This was my first time doing this race or any race like it and I hope that I can do it again next year. After the obligatory “NEVER AGAIN” at the finish line, I began to wonder if we/I could do better next year. The beauty of running for me is there is always something I can improve upon and I guess that’s what keeps me coming back for more.
I was runner 11 (same as AndyB). Leg 11 (3.8 miles) started for me at around 9:40 pm and had one tough 900 foot climb with a 350 foot descent for the last mile. I slipped on the rarely worn racing flats looking for any little advantage I could get (I call them the ruby slippers because they are the red saucony grid type A2 shoes and if I click my heals 3 times maybe they will take me home). Said hi to Mr. Ibesleepy for two seconds at the start and then was off up the mountain. Had a fair amount of road kill on the way up but then became road kill to a couple of runners that just blew by me like was standing still……HOLY CRAP!! Was glad to finally reach the summit and then it was everything I could do to squeak out a 6:20 average mile on the other side.
I think on of the guys flying by me was from the BYU team because I ran into a few of the FRB team at the end of my leg and the end of leg 12 and they were still waiting for their guy. We starte the WBR at 2:40 and I think all the really fast teams started at 5:00. I knew they would catch us but I didn't think it would be quite that soon.
Grid Type A2 (11.9)
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