Notes
Amazing race, I could pretty much rewrite what Drew said, so I will.
Drew and I had no race plan, there were a few guys we considered might be a challenge but no certainties. At the 1st bottleneck, I got right behind the leader which was my plan. When the leader struggled through the 1st stream crossing, I just leaped the creek but still planned to get behind him. I was a bit surprised when Drew decided to jump by me and start pushing the pace uphill and through some tight trails. Soon it was just 3 of us with the next group a long ways back. The other guy turned out to be Nick Bowerman (who I knew was good and had beaten me before) but he was already complaining about the footing, so I figured he probably wasn't too used to trails. Nevertheless, he took the lead back and did a great job pushing the pace through the middle parts. On the flats was the hardest, he set a fast pace and I contemplated many times if I should let Drew pass me. The ups and downs actually were the recovery part.
In a near deja vu of last year, the leader ran past an uphill turn, but this year Drew took the uphill 1st instead of me. I knew Drew was making his bid to drop Nick and I just hung on the best I could. We powered up the hills and flew down the hill and around the trees. I gained confidence as I saw Nick dropping and when I realized where we were, knowing we couldn't be more than a mile out. We cruised in, Drew asked if we should duke it out but I said I wasn't going to force it. Still, once we started kicking in, it felt pretty good.
Another year that I am very happy to have done this race, only regret is not grabbing a ribbon to get a snickers.
Last Comment. Biggest difference between mine and Drew's races: Though I ran through nearly every bush or branch to run the tangent (many scratches and cuts to prove it), Drew went all out and tried to run through a tree. Tree > Wall.