What a great night of running. First of all, hats off to Brad and Nyla for giving this race a real family feel. It was an honor having Capt'n Karl send us off into the night. We bounded straight up the trail, knowing in theory that we'd need to take a right turn, but most all of us just flat missed it. By the time I realized something was up I just decided to continue on and do the loop backwards. On one of the first climbs I noticed a pretty rainbow in the distance and figured that we'd be getting wet soon. The shower didn't last too long and felt pretty refreshing since I was running much faster than I wanted to in the hopes of getting as much terrain covered before it got dark.

After the first loop, I toweled off and put on a dry shirt, and headed out in the correct direction this time. About 3/4 of the way through that loop it started getting dark. I cracked on 3 glow sticks as I passed them knowing it would be dark soon enough. There was one point about half a mile out from the start/finish where you can hear the generator humming. Then, the trail seems to head to the left and into the woods and I lost the sound of the generator. I thought, "This isn't the way." and looked around to see if I could find some trail markings and low and behold there was a glow stick just begging to be turned on.

After the second loop, I hooked up with Steve who came to the race with me and did a great job volunteering at the far aid station from 12-5am. (Thanks Steve!) I got set up for some night walking as it was next to impossible for me to see well enough to run. I did enjoy hiking around under the full moon. There were quite a few spots where the moon would reflect in the pools of water on the rock and you'd get a quick glare that was startling.

I had some nice conversations with Liz, Rob and TJ along the way that made the time pass quickly. Then, the sun rose and it was time to call it a night. After a massage and a great mexican breakfast, the awards were handed out. I really appreciated the handmade picture frame. A real touch of class as they spent the time printing up the pictures from the start of the race and framing them for everyone to have at the finish.

Thanks again to everyone associated with the race. I look forward to it again next year.