The wind was absolutely howling and at the start, it was right in our faces. The first half mile of the race was into the wind, which didn't make much difference at that point. After the first half mile or so, the road took a bend along the river and the wind calmed just a little bit. Another bend and suddenly the wind was behind us and from there on to the turn-around it was really hard to stay on my planned pace. Felt good though and heart rate was under control so just went with the tail wind.
At the turn around was where things got really ugly! The wind was blowing a steady 20-25mph with gusts up to 40 at times and frequent gusts in the 30+ range. It was blowing so hard that at times you would almost come to a halt in mid-stride. So...it was just put your head down and keep plodding. Gut check time. Around mile 11-ish, the wind died a little bit and then just to mock us, the last half mile there was a little bit of a tail wind. I didn't really push at all with the wind blowing the way it was, just kind of plodded along trying to keep my heart rate under control. But for about 4 1/2-5 miles it was like running up a steep hill. Good training!

Not much other than ask the weather man for a better day!

Wasn't really even breathing hard when I got done so just walked over to the food tables and ate a bit. Congratulated my brother John (soretaint) on his excellent race! We waited around for the awards ceremony to see some friends get some bling.


Wind, wind, and more wind. My legs got a little tired by about mile 10 but that was just due to lack of running. Less than 60 miles since the first of the year so the ol' pins need more conditioning!


This is a pretty good race and well attended for the remote location and time of year. Roughly 350 people ran it. The winning time was 1:10 and change which given the conditions and early season was pretty remarkable. Very competitive race this year...last years winner was 7th this year.