The race was 'sold out', which meant they hit the 750 limit for participants (the race is free). Since there were so many people they split the race into three groups this year, 6-8 m/m runners, 8-10 mm runners, and 10+ mm runners. The second group started 5 minutes after the first, and the third group was 5 minutes after the second. I put myself into the second group and got into the masses for the start. Many people in the group took off too fast, so I was passing runners during the second mile.

I think next year I'll put myself into the first group and just expect to be in the back. The masses come to almost a complete stop at several sections of the single track.

T1 was a little slow because of the gloves I had on my hands. There was no riding in transition this year, so had to run with the bike unlike previous years.

possibly not wear gloves, but it was pretty cold out.

With the increase number of riders in the race this year it was very difficult to not draft and to ride safely. Some of the faster runners from group 1 of the run were inexperienced cyclist and made the ride hazardous by not riding straight lines and not staying to the right. This made it tricky to pass people while still maintaining a safe ride.

My watch died halfway through the ride, so had to estimate the rest of the splits for the race.

Once again, starting in the first group on the run would help by having less people on the road in front of me.

T2 was pretty painless. removed my gloves for the second loop of the run.

nothing

Same course as the first lap, we just started at the back of transition. The was a better run for me than the first loop. Was nice not having to slow down on the single track. Started to get warm on the run, so rolled down my arm warmers.

nothing

Grabbed my bike and rode it back to my truck. After storing the bike I walked back to the race start and got a bowl of chili


Lack of training


I think they may need to reduce the size of the field to make it a safer race. I heard at least one person hit the dirt on the run because they could not see the trail (and the roots).