Finally met Lisa (lrunfit) and talked with Tall Tri Dad,PhilE, and Jwebs whilst waiting for the start gun to go off. I believe the run started a bit late. Tried to find PeterAK but he musta been in the front. Nice easy start as seemed like there were a lot of people in front of us. Teamed up with Jim to see if I could keep his pace for the duration. As soon as I heard the beep as I crossed the start line my body tells me "I gots to go", well, too late now. Luckily around mile 3 or 4 there was an owner of a house offering their bathrooms for poor fools like me. I told Jim to go ahead and I would try to catch up. Pulled out of the rest station and started back on my journey. Now I had to find my carrot. As I was looking I heard a "hey donkey" and turned to see who it was. It was none other than the head donkess herself Mrs. Jszat or Lara13 as some of you know her. Nice to meet her and we chatted for a while. She could tell I was on a mission and told me to take off. Said our goodbyes and I was on my way. Kept a pretty good pace going and I felt great. Nothing was hurting and I really felt strong. It wasn't until mile 6 or 7 that I finally saw the carrot again. I gave a shout out "eeaaww" and he turned around to see who it was. Shared some sport beans with some guys I was passing and picked up the speed a little more. Ran up next to Jim and I swear he was just chillin' and in his own little world. Took a few paces right next to him and I don't even think he knew I was there. I asked him if he was sleeping. He said yeah and he was waiting for his alarm. Must be nice to run on auto pilot. Fell back into rhythm with him for the next 5 miles and we even found PeterAK. Man he takes long strides with those sticks. Had a nice chat with him for a few miles and then Jim and I sorta pulled ahead. I was about to say something to him and noticed he wasn't there. We are at mile 11.5 or so and Lara13 comes running up. She musta been cruising cuz I hadn't seen her since our earlier chat. Saw the 12 mile marker and I was pumped. Looked at my watch and saw that I would break 2 hours if I kept it up and maybe even break my PR if I kicked it a little more. Oh, it's only 1.1 miles to go, I can do that. So I just listened to my pea brain and went for it. It wasn't easy, but I was able to make it with my new found pace. Crossed the finish line and collected my very nice medal.

Maybe train a little more before the race. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to run this one so my longest training run was 7 miles a couple weeks earlier. Work on my form. Djdavey gave me some pointers and I really tried to think about them when I was running, by my knees hurt later in the day, so I guess I didn't follow thru.

Saw Clint and the kids as I was coming in the finish shoot. They gave me a shout out and then met me outside the finish shoot. Talked with the other Donks as they came thru and went in for a pb&j, fruit and lots of water. Sat on the grass and talked with Peter and his new bride. Walked over to the results and saw that I took first for my division..Athena. Woot woot. Clint asked how many in the division and it ended up being 21. Good showing. I think I would've been a MOPer if I ran AG. All is good. Clint and the boys left for the Badger game while Holly and I waited for my trophy. Holly was hot and cranky so we couldn't get out of there fast enough. She did get to share the spotlight with me and have her photo taken with the trophy. Hope that turns out.


It got pretty hot pretty fast. Glad I took off my long sleeve shirt before the run. I guess my form limits my ability as well. Must work on that over the winter months. Maybe running in the snow and ice will force me to run on the front of my foot instead of the back.


Great music along the run. Awesome volunteers and water stations. Most had gels, enduralytes and quench gum. Beautiful course. I will do this one again next year.