(This is one of my favorite races ever! So much fun!)

I couldn’t figure out why this trail race started in waves as there were not thousands of people doing it.  And because I was a late entry (unprepared as usual) I had to put a great deal of effort and persuasion into getting into the first wave.

The gun went off and I immediately understood the staggered start as not 10 meters from the starting line we were immediately on single track, clawing up a basalt hillside.  And that was the beginning of the race.  The rest of the race was pretty much just as raw.  There was not a single flat section in the whole course, it was either up or down.  The aid stations?  A dozen gallon jugs of water…help yourself! Classic.  And to top it off it was a there and back so the whole second half of the race you were going face to face with the hundreds of other runners.  Note, running at as fast of a pace as the terrain and the short nature of the course imposed.

Amazingly I only had one close call and it ended up in a big bear hug with a stranger as neither one of us could react fast enough to dodge to one side.

It was a blast!  On top of that my thighs double in size by the next day.  Instant quads!