Not knowing how to project my pace on the hilly course, I decided to shoot for 8:05s to 8:20s. I found myself ahead of this pace for the first several miles, including the singletrack, but I was still in the middle of the pack. By the first turnaround, I could see that a lot of the runners who had been close to me near 3 miles were now way ahead of me.

I stopped at all of the water stops long enough to drink a water and a gatorade (not long, but helpful psychologically). The water stops were about three miles apart, so I was usually getting thirsty by the time I got to one.

I ran for several miles with Ben, a firefighter from Wilson. He stayed a little long at a water stop, and I kept going. I think he must have gotten hurt, because I stopped seeing him after mile 14.

I still felt great when I got to Graylyn Drive the second time (between 14 and 15 miles), and there I finally started passing people after running alone for a long time. I counted people at the turnaround, and figured I was in about 30th place. This gave me motivation. I usually do well on downhills, and I picked a few people off. Some people that were way ahead of me were starting to slow down, and I was passing them. I was wondering how long my legs would last, though. I could feel a big difference after 19 miles. I was sure I could finish running, but I thought I may come to a time when I had to slow way down.

I counted people on the Cedar Ridge Trail, and figured out that I was in about 20th. The first 15 get placques, so I made some extra effort. By the time I got off of Cedar Ridge, I was 16th, but the next person ahead of me was nowhere in sight. I hustled (my pace only improved a little, but it is a hilly finish). I passed a few joggers, but I didn't recognize any of them, and they weren't wearing numbers, so I figured they weren't in the race. I made a desperate, fast finish to try to catch one more person, but never saw anyone. When I went through, someone handed me a placque for 13th place, so I must have passed a few people somewhere, maybe at the water stop, maybe some of the joggers.

After the race, I drank so much water that I think I may have been dehydrated. I was able to keep drinking and eating for the rest of the day.

The race was very well-run. It started on-time, drink stations were frequent enough and manned by cheerful volunteers, the schwag was very good. We got a technical Tshirt, gu, rice, socks, and a pint mug with the Umstead logo. After the race there was plenty of food, including Moe's burritos. It must be a hard race to organize, given the limited parking and non-driveability of the course, but as far as I could tell, everything went off without a hitch.