Notes
Marked as 13.5 as that is what the description suggested it was and most that I could tell on strava. I estimated based on past results and description that between 95-100 minutes would be around how long I could expect to be out there and I wound up right in the middle so I am pretty impressed with that prediction. I haven't ran over 9 or 10 miles since running Climingsdome a month ago so I knew the last 3-4 miles could get tough. No workouts either over the last month and volume has dropped so wasn't ideal heading in my none the less I wanted to be competitive and give myself a chance for the best finish i could.
From the gun 2 guys were out hard with one ending up doing the 7 mile race but the leader was out at a pace I knew not sustainable over the course. I fell into a group of 3 with the guy I was mainly working with early being Michael Morrell who was a guy I wanted to beat but was unsure of. He was pushing downhills but any slight incline I got ahead. Hit mile at 6:25 which I knew would slow down. Hit single track in the 3rd mile and it was a steady up so I went around Michael and from that point on I was always ahead slowly extending the lead. At 5 miles went down technical single track and felt strong and started back up single track again to aid station 2. Legs started to feel rough. Never saw the leader and built up about 80 second lead at 7.5-8 miles so I went into protect mode for position 2. Just rythem on the uphill since i was naturally stronger and use the downhill best I could. After second aid station was gravel rest of way and I really wasn't at my best. just stayed relaxed best I could but in better shape it would be a section to run a little faster on. Ended up under 1:40 which I will take. Had fun overall. We will see if I use this to get into decent run shape now.