guy  only him... in forest, the dead cow ,and stopping my trap too many coincidences something must be helping him  a long time ago in a casino i saw a guy betting only on red and he won 18 times in a row but it was just luck some kind of power has to be shielding this guy what i'm trying to say is this how can i fix it so that his incredible flow of luck changes so that he runs himself over instead." Meanwhile PocoLoco's stand speaks to him again " Hey PocoLoco i will protect you from everything there is alright so go ahead do anything you want keep rushing forward after all there's only luck inside your bag!" PocoLoco exclaims " Oh!! Yeaa!!" Gyro watching talks to Valkyrie  " My horse has been a sprinter ever since birth even if i can't do anything to him if i stare at his ass the whole time i can't win let's run!" Gyro then rushes ahead of PocoLoco as the announcer says " Gyro has picked up the pace he's jumped ahead  he's really moving  but isn't this a little too soon is it alright there's more than 1,500 meters left and the straight-away is coming up!!!" Stephen seeing the straight-away is surprised by the amount of people there saying " What the hell so many people i had no idea." The announcer exclaims" Wow some many people at the finish line there's the goal it's by an abandoned church there's a giant crowd of spectators gathered here to see the winner of the first stage it's really heating up 10,000 no wait it's definitely over 20,000 way more then the opening ceremony this is impossible mind boggling there's no way you can count how many people there are!" Stephen is still very surprised by the amount of people at the goal when Lucy says to him " He will be a hero the winner of this race will be a world renown hero"  Johnny  meanwhile is talking to Slowdancer  " You ran well old horse you've gained a lot of experience from this race riding on the rough ground going across that forest and rushing downhill with no errors despite how much you've been sweating you can still keep going your legs are in perfect shape your breathing is in good spirits we're only 40-50 horse-lengths away but he dashed ahead too early he'll be tired let's surprise him..Gyro Zeppeli!" As Johnny finishes talking to Slowdancer he looks behind him and sees  Diego pulling close to him. The announcer comments " Hang on everyone look did you notice shocking indeed pulling ahead in the trailing group he's making his way through the pack!!" Johnny thinks to himself " It's simply unbelieveable coming from way behind this guy is Dio   Diego Brando has caugh up to me!!" The announcer states " Pushed behind everyone with the destruction of the bridge and he's just caught up how in the world did he gain back all the ground he lost he's already paid back his loans again he's passes on by Dio is catching up he's breaking through!" Johnny seeing this says " This guy he's using that technique he came forward using this air pressure shield!!" Johnny explains that the air pressure shield " Riding behind the leading horse where the wind is completely blocked avoiding the fatigue that's caused by the air pressure so that's how he's been able to keep on overtaking all of the other riders out here  it's an extremely dangerous maneuver that takes amazing skill to use!!" Johnny then wonders if his horse is going to be overtaken as well but calms down by saying " But i've already decided to overtake Gyro no matter what.." Johnny then passes ahead of Diego much to the latters shock.The announcer states " The trailing groups are finally arriving ooh they're speeding up they're no longer holding they're horses back from Gyro down to the bottom of the mountain there's an entire river of riders on the move and PocoLoco has just challenged Gyro!!" The chapter ends with Gyro saying " It doesn't change the fact that this is what i was expecting since the very beginning of the race at least i think so..."