Started right up front and looked around at the competition. Gun went off , 4-5 guys leaped out front but that dwindled down to 3 within 100 yds. then it was one young guy and me. I could hear someone on my heels but it was way to early to look back. I guess I should mention I've never done a trail race. I have run a few trails behind my house in training but this was pretty extreme. Foot placement was critical. Back to the race... the guy in first had 100 yard lead and this seemed to grow at every hill we encountered. I would close the gap when it flattened out but only till the next hill. I was thinking at this point "do not loose second place" . There were two major hills that were to steep to run. This was a bit tough on me mentally, Ive never walked during a race before, but nobody was running these hills. Nothing changed for the first 5 miles then I closed the gap between the leader and I. I was feeling real good so I made my move into first place. The guy I had been chasing said he was cooked and patted me on the shoulder. With only 3/4 mile to go the race was mine to win or loose. I could hear someone on my heels so I kept up the pace and concentrated on foot placement. The trail flattened out and I knew this race was mine, with hands in the air I took first overall. Second place was :04 seconds back

It would have been nice to have some data. And maybe some trail shoes.

Grabbed some food from the buffet. Mostly junk M&Ms a Coke, bagel with peanut butter. Chatted with a local guy fellow multisporter for a bit while we ate.


I guess we got lucky in that there are 5 creek beds usually 2 ft. deep with water. They were all dry.