Race #14/17 William O'Brien 10 Mile Trail Run

The second race this weekend was completed on Sunday morning. This race was postponed from end of June due to high water and trail damage this summer. We saw some evidence of where this high water would have been over the trail today while out running.

Sunday is not a normal race day for me and I prefer to keep it that way. Could not miss this race though as it marks the 14th race in the series with only 3 races left in October! I get two weeks break from racing and then the last three races in the series are consecutive weeks.

Got to the race with plenty of time for packet pick up and to visit with fellow runners. When I arrived at the park it was quite chilly and I was not sure exactly how to dress to run. Going with shorts for sure but spent some time considering the top half attire. It started to warm up as we got closer to race time so I opted for some sleeves instead of my rain jacket. I was happy with this choice. I ended up rolling down the sleeves but never felt the need to remove them completely.

We started out this race with the obligatory Upper Midwest Trail Runners Association picture. There were quite a few of us either running or volunteering at this race.

Going into this race my goal was to run a sub 2 hour race. Last years race was finished in 2:05:49. Being the second 10 mile race of the weekend and feeling somewhat lethargic I was not sure how well I would do. I remembered there being lots of cross country ski trail on this race so was pleasantly surprised when a good 5 miles of the race included dirt and not the dreaded grass.

The first 3 miles of the run is going down to the river (partial road running here), running the trails by the river and then running back up the long road hill to pass by the start line. I carried my handheld for this race and it seemed to work out well. No stopping at aid stations until I needed to refill my bottle at around the 6.5 mile aid station.

Plenty of cross country ski trails to run

Lots of rolling hills on these cross country ski trails!

Coming into the UMTR Aid station

Wonderful UMTR members volunteering at the aid station.

For most of this race I leap frogged with another runner and at some point we just decided to keep pace with each other to help motivate and keep going at a quicker pace. I think we were both pushing each other which probably helped tremendously in finishing this race under my goal time.

One of the dangers of carrying your phone with you during a race is that when someone calls you and you have signal the phone will ring. My brother called me during this race and oh how I wish I had not answered the phone. I was able to talk to him trudging up a hill but had to end the call coming into the aid station. Next time I will just let the phone ring and go to voice mail.

I stopped at the UMTR aid station to refill my handheld water bottle and then hardly drank any of it. I finally emptied the water out of my bottle with about 1 mile to go as I wanted to lighten my load. The weight of the handheld was starting to iritate me and I wanted to finish this race strong.  I kept pace with the other runner but on the last mile I started to fall back somewhat. I figured I would end of finishing behind her for sure. Once I came out of the woods and with about 1/4 mile left I tried to give it that final kick. I started out but fell back again as it was too fast too soon. With only about a tenth of a mile left and the end in sight I was able to sprint to a finish coming in just ahead of the other runner.  It literally took everything I had though as I was definitely spent at the finish line. We had chip timing bands on our ankles so it is always fun to come to a complete stop so they can remove them! Finishing time was  1:57:54. I PR'd this race by about 7 minutes from last year.

T Shirt for the run and then I got the mug for a door prize for running both In Yan Teopa and this race. 

Race #13/17 In Yan Teopa Trail 10 Miler

This weekend kicked off a double header starting with the In Yan Teopa 10 mile trail run. Race #13 in my 17 race series.  I am closing in on the completion of the Upper Midwest Trail Runners Association Trail Race Series for 2014. I am starting to see the end of the tunnel.

Race Director, Larry Pedersen, making his pre-race announcements

In Yan Teopa is held every year at Frontenac State Park in Frontenac, MN on the Mississippi River. This is a beautiful part of the country with the river bluffs. The colors are just beginning to turn on the trees so still looks like summer for the most part. The weather also felt like summer for this race. The humidity was very high, the sun was out and it was hot!

This race is a small, friendly, and well organized race. We start out at the Picnic Shelter with a few announcements, trail guidelines and then a ready, set, go and we are off. The first 7 or 8 miles of this race are run on the prairies and the cross country ski trails. There are some really good hills on this trail but the first part of the race is almost all downhill. There are water stops along the way but my plan was to carry my 20 oz. water bottle and not stop at the aid stations. Last year I ran this race in 2:18 and I was hoping to finish it in 2 hours so no stopping other than to fill up my water bottle was the plan.

I started out at a faster than expected pace due to the downhill first few miles. My calves were tight and in retrospect I should have worn my calf sleeves. It took about three miles for my calves to finally loosen up and once that happened the run started to feel good. I decided to keep pace with a few runners I knew, Wayne Nelson and Doug Barton. I figured they would keep me on pace for my expected finish time.

I ran the flats and downhills and even managed to run a few hills but decided I better walk these as I knew at the end of the trail it would be a major climb to the top of the bluff from the river. Better to save some energy in the tank for that section.

Prairie running. Photo Credit: Mike Wheeler

About 3 miles in coming into the first water stop. Doug on the left and Wayne on the right

Coming back around to the same aid station a few miles later!

Some dirt track and wooded trail running between the prairie running.

Wooded trail sections were nice.

At some point about 7 miles in I started to outpace my running partners and just figured I would go ahead and that at some point they would catch back up with me. Turns out they did not but were only just shy of about 10 minutes behind me.  

Between 7 - 8 miles we hit the single track trail running along the bluff on the river. This trail was smaller than I remembered and one difficult aspect of running on it was that it was at an angle. As you were running you had to counterbalance the feeling of your feet wanting to roll down the hill.
I did not get pictures of this section of the trail as it was pretty technical and I did not want to take a tumble down the bluff.

About a mile from the finish is when you hit the fun stuff! The climb back to the top of the bluff. This section was much more difficult than I remember it last year. I remember the stairs but not the distance that needs to be covered as you keep winding up and up the trail to get to the top. Hikers were out this day so we met walkers and hikers coming down as we were power hiking our way up. This part of the trail I was now solo having lost track of Wayne and Doug in addition to two gals that we had been following for most of the race. I managed to pass another runner once I got to the top of the bluff. At this point you run at the top on some more single track trail until you pop out onto the grass once again to run the last 1/4 mile into the finish.

Sprinting to the finish

Gotta turn off the Garmin!

I finished up this race with a new PR of 2:10:40. Not the 2 hours I was hoping for but I am very pleased with this finish. It was a tough 10 miler with the elevation change both on the rolling prairie and the one big hill in addition to the bluff climb.

Nice Mug to mark the occasion.

UMTR members ready to run.

Race #12/17 Harmon Farms Trail Race

This was race #12 of the 17 Trail series races and I was grateful that it was just 5 miles. Just a week after completing the Moose Mountain Marathon I was looking forward to an easier distance. I think I went into this race with the wrong attitude as I was not worried about the race but at the same time I was not excited about running it either. The single track trail is actually a great trail to run. The race is a low key local race with small attendance and the hills are pretty much non-existent. Just some very gentle rolling hills.

My goal for this race was to run an average of 11 min. miles or finish within 55 minutes. I was not looking to try to PR this race or push myself too greatly. This was more like a recovery race. I think the 16.5 miles I ran out on the Ice Age Trail yesterday affected how I felt during this race.I also overdressed for this race and should have worn a short sleeve shirt. It was warmer than yesterday and I think I struggled with being too hot and not being able to fix it. This sapped my energy noticeably.

At about 4 miles in the first 10 miler passed me by. He was cruising and it was refreshing to hear him groaning as he ran by. I don't know why but I took comfort in knowing that these speed demons are really pushing themselves to be so fast. I guess it is knowing that there quick pace is not effortless. I was only passed by two 10 milers (remember I was only running one loop which was 5 miles).

I finished in 56.07 according to my Garmin. Just a little over my goal but I am still happy with this finish. I have not checked out the official results yet as I don't believe they have been posted. 

I did not carry my phone with me so was unable to get pictures of the trail but it had sections of open running on single track dirt and then sections on single track in the woods. There was sand on sections of the trail and loose rocks with some roots on others. Not a very technical trail but really more of a single track bike trail. The race directors were even kind enough to spray paint white the big roots/rocks on the trail for us.

 

Very pretty skies driving to the race.

Nora, Melissa and I waiting for the start. Cooler morning so I kept the sweatshirt on as long as I could. I am not used to the colder temperatures yet and this time of the year is always tough to dress for.

Nice Race shirt that will get used on many fall training runs!

Race number with the race shirt. No finisher awards for this small local race, which is just fine with me.

Race #11/17 Moose Mountain Marathon

Fall Superior Trail races with Rocksteady Running are great events put on by a Race Director who knows what is he doing. Being a runner himself helps him to know what ultra runners really need. This race is considered one of the most challenging races in the US with the Marathoners having a 5,500 elevation climb with three major climbs and lots of smaller climbs in the 26.2 miles.

This race marks the 11th race completed in the Upper Midwest Trail Runners Association trail series. I am closing in on completing all 17 with only 6 races left!

I feel that I went into this race well trained. I had upped my hill training by running hill repeats on Tuesdays out at Barn Bluffs in Red Wing. Would run a total of about 4 miles with a total of about 1,000 elevation climb for each run. I also made sure that I completed my weekend long runs and was able to get in two 20 miles runs consecutive weekends before starting to taper 2 weeks out.

I drove up Friday morning with a friend and we stopped at one of the aid stations for 100 milers that had started their run at 8 that morning. We saw some runners we knew come through the aid station and visited with family and crew members that were waiting for their runners to come through.

We arrived in Lutsen at about 3 o'clock ready to check into the hotel. My room was not ready yet so I dumped my bags in a friends room and then headed over to Caribou Highlands where I would be volunteering at the 50 mile and Marathon check in. I was able to sit down for this so was grateful that I would not be standing on my feet for 3 hours. After helping and attending the pre-race meeting I headed back to the hotel and relaxed for a little while before starting to lay out my race gear for the morning. I wore my compression shorts, 7@7 Mankato race shirt, Buff, compression calf sleeves, fitsock socks, Hoka Trail Shoes and carried my rain jacket. I packed my Ultimate Direction Hydration pack with the bladder filled 3/4 full and the 2 10 oz bottles up front for Perpetuem.

I spent a good amount of time figuring out what my gear and fueling strategy would be. I planned a drop bag at the half way point (Sawbill Aid station) and put extra socks, Gu Gels/Cliff Bloks and more bags of perpetuem to refill my bottles. I also had my Mizuno trail shoes in the drop bag in case I wanted to change shoes midway. I purchased new Hoka trail shoes about two weeks before this race and did not know which ones I should wear.  I was undecided what shoes I would start with up until the last minute. I finally decided that I would start out in the Hokas and if they were bothering me would change at the halfway point. I am really glad I decided this as I ended up wearing the Hokas for the full race. I did get two small blisters on the outsides of both big toes but otherwise the Hokas felt great. I changed socks to my thicker Drymax trail sock and that seemed to cushion the blisters and although I knew they were there I was experiencing no discomfort or pain from them.

I am really liking the Ultimate Direction Jenny pack that I bought about a month ago. I like how it sits tight to my body and does not bounce. I am also getting used to running with 10 oz bottles in the front and planned on using these bottles for the Perpetuem. My plan was to drink both 10 oz bottles between aid stations and refill with the powder I put in Ziplock baggies. This worked okay but I think it is possible I should have drank more plain water and backed off slightly on the Perpetuem. I set my Garmin watch to alert me every 40 minutes and this was when I would eat either a Gu gel or the Cliff Bloks. I was alternating between the Gu gel with 1x caffeine and a non-caffeine gel or blok. 
This worked very well and I will use this technique for future long races when fueling is necessary.

As always the trail on the SHT was great running. It had rained Thursday up north so we had plenty of mud and muddy puddles to run through. The mud started as soon as we hit the single track trail. The start of this race is on the gravel road to allow for the runners to spread out and not cause a large bottle neck as we funnel onto the trail. There was still a fair amount of walking in the beginning but not as bad as it would have been were we to start on the single track trail.

For the first two miles of running my calves were very tight. I was expecting this to happen and I had been rolling them for quite a few days as they were bothering me. Once they loosened up the running felt really good. I was planning on maintaining an 18 minute lap pace between aid stations. These aid stations were; Temperance AS at mile 7.9/Sawbill AS at 13.6/Oberg AS at 19.1/Finish line.

Start to Temperance AS
I was feeling strong and happy coming into the first aid station. I believe my Garmin showed that I had climbed about 600 ft up to that point. There were no major hill climbs but lots of little ones. Coming into Temperance AS was all downhill while following the Temperance River.   I hit the aid station ahead of schedule and was able to refill my Perpetuem. I said hi to a few people and got out of the aid station all within the allotted 18 minute lap pace. I had decided to use my Garmin lap pace feature and hit my lap button as I left the aid station. This was a great way to be sure that I was on schedule and in this case slightly ahead of schedule.

Temperance AS to Sawbill AS (7.9 Miles)
Once I left the Temperance AS we started to climb Carlton Peak. On fresh legs this climb did not seem as bad as I was expecting it. I am sure further into the run this would have been a different story as it was for many of the 50 milers who were at there half way point when arriving in Cramer AS which is where we started our race.  I had no trouble maintaining my lap pace below the 18 minutes at all times on this leg. This was good as it allowed me to spend time in the aid station replenishing supplies. Coming into Sawbill I started to feel that a blister was forming on my right big toe. I debated with myself as to whether I would be changing my socks or not. I had already decided that I would continue to run in my Hokas as they were feeling very comfortable and the cushioning was feeling great. I also knew there were bathrooms at Sawbill and was in need of the facilities which I figured meant I was drinking enough fluids.  I arrived into Sawbill (the halfway point) feeling good with only slight back pain, a forming blister and my AS plan well in place. I changed my socks, which required sitting down on the ground which is not always a good thing during a race. My feet started cramping immediately upon sitting down. I changed my socks quickly and replenished my supplies from my drop bag. I was able to get out of the aid station at around 17:30 lap pace. As long as this was under 18 I was happy.

Sawbill AS to Oberg AS (13.6 miles)
Coming out of Sawbill with fresh socks I was still feeling strong. I knew that the major climbs were coming but tried to think only about the immediate trail. There were several climbs in this leg which included Britton Peak and Leveaux Mountain. Not as steep as the impending Moose and Mystery Mountain but hard in their own way. We were still encountering lots of mud on the trail and I powered through the mud puddles as I have learned in past races it is sometimes better to run through the middle rather than trying to skirt the mud. At around 17 miles the leader in the 50 mile race passed me by. I knew he had to be a 50 miler as he was running fast, unlike the 100 milers I passed during the entire race.

Oberg AS to Finish Line (19.1 miles)
I came into Oberg still feeling strong but as always towards the end of a race no matter what distance I was ready to be done. I was still under the 18 lap pace time so started to feel like I might come in ahead of the 7:52 goal time. Oberg was an awesome aid station for me as one of the volunteers offered to fill my water bottles and helped me get out my perpetuem baggies and even helped me pour them into my bottles. It was great not needing to take off my pack and someone helping me to get into the back pockets. I grabbed a pancake off the table (suppose to be chocolate chip but I must have grabbed the plain pancake!) and headed quickly out of this aid station. These last 7 miles are the roughest on this course. First you climb Oberg Mountain and then after descending Oberg you hit Moose Mountain. This climb includes stairs and is very vertical. While climbing I was using my hands on my legs to climb and also had to stop a few times to catch my breath. I was wondering why my biceps and forearms were hurting and not until Sunday did I realize it was as a result of the way I climbed the mountains on this course. I tried to run as much as possible on this leg but started to fall behind the 18 lap pace. It climbed up to 20 at one point but I was able to bring it back closer to 18 as I descended Moose and Mystery Mountain. I was able to run the flats and downhills for this part of the race and felt good about this as I was nearing the marathon distance with feet that were not burning as they did at Eugene Curnow race. I feel this is really due to the cushioning of the Hoka's and have decided I will continue to run primarily in my Hoka shoes.

I crossed the Poplar River running strong and other than the hill to ascend was making good time. When I hit the road I noticed that my total time was around 7:25 and began to wonder if I could pull off a sub 7:30 race. This section on the road feels longer than it should be with a slight incline so watched as time seemed to move very quickly and I realized I would not make the sub 7:30. I did finish with a time of 7:31:26 and gave that last extra push to try to not hit 7:32 on the clock. I did much better than I could have hoped on this run as the 7:52 time was my A goal and anything over 8 would be my B goal.

This was a challenging race but one I would definitely run again. I did not want to take too much time taking pictures but did manage to get the following pictures of the trail.

Elevation and the climbs for the Marathon Distance. Added to back of the cheater sheet I made for the run.

Card I made to keep me on track in aid stations and time.

Nora and I at the start line fresh and ready to run.

Sometimes found myself running behind others on the trail.

One of the Rivers peaking through the trail

River through the trees

100 milers wearing the pink ribbons.

Found lots of mud on the trail. Shoes now officially initiated to the trail!

Muddy trails

Shirt and Finishers award

The 100 mile, 50 mile and marathon course

Marathon course along the SHT

Rock Climbers along Lake Superior

Sitting on an outcropping along Lake Superior on the way home on Sunday

Race #9/17 SMU Scamper

Trail race #9 of 17 with a 5k at St. Mary's University out of Winona, MN. This is a fundraiser for the Universities Cross Country team.

Nora and I were the only two in our age division in the trail series to run this race. It was good weather and the trails are rolling with a mixture of double track dirt and grass.

Race #10/17 Fisherman's Picnic

Fisherman's Picnic Trail race was a 5 mile trail race on the cross country ski trails in Grand Marais, MN. We went to this race as a family and camped in Schroeder, MN at Lambs Resort. Nora came up on Friday evening and spent the night in the camper with us and we got up Saturday AM and headed up to the race.

This was a terrible picture as it was taken post run and it was very hot this day. Even though we were by Lake Superior on the North Shore once inland and on the cross country trails in the woods it was hot and humid.

I finished 29/45 overall women, 4/11 Masters in a total time of 54:38 which is an 10.55 min/mile

Race #8/17 Eugene Curnow Trail Marathon

I went into this race mentally prepared but I have to wonder about being physically prepared. The last time I ran 20+ miles was the Chippewa 50k the end of April. I had heard many stories about this race and how difficult it is. Mostly I heard about the dreaded Power Lines. I think being that I was expecting it to be hard I was prepared to be challenged. In fact I was fine all week at work and did not seem to be worried at all. Having just completed the Afton 25k the week before I tapered during the week with only one 5 mile run on the roads around the house. I figured it was more important to go into this race well rested as no amount of miles I would run that close to race day would help.

I started this run out by car camping at the Munger Bike Trailhead in Carlton, MN as this was to be the finish line. They were providing shuttle buses to the start line but we needed to catch the bus by 4:45 am and the thought of getting up at 2 am to then drive roughly 3 hours did not sound appealing, let alone wise with 26.2 hilly miles to complete. I could have stayed in a hotel but the thought of the cost for such a short use of the room I thought I would instead rough it. I met two other runners, Alex Eichman and Cheri Ryba, doing the same thing and it turns out there were others with the same plan. I did not arrive until around 9:30 pm so a few hello's to others and then try to get to sleep for that 4 am alarm clock. It was tough to sleep despite the roomy accommodations. I drove the minivan with the back seats removed and had some sleeping pads for comfort. It was quite humid at first and due to the bugs/mosquito's I could not have the car windows open at all. I first had to kill all the mosquito's that had snuck into the van and then with the almost full moon shining in my windows attempted to sleep. This did not go so well but even at home sleep the night before a long run is always difficult.

As is my nature I scoured the website to get all the information I could on the race the week before. This race director does an excellent job of giving you all the information about the trail and aid station locations. I even went as far as writing down the aid station distances to bring along with me so that I knew how far I needed to go between aid stations while on the trail. I thought that info may be useful when I started struggling in the race and my next goal became the aid station rather than the finish line. This proved to be very helpful. This race is well supported and as always the volunteers are wonderful! There were seven aid stations and the furthest one apart was about 4 miles. Knowing this I still ran with my Nathan hydration pack well supplied with calories and water. I also brought along the Ultimate direction 10oz small bottle to be able to fill with heed to supplement. I was expecting it to be hot but the weather was nice as it was cloudy and as the day progressed the humidity dropped.The clouds were nice when we hit the power lines and the open trail.

We arrived at the start line with plenty of extra time to spare. I got my race bib and then chatted with those around me. After a few trail marking instructions and a short history of the race we were sent on our way. As with all trail races when you start anywhere other than in the front there is some walking as we funnel onto the trail. And as it seems with most trail races it was not long before we started up our first hill. The first part of the race was running to and across the Spirit Mountain Ski Slopes. The first 3 miles with most of my races is spent getting warmed up. I was pleasantly surprised that my calves were feeling pretty good. I did not experience my normal 3 miles of difficult running. That must mean that my legs benefited from the extra rest.

Heading up to Spirit Mountain ski slopes

Spirit Mountain

 The next section of the trail was 'running' down Jarrow's Beach. I had not spent much time thinking about this section up to this point. It was interesting hiking through this area and my main goal was to just make it through without spraining my ankle. As with most difficult sections of trail I seem to get fewer pictures as I am trying to get through without injury and concentrating on taking pictures and staying upright aren't always compatible. I was happy to get back onto runnable trail. (this is of course subjective)

Jarrow's Beach

After Jarrow's Beach there were many hills, both steep and rolling, single track trails, pine forest trails, streams to cross (these felt great as the water was cold and the shoes were cleaned of all the trail mud) This section also included a very steep decline that required ropes in order to get to the bottom. I also added an extra 1/2 mile to my distance when I missed a turn and had to backtrack to find the trail again. There were a few others that followed me so I was not the only one that missed it!

One of several stream crossings, this one being the widest

Fun wide trails where we had to outrun the mosquito's.

Very narrow trail along the top of a rise on both sides.

This is only half way down looking back up at those behind me.

Don't think we could have made it down this without the ropes

Not everyone made it down on their feet

 Here is a video, not very good quality. I was getting eaten alive standing in one place in the middle of a pine forest!

After all these fun trails we arrived at the Seven Bridges Aid station which is right before you hit the Power Lines. These volunteers were checking on runners to make sure they had plenty of water, were handing out Salt tablets and had everything they needed before heading out to tackle the next section.

Power Line Trail

And more Power Line trail

There were flat sections between the inclines

The mud was very slick. If we tried to walk straight up our feet would slide back down. We ended up walking up this sideways using our hands and the grass/weeds as leverage. With Victoria Aney and Misty Swanson.

After having just climbed up one hill, oh look there is another one in the distance

The first few inclines and declines along the power lines the mud was very slick. As we progressed through them the trail got drier the farther up we got. Coming out of the Power Lines we hit the Grand Portage Aid station where our drop bags were. I had decided to pack a drop bag for just in case I needed it. I am glad I did as I had packed a Dr. Pepper and this race was not supplying any soda. I wanted the caffeine kick and started to look forward to that after getting through the power lines. I don't know what I was thinking though as I forgot to put more Cliff Bloks into my pack from my drop bag. I realized this too late though.

Munger Bike Trail

Very happy to finally get off the bike trail!

After one last big hill there were several miles of runnable cross country trails. The bugs were thick through much of this section. It was at about mile 19 that I hit my lowest point in the race. I started to question my sanity and why I was running this race. I was starting to get tired at this point and was actually wanting to see some walkable hills as I felt that I needed to keep running. I even got as low as cursing at the bugs that would not leave me alone. They were buzzing around my head and seemed to be taunting me. I kept myself going with the thought of how many miles to the next aid station. I could not think beyond the aid station at that point. I finally arrived and was at about mile 22.8 according to my chart. Up to this point I had been eating at every aid station but in this race I could only make myself eat about three fig newtons and could not stomach the thought of any more. I ate more of the Cliff Bloks I had brought and then switched to consuming the Hammer gels from the aid stations.

Much of the next 6.5 miles or so I was anxious to be finished. More cross country trail and then into the final aid station. I made sure to consume more gels and refill on heed to get me through the final 3 1/2 miles. These final 3 1/2 miles are run on the Carlton trail and are narrow, rocky and rooty trails. Normally I enjoy this kind of trail but after running 23 miles this part of the trail was difficult on sore feet. At this point in my run my feet were burning and telling me they were done for the day. As I told another runner, Shay, whom I had been leap frogging with for most of the run, there was no stopping now except at the finish line.

Swinging Bridge after the Jay Cooke aid station. Only 3 1/2 miles to the finish.

Very technical trail following the river, got much rockier in sections closer to the river

Great views of the river as we ran the trail

 When we exited the Carlton trail we came out onto the Munger Bike trail. Oh no!  More paved trail. The thought of running that last 1/4 mile or so on the pavement was depressing. I was lamenting running this when Shay got me going with encouraging words and running with me. I fully expected to run in with her but she dropped back (or I sped up, not quite sure) as I shuffled my way to the finish. It was nice seeing a friendly face at the finish as Bill Pomerenke called out my name. I am not sure what my official finishing time is yet and will update with those stats later but my Garmin has me finishing in 7:53:51. This was my first official Marathon distance race and the first time running this race so I am happy with that finishing time. My goal was to finish sub 8 hours and that is what I accomplished.

Nice shirt to show off my efforts

Cool Finishers Medal

Gear:
Compression shorts
Tank top
Nathan Hydration Pack
10 oz. Ultimate direction bottle used for Heed

Sunglasses
Chester Woods Hat (probably did not need as it was cloudy. I only wore this for the power lines and when the bugs would not leave me alone on a section of the trail)
Half Buff (used around wrist to wipe sweat at first then as a headband when I removed my hat)
Bandanna (used this wet around neck going into Power Lines)
Mizuno trail shoes
Gaitors
Sunscreen
Bug Spray
Cliff Bloks
Hammer Gels
Dr. Pepper in drop bag
Fig Newtons (could not eat many of these)
S-Caps