Pretty loose start and I just let the crowd of 75 or so go and fell in at the rear. Roughly a 1/3 mile run on the road to the bottom of the first climb. Quick check of Garmin and I see 8:24 on the pace. Ackk...way to fast. Opt to maintain pace and see what lies ahead.

First break to walk as there is a huge jam of people to climb the timber stairs and onto the single track. Up we go!

First climb was about 1.6 miles. Was proud that I was able to run most of it albiet slowly. At the top of the first ridge with lots of short rollers, dropoffs and quick turns. Enough space to pass several people and prepare for more single track and back down into a valley. Trail makes a steep downhill then a hard left and just as I managed to get around the guy behind me goes over the edge and down the slope 15 feet or so. He says he is OK and I continue on.

The fall leaves have completely covered the trail along with the dry conditions make it impossible to see the hazards and more interesting slippery on the leaves. I wonder if a light rain the day before would have made the leaves stick together better. Spend the next few pondering this and suddenly find myself slapped back to reality as a massive root pops out of nowhere. Hop to the other side and land on some loose stuff and suddenly I am going really fast and way out of control. Quickly latched onto a tree and all was well again. Remind myself, no more letting the mind wander.

After that I made up my mind that 2:30 goal was done and I was going to just try and survive. Downhills thrashed my quads and knees and up was hell on the calves. I probably could have run it faster but I was so slow going down the hills trying to be careful and not get hurt or fall I lost any advantage it gave me. Probably worked harder going slow as well. Did see another guy walking out on a makeshift crutch about a 1/2 mile from the turnaround. Said he thought he broke his ankle but refused assistance.

First time on a trail with this steep of climbs up and down. Not much I could have done different and it was a good learning experience. Just need to practice more in these conditions to get more comfortable so I can go faster down the hills.

Water