If it was a few degrees cooler the mud might have stayed frozen. As it was, it was just cold enough to cause black-ice--we had to take a deture to get to Hagg Lake because a tow truck was blocking the road pulling a truck from the ditch. I drove much slower after that.
Rain earlier in the week made for very muddy sections over much of the course for the Hagg Lake 50k race. I think the footing was as bad as it was in 2007, but at least we enjoyed sunshine rather than driving rain. I made the regretable choice to go with shoes that were lighter but had less traction. Perhaps spikes would have been better. One runner appeared to have golf shoes on.
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| near the finish |
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| 3 good falls and some black-berry bushes |
I had set goals based on what I was able to do in 2008 when the course was almost dry, which turned out to be overly optomistic. I averaged 7 minutes per mile for the first 17 miles, but then could only manage 8:30 for the last 14, giving me a time just over 4:00. That was just enough for 4th place. I think the competition is getting better, because 4:09 was enough to win it in 2007. I got some of the mud off in the lake, and the rest in the shower at the Lakes.
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| done with that |
Emily took a break from helping my father-in-law and met me for the finish. It is always fun to see her. She declined to do a mud run- something about it not fitting her running plans for the day. I had as good visit with Eldon before heading home.
Erik came with, but he slept the whole way in the car. Fortunately my good friend and long-time competitor back to our high-school days, David Jordan, came with. Talking with him made the drive fly by, and gave me food for thought. It was his first ultra, and he had a good experience in spite of the trail conditions. We made the whole trip in 28 hours. I'll be sore for the next few days.
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| did I mention it was muddy? |
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