I saw the sign! Yeah, 38.5 miles is an interesting distance and I'm not sure why the race director, Susan, likes the number so much. I'll ask her next year...
Susan's property in Hillsboro, a town of roughly 200 people. Susan was gracious to allow a few of us to camp on her property.
The hand drawn map (not to scale). Basically the course is a big out and back with a short 4 mile round-trip out and back spur at mile 12.7
The tiki torches lead the way to the all important pre-race growler station
Bill dresses in the faux-privacy of his tent before the 6am race start
Minesh looking psyched before embarking on the longest race of his short ultra career. (And no, that's not a donut in his hand--he knows better than that!)
Susan's house and the start/finish of the race before all the racers showed up
A view into the house where we all checked in before we started the race
Tom Stockton inside his tent/vehicle Toyota Prius. Yes, apparently a grown man can actually sleep inside a Prius. I thought it impossible until I saw it with my own two eyes
Dizzy D and The Beist staying warm before shedding their outer layers and going for it. The temperature was in the mid-20s at start time. Once we started running we encountered a stiff head wind making for some really cold hands and ears for the first hour of the run.
OK, I didn't run with a camera so now we transition to the finish photos. I realize this leaves a gap of anywhere from 5 to 12 hours of the race that you'll never see...unless you run it yourself next year
A sprint finish in a 38.5 miler? Hell yeah! Tim Long of Colorado busts out 5 seconds ahead of Andy Jones-Wilkins to win in 5:21:01. Notice both feet off the ground? Musta been them Footfeathers! wocka, wocka, wocka.
What's that way down there? Looks like one helluva ugly javelina or the fifth place finisher...
We've got a confirmation...it is me coming into the finish...
Sweet! I did finish fifth with a time of 5:52:15 to satisfy my goal of running it under six hours. That last 6.5 miles of pavement was tough but I dug deep or something...
Assuming the growler position in front of women and children takes guts. I have said guts.
Five of us managed to finish under 6 hours. Pretty fast consider the previous course record was 6:06. The names in front of me are: Tim Long, Andy Jones-Wilkins, Bobby Biles and Pete Stevinson.
Paul Grimm is always smiling. Always. Paul finishes in 9th place, 6:19:30
Ladies and gentlemen, David Coblentz...
Paul congratulates David on his 10th place, 6:20:54 finish
All together now...The Beist!
Bill finishes 11th place in 6:21:something
Kris Kern coming in a short bit after The Beist
Dizzy D in his longest ultra race finish to date! Finish time 6:30:00 FLAT!
Tom “The Rock” Stockton
Fido went out strong ahead of me at the start but faded quickly once we hit the first aid station. He must have had a better second half to finish here in front of the third female finsher. It was going to be a close sprint finish but the guy in the white hat in the lower right corner had a roast beef sandwich which heavily distracted Fido. Was this caption over the top for a marginally humorous photo? If so, I apologize.
Mike Rearick thinks he's at the finish line. Should we tell him the truth yet?
Brian Murry coming into the finish in about 8 hours, 30 minutes
The Los Alamos contingency anxiously awaiting the finish of the final LA runner, Minesh...
Is that..could it be...I think it is...look! It's Minesh!
He's down there guttin' it out for the finish
At first Minesh thought this was the final aid station but eventually he came to and realized he had finished! OK, I made that up. Finish time was 10:30ish.
Minesh enjoying a much needed beer and some hot soup compliments of his wife Laura
Post-race activity involved shooting the shit around a large campfire with Cowboy Joe. Joe enjoyed giving Minesh lots of shit. He fit right in with the rest of us.
And to think more than half of the race participants did not stick around for the post-race BBQ dinner. They missed out but those of us that stayed made out!
Each finisher received finisher's certificate with a black and white photo taken along the course
