by Jeremy Bonnett – Woke up with a killer migraine on Sunday and was not in a good state for the beginning of the race. There was however, no way I was going to miss the fun and figured I’d run it out of me.

I wasn’t able to eat anything before the start except a quick GU packet and a bit of water. I was definitely not in the game at the start, and just hung back in the middle of the pack while Ian gave his start speech. Didn’t put much in to the first mile and spent a bit warming up and chatting with a few people. The pace picked up a bit over the next couple miles as I started feeling better and really felt like running. The single track, and some more technical areas made it tough to pass, and I kicked myself a bit for not starting more towards the front of the pack. Met up with Ian and Chris Dunn and ran with them for a while. During the middle of the run I laid off a bit hoping to save some for the upcoming hill. At that time Chris passed me back with great strength and I decided not to lay off too much more.

After sucking down a bit of water on-the-fly at each of the aid stations I knew it was time to give it a go. I’m glad I saved a bit for the hill as I was able to cruise up it and make some ground. I picked up the pace as best I could for the final few miles and toward the end saw one last person in front of me that I wanted to catch. I gained quickly, and with .5 to go, realized it was Jamie Anderson. I knew there was probably no way I’d out kick him and after he turned around with eyes wider than an owls he was not about to let me. He held me off with ease and we finished close together.

A fantastic race with awesome people, and a great crowd. Very happy to have finished higher than expected and help the team.

efficiency: I will definitely start more towards the front of the pack in the future. It is too time consuming and energy sucking passing.

distance: 6
duration: 43:50
pace: 7:19