I did'nt expect the pack to be so tight in the begining, but the pace was right and my HR was in check so I went with it. Thankfully the aid stations helped spread us out a bit. After the 7 mile mark a pack of about 8-9 were 50 yards ahead of me, I did'nt want to expend energy catching them, plus I enjoyed seeing where I was running, but I realized after about 4 miles I was still 50 yards back, so we were running the same pace. I stopped at all of the aid stations, about every 5-7 miles and took in a GEL and cup of water. I felt pretty quick getting in and out of the stations. At mile 17 I passed a handful of guys that were a good distance ahead of me, so it got me thinking that my plan was coming together, I was feeling great and some of the other runners had gone out too hard....wrong, most of them caught up to me by mile 20 and I could feel the legs starting to take a toll. I jumped in the woods for a quick wizz and popped a few Endurolytes and Alieve. I never carried a water bottle for more than 5 minutes, so going on a 31 mile run with one in tote was something different, I didn't mind it too much and am glad I took it over the fuel belt, I rarely drank out of it, maybe 2 drinks every 2 miles or so, with the cool weather overheating wasn't a concern. I did take one digger when a runner in front of me that I was just getting ready to pass went down, he slipped on some of that slurry, and I went down on top of him. He was hurting, I had a soft landing. When Mike passed me around mile 20 he said he also diggered coming of a bridge, it was definatley slick course. So the countdown continued at mile 20, I was trying to stay very positive, kept telling myself, hey, only a 15K left, you love that distance. My legs weren't interested, the power walking of the uphills was all I could do to keep moving, they were steep and frequent in the last 10 miles. Anyway, nobody was around, just me, myself, and I....keep counting down, once I got to only a 10K left I felt like this was going to happen, I know I can do a 10 K. I just didn't want to get into walking too much, I kept it to the uphills only. My focus was not longer on the 7:30's I was originally shooting for, that dropped after 20 miles and I was looking at mostly 8's with an occassionl 9 and even one 10 min mile. the aid station at mile 28 had some cheerleaders and stuff, they got me jacked up, plus it was just nice to see people again. Took my gel/water, filled my bottle and I was off. I heard them cheer again about 3-4 minutes later so I didn't have to worry much about being pushed to the finish line. Got to mile 30, the last check point, and I said how much further, she said 1.7 miles...I wasn't too happy about that, had my heart set on the last mile. Oh well, there were some 1/2 marathon runners on the course at that point so I had people to see and pass, then I got to the last hill, the long steep hill we started the race with, but now it was a descent, my quads were not in the mood for a 1/3 mile down hill sprint on rocky wet terrain after 30 miles of running, it was brutal, I felt my right quad jolt a number of times, and am still feeling the after effects of that one today. Once I hit the bottom I boogied it down the road and into the parking lot, I had a pretty good kick at the end. Elation!

Not break my clavicle 3 months ago.
Train on the ICE AGE TRAIL prior to the race.
Stick with another runner from mile 20-30, get's lonely and there is nobody to push the tempo. I just didn't want to go too hard too early.

Walked..tried to run...to the car for warm gear. Came back to chat with Mike/Brad/Marty. Had some hot turkey sandwiches and soup. Hung out for a bit then hit the road back to Kaukauna. Had a nice warm shower and a couple Miller Lites with Marty, then headed to Brad/Lynn's for Sara's family they had Christmas in October as her grandpa and Grandma were leaving for Texas in a week.


Lost my base in August, pretty much had to start from scratch in Sept/October. Built up quicker than I would have liked to, but it was still effective.


Hard to compare to anything else. I missed IM WI this year, but what I will take from this race into the IM 09 is the mental attitude and how I attacked this ultra. Endurance events are very mentally draining but I felt I kept it together pretty well out there. Great experience!