I ran the Pengelly Double Dip yesterday and my DW ran the Single Dip.  The DD is a trail 1/2, the SD is a trail 10k.  The DD has some really severe ascents, completely non-runnable for me, tip toe steep.

I was able to run the course on my own about month ago and finished in 3:10, my goal for race was a 2:59

The weather was forecast to be 80, which almost 10 degrees warmer than normal.  I'll be the first to admit I'm a pussy with warm weather!  I would have preferred an early start, but they don't get started until 9:00 am.  The sun was out and with most of the course fully exposed, I knew it was going to be very warm-ish.

I had a young lady introduce herself and ask me if I was on the RA forums, it was "sugnim" who hasn't posted in awhile, but is alive and well.  She said she recognized me by mustache  Last year she told me she finished dead last and was on a mission to not let that happen again.  I'm happy to report she knocked off over a 1/2 hour off her time from the previous year!

I would normally run w/ my AK pack, one bottle w/ calories, one w/ water, but with aid stations I figured I'd go light and run w/ a single handheld.  I like Perpetuem and when I saw they had solids I figured that would be perfect.  Threw some Clif boks in and had planned on a single hammer bar which I forgot to pack.  Also had a small packet of electrolytes that I put in my shorts pocket.

About 30 minutes I broke out a Perpetuem solid and just about choked on it- it was very dry and then very gummy, sticking to my teeth.  It was a mistake not trying them out before hand, they definitely weren't go to work for me.  About an hour in I went to grab an electrolyte capsule only to find that they weren't in my little waist pocket.  I used the porta potty at the start and figured they must have fallen in  I have to admit is was a little bit of psychological let down w/ the solids not working out , losing my electrolytes and forgetting my hammer bar- oh well shit happens.

The scenery made up for the let downs, the wildflower were out in full force and the various snow capped ranges were in full view.  I had made mental notes of my various splits from my exploratory run and was close to the same pace at ~ the half way point, If I wanted to make under three I needed to take it up a notch.  Unfortunately this is probably the most grueling segment-about 1.5 miles of tip toeing to the first turnaround spot.  It also makes it difficult as you have runners coming down on the same faint, switchbackless, single track- so you're having to get constantly get off the trail to give them the right away.  The aid station at this turnaround offered margaritas in addition to normal fare, I passed on that and started my decent.  I haven't mastered downhill running, but I let it hang out a bit and was able to shave some minutes off my pace.  Back to the saddle there is one more ascent to another turnaround, not near as grueling, but at this point I found myself starting to get run down.  I knew I had to keep up the effort if I wanted to make my finish time.  I knocked another couple of minutes off when I found myself back to the saddle for the last time.  The next 3.5 miles consisted of 2.5 miles of steep (but switchedbacked) descent, followed by a flat last mile along the Clark's Fork.  I could feel myself quickly fading, but kept pushing downhill.  I had several bad stumbles that almost put me down, but somehow managed to keep my feet.  When I hit the river I was completely gassed, but knew if I could tough it out this last mile I'd come in under 3 hours.  This last stretch is part of the Kim Williams trail and is a very popular trail for runners, bikers, hikers, dog walkers, etc.  I saw some runners up ahead that I knew were part of the race.  I saw one gent walking w/ a small day pack and assumed he was just out for a hike.  As I slowly got closer I could make out that he had a Hammer t-shirt on and was in fact part of the race.  He looked exactly like I felt- toast!  I so wanted to say screw it and walk, but somehow managed to stumble ahead.  Finally the finish line was in view and while I couldn't muster anything resembling a sprint, I knew I was going to make it under 3, 2:54 to be exact.

My DW was waiting for me and cheering me on, she looked very fresh and I knew I didn't  She was very happy with her finish, in the top half of her age group (she's only been running for six months).  We sat in the shade for 20 minutes or so and the life started coming back into me.  After getting some calories and water in, we soaked in the Clark's Fork for 15 minutes and while painfully cold, I knew it was just what the doctor ordered.  We walked back to where we were staying and shared our race experiences.  As I was telling her about losing my electrolytes, I felt a slight poking in my junk that I experienced on and off throughout the race.  I figured I just didn't apply enough anti-chaffing.  I reached into the lining of my shorts and discovered where my packet of electrolytes had went

Nice job on your race, and sub 3, congrats!

Hope there was no unfortunate chaffing from the misplaced electrolytes!

Well done! Sounds like a lot of fun. Thanks for sharing.

Sounds like you ran it with everything you had...that's awesome.  Congrats on beating your goal time...knocking over 1 min/mile off your training runs must have been a solid effort.  Too funny a about the electrolytes.  Nice runnin'

Damn good job on the race. That's great that your DW did the 10k and you two were able

to enjoy that post-race feeling together.

That's a good time on that course.  I looked at it last year... just in case, then

realized I was thinking of the Clark Fork, not the Clark's Fork).  I've

lost things in my shorts before too--always try to get a volunteer to check.

Nice to share... good conversations on the way home.  Good stuff.

Nice job, and congratulations.  I too was wondering about sugmin.  Hope she stops by again.

Forgot to say way to go for your DW.  That's great she's running and she did very well.