I'm collecting states for the 50 states club and love running these things for the fun of it. So, my only goal was finishing before the 6 hour cut off, and getting in a long training run for the 51k I am doing in August. The first 8 miles were pretty rough as my soleus/calves, which usually loosen up at about mile 4 were super tight until right before the 8th mile. I had to stop a few times and try to get them to loosen up when the pain would get unbearable. I really wish I could find a solution to this issue. It's weird because after they finally loosen up they never cause me anymore issues during the run. The rest of the run went pretty smoothly. I saw a lot of other Maniacs out there, which was lots of fun, and I passed a handful of people towards the end. I did a lot of power walking in the last 3 or 4 miles as my walk was faster than my shuffle. :)

Get rid of the extra 25 lbs I'm carrying around, and buy some new calves.

Walked over to Starbucks and bought an iced mocha


See "what would I do differently" :)


Overall it was a great scenic course, and the race was well organized. They also gave out race hats at the finish line, which was a nice surprise. Idaho is done, but I would do this race again anyway.