It rained the night before the race but by race morning everything had cleared up nicely.  Conditions at race time

were low 40's and clear with only portions of the trail a little muddy.  The course started and finished on about a

half mile of road and the rest was two 15 mile loops over fairly easy trails.  My goal for the race was to finish

in around 4:30 and to place for my age.

With about 300 runners participating I decided to stay towards the front at the start to keep the trails open

later.  I entered the trails in about 30th place and running a little faster than 8:00 minute miles.  Faster than

my goal but I felt like it was worth the effort for clear running later.  The first couple of 5K's were around 25

minutes as I settled into a rhythm.  I managed to settle down a little and the next two 5K's were around 26

minutes.  I arrived at my prearranged support station about 5 minutes ahead of schedule in about 45th position.  I

got a fresh bottle and dropped my beanie cap for a ball cap since I was warming up nicely.

For the next 3 mile loop I emptied the fresh bottle and arrived back at the halfway point/aid station at 2:10 and

picked up another fresh bottle.  Still 5 minutes ahead of goal pace but feeling very confident.  The next 10K went

by very quickly as I got into a conversation with a guy that ran the 1979 Boston marathon.  He was attempting an

Olympic qualifier at the time(2:22) but came up short and ended up finishing right next to Joan Benoit.  We were so

busy talking we didn't notice that we just did two 5K's in 25 minutes a piece!

Things got a little more difficult after that as I dropped my new friend at an aid station but I really never broke

pace significantly.  I was passing quite a few people at this point and that really helped keep me focused and

moving forward.  I went through the marathon in 3:38 which I was very excited about.  Not just because I became an

"ultra" marathoner but my Richmond marathon time 1 month ago was 3:34 on flat roads and this was on muddy trails.

The last 5 miles were definitely challenging but my last 5K was still a respectable 27 minutes and I felt strong

hitting the line in 4:22:38.  I ended up 21st overall and 3rd in my age group. 

Great job, Jeff and a great report.  Thank  you.