Notes
Cloudy, wet, really humid and sticky. Did a quick warm-up with Bob. Big toe joint at the ball of my foot has been sore all week. Sore when I got up this morning. Ok during warm-up. Found a good spot for the start and got in a good group for the first couple miles. Pace was just right for this long, tough race. Eventually passed both girls in front of me. Had a guy right behind me that passed everyone I did. He was following pretty close, so I asked him if he wanted to go by, but he said my pace was just right. He stopped to take water at the 1st stop and I got a gap on him. But I was starting to fade some, tailwind not really keeping my energy up. Took a GU and he caught back up. Felt better after the GU kicked in and picked up the pace again. The guy took water at the 2nd stop and I put another gap on him. He started to catch back up. I passed a guy and then I think they both fell. I never saw the guy again. Ran by myself for awhile and spotted a couple guys in front of me. I could see them walk every once in awhile. I was able to close the gap and pass them when they took water at the 3rd water stop. Ran a slower steady pace on the long grind up the snowmobile trail. Had one of the guys pass me and a couple others running pretty fast also. At some point passed the guy back and ran by myself. Started to fade again and took a GU running up the Knight's Wood trail. Hit the beginning of the O trail just as the GU was kicking in and the sky was starting to get dark. Tried to keep the pace steady so as not to trip on all the rocks, roots, and switchbacks. Legs actually felt better than they did at around mile 5. Was able to hop over a couple downed trees and take big steps up and down on the big rocks. Had a girl catch up with me and at one point it was so dark you could've used a headlamp. Actually lost the trail and stopped for a second. The girl pointed out the trail to the left and passed me. Another guy caught up to us and we passed each other a couple times. The course was really well marked and they had Demer boxes playing a loop of "The wheels on the bus" at each of the two rocky spots. So even though it felt like you were running the same section of trail you knew you weren't. It started raining really hard and the sky brightened. At one point both people in front of my slowed to walk a hill and I went by them and worked hard to stay ahead of them. The trail was easier to see as the rain was puddling right in the middle of it. Finally saw the exit of the trail and I put the hammer down all the way to the finish. Was really thirsty, which started just before the O trail, and the cold water tasted really good. Need to drink more tailwind earlier in the race. Pretty happy with this race, don't think I could've run it any harder. Good pacing, didn't go out too fast. Big toe wasn't an issue at all. The rain stopped and the sun came out during the awards.