I started the race with a friend of mine, who is also named Matt. The start of the run was stupid cold. There were only a few of us Stupid enough to be running in shorts and short sleeves, and we were all jumping up and down trying to keep warm. Luckily I got there at the last minute and only had to wait around for a few minutes.

Once I started running, I warmed up nicely, except for my hands. After the first mile, they went numb and that held me over to the end.

Running through the memorial was kind of confusing. There were two or three loops where you had to merge back with or cross the running traffic. To top it off, it was hilly. They distinctly promised an all down hill race, but the first three miles were anything but downhill.

I felt really good during this part of the race. I just clicked it over to cruise control and ran. Opened it up on the downhill; slowed it back on the uphill. As I was running I could feel a cramp start to grow in my lower abdomin. The whole time I was out there I was fighting it. It was just a gamble about how hard I could push before I pushed it over the edge.

Once I got on the trail, I assume I opened it up a little. I ran completely sans electronics. No Garmin, no HRM, no watch. I was running completely by feel. I just kept ticking off the miles. I could tell I was running faster then 10's, but figured I was in the low to mid 9's.

I was running at a comfortable pace, but considering I had only run twice in the past two months and the longest I had gone was 6 miles, I could imagine blowing up at mile 7 and having a rough rest of the race. I decided to just keep at a comfortable pace and if I had to walk, then so be it. Each mile that I ticked off was a minor victory.

I hit mile 9 and the suspense was killing me. I was feeling good, but I had to know my time. I ended up coming up next to and pacing with a guy wearing a garmin, so I asked him what our current time was. He looked down and told me 1:10. This time seemed a lot lower then I was expecting so I asked him what pace he was showing. He looked again and said "8:30's right now.... but our average to this point is in the high 7's"

Now it did feel like I was moving a tad fast, but I wasn't expecting to hear I was in the 7's. I thanked him and kept going. I figured that after 9 miles at this pace and feeling fine, I could keep it up for 4 more.

Since I was going faster then I planned, I started planning in my head. I would have to royally suck it up to not meet my 2:00 goal, so I started trying to figure when I could turn up the pace again. I decided that I was happy with this pace and that I'd see how I felt at mile 12 and then kick it up there. At this point I thought I was crossing mile 10.

The problem is that they marked the miles in spray paint on the gravel path, which means after a few people run across it, you can see the line but not the number. To add to that, the aid stations were placed on mile marks, but no marker was there. So when you passed an aid station, you didn't have a way of telling which mile it was.

As I'm running I see mile 11 in the distance and decide I'm going to pick it up a little for the last two for the sake of the negative split. I hit the aid station and ask if it is mile 11. She says "yea.....no wait this is mile 12"

Mile 12! I had one mile left to turn up the juice. So I kick it up and go. I was just behind a guy who decided he didn't like being passed, so he picked it up and started running next to me. He would speed up, I would match, I would speed up, he would match. It kept going back and forth like this until I decided if it continued, I was going to blow up. So I backed off, and let him win for now.

He got about 10 feet ahead of me, hooked up with another pack and slowed back down. For the next 1/4 mile or so, I paced off of him and held my distance. The final sretch of the race was a straight run down main street in Hill City. After leaving the trail and popping up on the street, I made my break. I took off and didn't look back. I upped it to about 90% or redline. i didn't wan't to blow up with meere feet to go, so just kept gradually increasing speed until I was running full out with about 100 yards to go. There was a guy just ahead of me with the same idea I was attempting to catch. I gained on him but didn't manage to catch him in time.

I ended up crossing the line with a clock time of 1:43, but when I checked the results it was really 1:41:41

Nothing really. Maybe do some actual training.

Wrapped myself in the space blanket and walked around until I found Matt. He had left me at the start (he trained for it) and for the first half of the race was about a minute ahead of me. After the first half I lost him. Turns out he shed a layer and I didn't recognize him in his new shirt. Apparently I gained on him and ended up coming in just behind him by less then 30 seconds.


Core strength. If I had trained some and didn't have the cramping, I could have pushed a lot harder a lot earlier.


The only complaints I have about the race is that the mile marks were painted on the ground and not on placards that you could see in the distance and that they were serving nasty poweraide. My marathon must have spoiled me since they were serving HEED. It didn't affect me much as I only took a quick splash of water at one stop.