I was really looking forward to the “Chip” there was going to be a lot of old friends there.
I met Darrin at his house at 5 AM. Also riding down with us were Kevin and Shane, Brent and Jeremy were driving down separately. I also knew Jason Buffington was going to be there.
The weather looked like rain. Radar showed a big frontal system moving towards us. Miraculously it stayed dry for the entire race. Temps were cool, in the 4o’s and the wind was light.
The trail was mostly single track winding by lots of small lakes and, constantly up and down hills. Did I mention the hills? Lots and lots of hills.
My goal was to do ~ 9 min miles which meant 2:20 out and 2:20 back for a total of 4:40. I started out a little fast as per usual but felt good. Brent went out really fast as I expected, Jeremy went out with Brent but slowed a little and I caught up with him and ran with him for miles 7 to 17. At the turn around I was at 2:10, spent 2 mins there and left again with Jeremy. I really slowed down on the second half. My plan was to travel light and depend on the aid stations for nutrition. Which was fine except I had to stop for about a minute or more at each aid station and slug down 1 or 2 glasses of fluid, which gave me a little bit of an upset stomach for the next 5 minutes. Next time I’ll bring a water bottle and take more smaller drinks.
Jason was about a minute behind me at the turn around and was closing the distance throughout the second half. He was carrying a water bottle and only stopped at every other aid station. Jeremy had gone on ahead of me at the first aid station after the turn around. I had slowed quite a bit and was occasionally being passed by a faster runner, Darrin being one of those faster runners; he passed me about mile 22.
Towards the finish Jason was right on my tail and he pushed me up the last hill and to the finish.
Total time 4:41 2:10 out and 2:30 back 3rd in my age group (10 yr age groups) Brent won the 50 -59 age group.
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