oh baby, super excited. i was looking for friends of mine (including oipolloi) at the start, but with 6,800 racers, it's hard to find anyone. we were about half way from the start, so my friend (john) we feeling comfortable.
the race began and everyone did the starting line squeeze. then we got walking. and kept walking. then we stopped, then we walked, then stopped, and kept this up for about half a mile.
NOTE TO SERIOUS RUNNERS - on this race, if you want a decent pace, start within 20 yards of the start line. otherwise, you will be at the mercy of those around you. there is no where to go.
for three miles john and i were ducking in and out of people, running along. john had a mp3 speaker playing, so it was easy to find him if he got swallowed up by a group of people. just running through the fields, checking out other costumes until we hit the forest.
the path narrows and as you head through the path you hear screams and shouts up ahead. fun to come.
the first creek, time for a swim! since we were in the mass of humanity, jumping in does not exsist. too many people, if you wait, you're getting shoved in. a nice hop into the water coming up to mid-shin. cold, very cold. you climb out the muddy side that has been slicked down by countless others climbing up. you start running and you get the feeling back in your legs after a while.
and that's how the race goes. forest paths, open fields, muddy hills and stream crossings.
we got to the crossroads having to choose between "longer easier" and "shorter harder" and of course, we went with harder. i asked, shouldn't it be harder longer?
at one point, you cross a stream to the other side, climb up and run about 50 yards to cross it again. john decided to run through the stream, i followed. a group of spectators sayed "look at these crazy nuts" mahalo.
the last mile or so is a couple of iowa's finest rolling hills through the fields and finish up on main street in lhf.
at the finish i saw a girl from high school, a guy from the uni swim team and met oipolloi and his wife! good time was had by all, muddy muddy fun.

start more towards the front so i could run a little faster.
instead of running through the creek, dive in and swim.

john was hurting, so he stuck with the water table and i ran up to the food tent to try and grab one of everything.


people, tons and tons of people everywhere.


this race is a ton of fun! running across fields, jumping into creeks, and having a good time with 6500 other people. grab an old halloween costume and an old pair of shoes and get ready to get wet!