We started off at a very quick clip because of the adrenaline of the start, and because the beginning was on a flat road before heading onto the trail. I knew I was running hard and fast, but there was a comfortablility to it that I liked it. It was giving me a good burn, and required the type of 'dig down deep' effort I was looking to expend during the entire race portion of the day.
After cruising a couple miles at a 7ish pace, we hit the stairs and hoisted ourselves up using legs and arms as much as possible. My lungs were burning as we hit the technical part of the trail immediately after the steps, but I had to try to keep up with jcash. We had a nice little pack going with lots of momentum, picking off people all the way back to the start line for the second loop.
That's when things got crazy. I was working hard trying to keep up with another guy I knew, JD. I wanted to have a strong finish to my second loop, but there was no turning down the effort now in order to save something for the finish. We were flying along at a 6:30 pace, mowing people down. It was a struggle, but I was willing to keep pushing because I was being pulled along, basically. Just going with the flow.
The course opens up through several fields where you can get a good look at leaders of the race. We could see a few runners in front of us that we could still reel in, even though they were more than a minute up. We made a plan to make up 2 seconds every minute, for the next 30 minutes. It worked! Almost too well. After we drug ourselves up the staircase a second agonizing time - and this is where JD pulled away from me - we ate up ground like madmen on the downhill portion of the course. We passed a couple more racers within about 12 minutes. Yowza!
Back on the flats, I was more than ready to be done. The course was running a little long (I marked it at 12.8mi), and I was out of steam. My legs got heavier, and because there was nobody within striking distance behind me, and JD was well ahead of me, I just mustered up what effort I could to keep some composure through the finish chute.
Good race, with good peeps, and good BBQ. What more could you ask for?

Bring water with me so I could wash down the 2 gels I took. Maybe just wear regular running shoes or flats instead of the trail shoes.

After gathering the troops - jcash and ranger - we shared our stories and stretched a bit. Ate and drank some, too.
Then jcash and I went out for 5 more miles so that we would end up with 22.3mi for the day. It was good to simulate VERY tired and sore legs at the end of a run.


Maybe a little more hydration would have been nice, but I really couldn't have gone appreciably faster. I raced very HARD.


Awesome event put on by people who care. They prepared a fun course, had great shirts and mugs for racers and all the amenities you could hope for.