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Race Report<br>
Rocky Raccoon 100 Mile Trail Run<br>
February 2-3, 2008<br><br>
Rocky Raccoon, which is held in Hunstville, Texas, was my third 100 mile<br>
race. I had conquered the distance twice already, but it had been 5 months since<br>
my last 100 miler and I had a couple of mediocre races in the fall which did not<br>
help my self confidence going into the race. I felt like my training was solid,<br>
I have been working with my coach for over a year and a half, but with a crappy<br>
winter, most of my training had been done on a treadmill, with only a handful of<br>
good, quality long runs outside. Part of me felt confident about the race, part<br>
of me did not. I decided that it was just going to be another adventure. My<br>
biggest goal going into the race was to not let myself fall into the trap of<br>
walking through the night. It is very easy to do, and a large number of runners<br>
find themselves mostly walking when it is dark out. My second goal was a PR,<br>
which i thought was doable, but i did not want to set a specific time goal,<br>
because there are so many factors that can go wrong<br>
over the course of 100 miles.<br>
The weather forecast for the race weekend was changing daily in the 10<br>
days leading up to the race. The preliminary forecasts were calling for rain,<br>
which i was not looking forward to because the race course is historically very<br>
muddy in wet weather. However, as the days went by, the forecast improved with<br>
rain the Thursday before the race, clear on Friday, mid to upper 70's on<br>
Saturday and a chance of rain showers Saturday night into Sunday. That is<br>
acceptable for me.<br>
Friday afternoon, my husband, Eddie, and my running group friend Keith,<br>
Anthony and Ira, headed over to the Lodge to pick up our packets and attend the<br>
race briefing. While there, we met up with Coach Lisa and her husband Jay,<br>
Jackie, George, and others that we knew from many of the ultras we had been to.<br>
The race briefing was not too long and i was surprised to find out that we were<br>
going to be chip timed. That was a first for me in an ultra! Also, we were told<br>
that there were alligators living at the park, which was backed up by signs around<br>
the park as well. After the race briefing, Eddie, Keith, Ira, Anthony and<br>
myself headed over to Chilis for some dinner before calling it an early night.<br>
I slept fairly well for a prerace night and felt good when we woke up at<br>
4:30am. Around 5:15 we met up with Keith and headed over to the start of the<br>
race. Once there, we dropped off our drop bags, checked in, stretched and<br>
waited for the start. Usually, I do not even try to think about 100 miles and<br>
how i plan on running the race. The distance is too daunting to really wrap my<br>
head around sometimes. So, i had loosely had a plan that i was going to follow<br>
Coach Lisa's guidance of starting slow to finish strong. She also told me to run<br>
my own race and don't worry about people passing you in the beginning, because<br>
most likely, you will pass them later on. (she is so smart!)<br>
The race started promptly at 6am, and we were off down the trail. I had<br>
my handheld light and did my best to navigate the crowded and rooty trail. It took several miles before the<br>
runners thinned out. After a couple miles i ran into Kira and Mike. I ran with<br>
them for a short while, but knowing that they are faster runners than me, i made<br>
the wise choice to let them continue on as i maintained my pace. I hit the first<br>
aid station in about 45 minutes, very even 12 minute miles, i was happy. After<br>
the second aid station at 7 miles, Dam Road Aid Station, the trail does a 6<br>
mile out and back, which was nice, because it was easy to see other runners on<br>
the trail, which is always fun. I hit the aid station there (10 miles) in 2<br>
hours, still maintaining a good pace. On my way back down the trail i saw Eddie,<br>
who was running his first 50 miler, he looked strong and happy.<br>
From the Dam Road aid station to the next was about 4.5 miles. This<br>
section was rooty and felt very looooong. At one point you run over a dam and<br>
you can see the Lodge (Start/Finish) across the lake. It is a big tease because<br>
it is not that far away, you can hear all the people there, but you are a good 7 miles from it! From<br>
this section to the end of the first loop (13-20 miles) i just did not feel<br>
good. I felt sluggish and worried that if this was how i felt this early in, the<br>
prognosis was not going to be good for the rest of the race. I also had my new<br>
trail shoes which i was not in love with and started imagining foot issues early<br>
in. With only a few miles into the race i could swear i had blisters. It was<br>
definitely all in my head!<br>
Once hitting the end of the first loop, i felt good knowing what to<br>
expect from there on. I saw the course, sort of knew the course, and felt a<br>
little more confident. My first loop took about 4:10, with about an additional<br>
5-8 minutes at the turn around to refuel and take a potty break, which was<br>
pretty good. Not too fast, not too slow. I had let a TON of people pass me early<br>
on in the race, which is hard on the ego, but necessary. It is too easy to get<br>
sucked up into racing others when that is not my goal. A few miles into the second loop, i started running with a friendly man, Jeff, who<br>
had run Hardrock in 2007. It was really interesting to hear his take on the race<br>
and the difficulty of it. It also helped pass the time for a few miles.<br>
Once i hit the Dam Road aid station on the second loop, the out and back<br>
was full of 50 & 100 mile runners in both directions. I saw Keith early on, then<br>
i saw Anthony and Ira running strong. On my way back i saw Coach Lisa who yelled<br>
at me that i was running too fast, which is her job to keep us on a good pace.<br>
I had actually miscalculated my time and did not realize that i had started off<br>
a wee bit fast. I also saw Eddie still looking good, running a really good pace<br>
and looking like he was enjoying himself. He looked a bit overdressed, but he<br>
swore he was fine. It was getting hot, as it was just past noon time, but he<br>
said he was comfortable. The rest of the loop was uneventful and i finished in<br>
around 4:30. I did feel better on the second loop than i did during the first. I spent about 5-7 minutes at the turn around refueling and hitting the porta<br>
potties again.<br>
Back out on the trail i felt really good. It was hot, but not too hot.<br>
It was a bit humid, but not overwhelmingly so. I had slowed a slight bit, but<br>
nothing that was not expected in a long race. My feet and shoes felt fine and<br>
overall i was feeling good. I was eating, drinking, peeing, and my tummy was<br>
behaving. When i hit the 50 mile point (11 hours on the dot!) I felt awesome.<br>
Something about hitting that mark just really energized me and i took off.<br>
Before I finished the 3rd loop the sun had started to set and it was time to<br>
break out the lights. I was using the combination of a handheld with a head<br>
lamp. At the Grand Teton 100 miler in September, i had only used a headlamp and<br>
had issues with the dust and seeing the trail at night. Wise people suggested<br>
adding a handheld, which makes a HUGE difference in visibility of the trail at<br>
night. As the sun set, the wild life started to come alive. Even with my iPod<br>
(that i picked up at 60 miles) i could hear the frogs, insects, birds<br>
and other wild life partying out in the forrest.<br>
As the sun went down, the temperatures cooled slightly which also put a<br>
spring in my step. I continued to eat and drink and feel pretty good. I did,<br>
however, start to slow. My mind was telling my legs to run, but they did not<br>
want to run as fast as i wanted them to. I just kept hammering forward, not<br>
letting myself walk when i could run. The course itself was very runnable,<br>
almost no significant elevation changes or climbs. I was carrying a bag of<br>
granola and when i walked up the small hills, i would munch on it, so at least i<br>
felt productive about my walk breaks. At one point i tripped and fell, but i<br>
fell into a really soft pile of pine needles. It was actually quite soft. I got<br>
lucky. I did trip a lot otherwise on the trail with all the roots and rocks, and<br>
my toenails are pretty angry at me.<br>
I hit Dam Road and gobbled up some oranges, they were delicious and felt<br>
like super human fuel. I felt really energized from them. On the out and back, on the way back, I saw<br>
Keith. He was on his fifth loop and not that far behind me on the course. I<br>
expected him to lap me soon after, but he did not catch me until almost 14 or 15<br>
miles into that loop. It was nice though, we ran together for at least a mile or<br>
two. He was already dreaming about what he was going to do when he finished in a<br>
few miles, where i still had over 20 miles to go! With a few miles left, he<br>
picked it up and we parted ways. I turned back on my iPod and got into a groove<br>
heading back into the start finish line.<br>
Once back at the start/finish line, i saw Eddie, who had rocked out his<br>
first 50 miler in 13:32, looking surprisingly fresh and happy. I also saw Lisa<br>
as well. Anthony had planned on pacing me for my last loop, but he rechecked his<br>
flight information and my pace and was unable to pace me. I was fine with that<br>
and knew ahead of time that there was a good chance that for one reason or<br>
another he would be unable to pace me. I picked up my other iPod, filled my pockets with some food, and told Eddie and<br>
Lisa that i was going to do my 5th loop in 6 hours or less. My 4th loop was<br>
long, over 6 hours, even with all my running. I knew i could do better than that<br>
on my last loop. Or at least i hoped my legs could.<br>
Heading back out for my last loop was a good feeling. Five 20 mile loops<br>
is hard for a race, but it was good to know i was going through the course for<br>
the last time. For the rest of the race, there were small rain showers that<br>
would come in and out. They were so minor, that sometimes, i only knew it was<br>
raining because i could see the raindrops in my headlamp's light.<br>
At this point it was well into the middle of the night, and for some<br>
obscure reason, i thought i could get through the race without any caffeine. I<br>
felt super energized until about 2am when i started to fall asleep while<br>
running. I had only heard stories about that happening to people, though i had<br>
never experienced it. It was very scary, because i felt like i had little control over my body. I just kept trying to revive myself to<br>
keep moving, knowing that i could get something to drink at the aid station.<br>
At Dam Road, i had a half cup of black coffee and i think they slipped<br>
some rocket fuel in there. I took off down the trail and felt stellar. On this<br>
stretch, I heard some commotion in the woods and shined my light to find an<br>
armadillo-- i had never see one in real life before! I really was in Texas. I<br>
would rather see an armadillo than an alligator any day. Back at the Dam Road<br>
aid station, i felt soooo good. I came flying in yelling out "Number 92, at 93<br>
miles, wheeeeeeeee." It was late and there were runners passed out in chairs all<br>
over the place. The volunteers thought i was a trip and told me that i looked<br>
like i was running a 50K. I thanked them and told them that even though i looked<br>
like it, my legs would beg to differ.<br>
From this point on (mile 87-100) i started passing a lot of runners. I<br>
felt really good with all the running i did through the night and felt super pleased every time i picked off a runner in front of<br>
me. I am not sure how many people I passed in those last 13 miles, but i would<br>
say at least 2 dozen!!! In that whole time only one runner passed me. He flew by<br>
me around mile 96.5. (I later found out he had taken a short nap a little while<br>
before) I caught him at the aid station and passed him. He caught back up to me<br>
and told me he wanted to break 25 hours, but it was 24:45 on the race clock and<br>
there was no way he could run 5 minutes miles. I told him that i wanted to<br>
finish in 25:30, but that my legs were not going as fast as i would like. For<br>
some arbitrary reason i thought 25:30 sounded like a good finsh time. He told me<br>
i could do it and we took off. The first mile or so, we pounded the trail, I<br>
tried to keep up with him, but I felt like my legs were going to give out from<br>
unde<br>
r me, so i slowed it down a bit. As I lost him in my sight, I could still hear<br>
him yelling to me, encouraging me, through the woods.<br>
The neatest part about the last three miles was that the sun came up. With about 1 mile to<br>
go, i could turn off my headlamp. The last 1/5 mile of the race, we cross a road<br>
and it is a nice gradual down hill to the pavement leading to the start/finish<br>
line. I kicked it into high gear and pounded as hard as i could. I ran so hard<br>
and the closer i got to the finish, the harder i ran. I felt that there was a<br>
good chance that i was either going to collapse or puke from the effort, but<br>
there was only one way to find out how hard we can push ourselves. I cruised<br>
through the finish line in a super PR of 25:22!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That was<br>
an almost 2 hour PR off my previous best 100 mile time of 27:13. Eddie was<br>
there, as well as Anthony and Ira. They stopped by to watch me finish on their<br>
way to the airport, which really meant a lot.<br>
I felt great!!!!! I had really given this race all i could and ran hard<br>
from start to finish. I never got lazy during the night and i passed a ton of<br>
runners who had all passed me early on the first day of the race. The other weird thing about this race is that with each<br>
loop, i felt better- emotionally and physically. As the race progressed i just<br>
felt stronger and happier and more motivated to do well. I had never ran so hard<br>
for so long in my whole life. It really boosted my confidence in my 100 mile<br>
abilities.<br>
After i received my medal and finished the round of congratulations, I<br>
checked my time on the computer and also saw that i was first in my age group--<br>
whoohooooo. Eddie finished his first 50 miler in 13:32, Keith had a "bad" day<br>
according to him, finishing in 19:14, Anthony and Ira were hoping for a sub 10<br>
hour 50 mile finish, but just missed it, finishing in 10:02. It was a great race<br>
for everyone and just a great race altogether. I would definitely go back and i<br>
would definitely recommend the race to others, especially first time 100 or 50<br>
mile runners. The aid stations were great, all the volunteers were outstanding<br>
and the organization was top notch.
Rocky Raccoon 100 Mile Trail Run<br>
February 2-3, 2008<br><br>
Rocky Raccoon, which is held in Hunstville, Texas, was my third 100 mile<br>
race. I had conquered the distance twice already, but it had been 5 months since<br>
my last 100 miler and I had a couple of mediocre races in the fall which did not<br>
help my self confidence going into the race. I felt like my training was solid,<br>
I have been working with my coach for over a year and a half, but with a crappy<br>
winter, most of my training had been done on a treadmill, with only a handful of<br>
good, quality long runs outside. Part of me felt confident about the race, part<br>
of me did not. I decided that it was just going to be another adventure. My<br>
biggest goal going into the race was to not let myself fall into the trap of<br>
walking through the night. It is very easy to do, and a large number of runners<br>
find themselves mostly walking when it is dark out. My second goal was a PR,<br>
which i thought was doable, but i did not want to set a specific time goal,<br>
because there are so many factors that can go wrong<br>
over the course of 100 miles.<br>
The weather forecast for the race weekend was changing daily in the 10<br>
days leading up to the race. The preliminary forecasts were calling for rain,<br>
which i was not looking forward to because the race course is historically very<br>
muddy in wet weather. However, as the days went by, the forecast improved with<br>
rain the Thursday before the race, clear on Friday, mid to upper 70's on<br>
Saturday and a chance of rain showers Saturday night into Sunday. That is<br>
acceptable for me.<br>
Friday afternoon, my husband, Eddie, and my running group friend Keith,<br>
Anthony and Ira, headed over to the Lodge to pick up our packets and attend the<br>
race briefing. While there, we met up with Coach Lisa and her husband Jay,<br>
Jackie, George, and others that we knew from many of the ultras we had been to.<br>
The race briefing was not too long and i was surprised to find out that we were<br>
going to be chip timed. That was a first for me in an ultra! Also, we were told<br>
that there were alligators living at the park, which was backed up by signs around<br>
the park as well. After the race briefing, Eddie, Keith, Ira, Anthony and<br>
myself headed over to Chilis for some dinner before calling it an early night.<br>
I slept fairly well for a prerace night and felt good when we woke up at<br>
4:30am. Around 5:15 we met up with Keith and headed over to the start of the<br>
race. Once there, we dropped off our drop bags, checked in, stretched and<br>
waited for the start. Usually, I do not even try to think about 100 miles and<br>
how i plan on running the race. The distance is too daunting to really wrap my<br>
head around sometimes. So, i had loosely had a plan that i was going to follow<br>
Coach Lisa's guidance of starting slow to finish strong. She also told me to run<br>
my own race and don't worry about people passing you in the beginning, because<br>
most likely, you will pass them later on. (she is so smart!)<br>
The race started promptly at 6am, and we were off down the trail. I had<br>
my handheld light and did my best to navigate the crowded and rooty trail. It took several miles before the<br>
runners thinned out. After a couple miles i ran into Kira and Mike. I ran with<br>
them for a short while, but knowing that they are faster runners than me, i made<br>
the wise choice to let them continue on as i maintained my pace. I hit the first<br>
aid station in about 45 minutes, very even 12 minute miles, i was happy. After<br>
the second aid station at 7 miles, Dam Road Aid Station, the trail does a 6<br>
mile out and back, which was nice, because it was easy to see other runners on<br>
the trail, which is always fun. I hit the aid station there (10 miles) in 2<br>
hours, still maintaining a good pace. On my way back down the trail i saw Eddie,<br>
who was running his first 50 miler, he looked strong and happy.<br>
From the Dam Road aid station to the next was about 4.5 miles. This<br>
section was rooty and felt very looooong. At one point you run over a dam and<br>
you can see the Lodge (Start/Finish) across the lake. It is a big tease because<br>
it is not that far away, you can hear all the people there, but you are a good 7 miles from it! From<br>
this section to the end of the first loop (13-20 miles) i just did not feel<br>
good. I felt sluggish and worried that if this was how i felt this early in, the<br>
prognosis was not going to be good for the rest of the race. I also had my new<br>
trail shoes which i was not in love with and started imagining foot issues early<br>
in. With only a few miles into the race i could swear i had blisters. It was<br>
definitely all in my head!<br>
Once hitting the end of the first loop, i felt good knowing what to<br>
expect from there on. I saw the course, sort of knew the course, and felt a<br>
little more confident. My first loop took about 4:10, with about an additional<br>
5-8 minutes at the turn around to refuel and take a potty break, which was<br>
pretty good. Not too fast, not too slow. I had let a TON of people pass me early<br>
on in the race, which is hard on the ego, but necessary. It is too easy to get<br>
sucked up into racing others when that is not my goal. A few miles into the second loop, i started running with a friendly man, Jeff, who<br>
had run Hardrock in 2007. It was really interesting to hear his take on the race<br>
and the difficulty of it. It also helped pass the time for a few miles.<br>
Once i hit the Dam Road aid station on the second loop, the out and back<br>
was full of 50 & 100 mile runners in both directions. I saw Keith early on, then<br>
i saw Anthony and Ira running strong. On my way back i saw Coach Lisa who yelled<br>
at me that i was running too fast, which is her job to keep us on a good pace.<br>
I had actually miscalculated my time and did not realize that i had started off<br>
a wee bit fast. I also saw Eddie still looking good, running a really good pace<br>
and looking like he was enjoying himself. He looked a bit overdressed, but he<br>
swore he was fine. It was getting hot, as it was just past noon time, but he<br>
said he was comfortable. The rest of the loop was uneventful and i finished in<br>
around 4:30. I did feel better on the second loop than i did during the first. I spent about 5-7 minutes at the turn around refueling and hitting the porta<br>
potties again.<br>
Back out on the trail i felt really good. It was hot, but not too hot.<br>
It was a bit humid, but not overwhelmingly so. I had slowed a slight bit, but<br>
nothing that was not expected in a long race. My feet and shoes felt fine and<br>
overall i was feeling good. I was eating, drinking, peeing, and my tummy was<br>
behaving. When i hit the 50 mile point (11 hours on the dot!) I felt awesome.<br>
Something about hitting that mark just really energized me and i took off.<br>
Before I finished the 3rd loop the sun had started to set and it was time to<br>
break out the lights. I was using the combination of a handheld with a head<br>
lamp. At the Grand Teton 100 miler in September, i had only used a headlamp and<br>
had issues with the dust and seeing the trail at night. Wise people suggested<br>
adding a handheld, which makes a HUGE difference in visibility of the trail at<br>
night. As the sun set, the wild life started to come alive. Even with my iPod<br>
(that i picked up at 60 miles) i could hear the frogs, insects, birds<br>
and other wild life partying out in the forrest.<br>
As the sun went down, the temperatures cooled slightly which also put a<br>
spring in my step. I continued to eat and drink and feel pretty good. I did,<br>
however, start to slow. My mind was telling my legs to run, but they did not<br>
want to run as fast as i wanted them to. I just kept hammering forward, not<br>
letting myself walk when i could run. The course itself was very runnable,<br>
almost no significant elevation changes or climbs. I was carrying a bag of<br>
granola and when i walked up the small hills, i would munch on it, so at least i<br>
felt productive about my walk breaks. At one point i tripped and fell, but i<br>
fell into a really soft pile of pine needles. It was actually quite soft. I got<br>
lucky. I did trip a lot otherwise on the trail with all the roots and rocks, and<br>
my toenails are pretty angry at me.<br>
I hit Dam Road and gobbled up some oranges, they were delicious and felt<br>
like super human fuel. I felt really energized from them. On the out and back, on the way back, I saw<br>
Keith. He was on his fifth loop and not that far behind me on the course. I<br>
expected him to lap me soon after, but he did not catch me until almost 14 or 15<br>
miles into that loop. It was nice though, we ran together for at least a mile or<br>
two. He was already dreaming about what he was going to do when he finished in a<br>
few miles, where i still had over 20 miles to go! With a few miles left, he<br>
picked it up and we parted ways. I turned back on my iPod and got into a groove<br>
heading back into the start finish line.<br>
Once back at the start/finish line, i saw Eddie, who had rocked out his<br>
first 50 miler in 13:32, looking surprisingly fresh and happy. I also saw Lisa<br>
as well. Anthony had planned on pacing me for my last loop, but he rechecked his<br>
flight information and my pace and was unable to pace me. I was fine with that<br>
and knew ahead of time that there was a good chance that for one reason or<br>
another he would be unable to pace me. I picked up my other iPod, filled my pockets with some food, and told Eddie and<br>
Lisa that i was going to do my 5th loop in 6 hours or less. My 4th loop was<br>
long, over 6 hours, even with all my running. I knew i could do better than that<br>
on my last loop. Or at least i hoped my legs could.<br>
Heading back out for my last loop was a good feeling. Five 20 mile loops<br>
is hard for a race, but it was good to know i was going through the course for<br>
the last time. For the rest of the race, there were small rain showers that<br>
would come in and out. They were so minor, that sometimes, i only knew it was<br>
raining because i could see the raindrops in my headlamp's light.<br>
At this point it was well into the middle of the night, and for some<br>
obscure reason, i thought i could get through the race without any caffeine. I<br>
felt super energized until about 2am when i started to fall asleep while<br>
running. I had only heard stories about that happening to people, though i had<br>
never experienced it. It was very scary, because i felt like i had little control over my body. I just kept trying to revive myself to<br>
keep moving, knowing that i could get something to drink at the aid station.<br>
At Dam Road, i had a half cup of black coffee and i think they slipped<br>
some rocket fuel in there. I took off down the trail and felt stellar. On this<br>
stretch, I heard some commotion in the woods and shined my light to find an<br>
armadillo-- i had never see one in real life before! I really was in Texas. I<br>
would rather see an armadillo than an alligator any day. Back at the Dam Road<br>
aid station, i felt soooo good. I came flying in yelling out "Number 92, at 93<br>
miles, wheeeeeeeee." It was late and there were runners passed out in chairs all<br>
over the place. The volunteers thought i was a trip and told me that i looked<br>
like i was running a 50K. I thanked them and told them that even though i looked<br>
like it, my legs would beg to differ.<br>
From this point on (mile 87-100) i started passing a lot of runners. I<br>
felt really good with all the running i did through the night and felt super pleased every time i picked off a runner in front of<br>
me. I am not sure how many people I passed in those last 13 miles, but i would<br>
say at least 2 dozen!!! In that whole time only one runner passed me. He flew by<br>
me around mile 96.5. (I later found out he had taken a short nap a little while<br>
before) I caught him at the aid station and passed him. He caught back up to me<br>
and told me he wanted to break 25 hours, but it was 24:45 on the race clock and<br>
there was no way he could run 5 minutes miles. I told him that i wanted to<br>
finish in 25:30, but that my legs were not going as fast as i would like. For<br>
some arbitrary reason i thought 25:30 sounded like a good finsh time. He told me<br>
i could do it and we took off. The first mile or so, we pounded the trail, I<br>
tried to keep up with him, but I felt like my legs were going to give out from<br>
unde<br>
r me, so i slowed it down a bit. As I lost him in my sight, I could still hear<br>
him yelling to me, encouraging me, through the woods.<br>
The neatest part about the last three miles was that the sun came up. With about 1 mile to<br>
go, i could turn off my headlamp. The last 1/5 mile of the race, we cross a road<br>
and it is a nice gradual down hill to the pavement leading to the start/finish<br>
line. I kicked it into high gear and pounded as hard as i could. I ran so hard<br>
and the closer i got to the finish, the harder i ran. I felt that there was a<br>
good chance that i was either going to collapse or puke from the effort, but<br>
there was only one way to find out how hard we can push ourselves. I cruised<br>
through the finish line in a super PR of 25:22!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That was<br>
an almost 2 hour PR off my previous best 100 mile time of 27:13. Eddie was<br>
there, as well as Anthony and Ira. They stopped by to watch me finish on their<br>
way to the airport, which really meant a lot.<br>
I felt great!!!!! I had really given this race all i could and ran hard<br>
from start to finish. I never got lazy during the night and i passed a ton of<br>
runners who had all passed me early on the first day of the race. The other weird thing about this race is that with each<br>
loop, i felt better- emotionally and physically. As the race progressed i just<br>
felt stronger and happier and more motivated to do well. I had never ran so hard<br>
for so long in my whole life. It really boosted my confidence in my 100 mile<br>
abilities.<br>
After i received my medal and finished the round of congratulations, I<br>
checked my time on the computer and also saw that i was first in my age group--<br>
whoohooooo. Eddie finished his first 50 miler in 13:32, Keith had a "bad" day<br>
according to him, finishing in 19:14, Anthony and Ira were hoping for a sub 10<br>
hour 50 mile finish, but just missed it, finishing in 10:02. It was a great race<br>
for everyone and just a great race altogether. I would definitely go back and i<br>
would definitely recommend the race to others, especially first time 100 or 50<br>
mile runners. The aid stations were great, all the volunteers were outstanding<br>
and the organization was top notch.
