Started a couple rows back from the front, just behind the real fast guys. Lined up next to my friends Richard and Phil. At the gun I took off hard so I would put those guys behind me right from the start. Ran the hill strong, but started to fade a bit near the top. Still it was the first time I've made the first mile under 8 minutes. Continued to push a strong pace onto the trails, but started feeling a little tired and the snowy parts slowed me down more than I liked. A few people passed during this section. Got back to the road and started pushing hard to overtake some of the people who passed me and got by a few. The rollers in this section made it difficult to keep a strong pace, but I was holding my own. Finally got to the downhill and turned it up, passing another couple people in the 10K and a whole bunch of 5K stragglers. The last quarter mile is back on a snowy trail and I was pushing it hard to catch a guy and got by him about 20 yards from the finish. The race went pretty well and this was my fastest time ever on this course by 2 minutes. I was only 15 seconds out of third and I think if I had known who that guy was I could have hung with him as I think he passed me at some point.

Push the pace harder on the uphill sections.

Got some water from my wife, walked around quite a bit.


Need to train on hills at race speed.


This race is always a great way to start off the New Year and it helps raise funds for Search & Rescue.