First let me say that this report may get kinda graphic and I do speak *French* so don't complain later about "I can't believe he said THAT". I'm trying to go downhill as fast as I can. My soul is willing but my quads are complaining and there is something really wrong w/ my left calf. I see Diana ahead of me, my beacon of strength and I keep thinking that I hope she doesn't hate me. I try to run again but my stomach once again doesn't allow me to do so. I stop, look up to the sky and the tree-tops, take a really deep breath and once again think of someone that I have been thinking alot of this weekend out here, someone I greatly admire and I try to take in some of his energy. This person is Joe P. I go on. It ain't pretty. I wonder if we are lost because at the last station the guy said that it is three miles gradual downhill and then two steep miles right into the last station before the finish. I know that I am going slow but I have been able to run a bit since then and it feels like forever. I see the ribbons and I ask Diana if she thinks that we are cool and she says that it is coming up real soon. What she doesn't know is that I have been seeing aid stations a couple of times already and I don't know what is real or not anymore. On we go. I see that same white Toyota pickup again w/ the tent up ahead on the right up the hill and I say to Diana, "There it finally is". She looks at me like "WTF?" and I say again (I think that I actually pointed), "there's the aid station truck". We go on again but as we get closer the truck disappears into the branches. I get frustrated again. We go on. Someone is coming up pretty fast behind us. Fast is relative right now but the bastard is able to *run* and I hate him. He is probably a super nice guy but at this point in time, I REALLY hate him. He and his pacer stop and Diana asks him if he knows the course and he says that he knows this section and the station is coming up after a LONG series of steep downhill switchbacks. Oh joy!! They go on and so do we. We have been going slow but to be honest we haven't been passed that much. We passed a couple of people I think and I think that we have been passed by maybe two or three. We hit the switchbacks and Diana asks if she could run awhile. I tell her to go for it. I really wanted to tell her that it is okay if she wants to run to the finish and escape this but deep down I needed her to stay and I am glad that she did. The switchbacks we indeed long (two miles?) and sucked at this point of the race. I see her standing in the trail near the bottom of a steep decline, waiting for me. I get closer and she says, "I see a tent". I didn't believe her but then I saw it. I think that I smiled. Then I heard, "Hey, there's Diana Heynen!". At first I had no idea whose voice this was, then I heard Shawn, "There's Moogy". It was Shawn and Becky (his sister) waiting for us at the last aid station. I had five miles to the finish. I had thought about the Cascade Crest Classic 100 early on in 2007. I heard that it was quite a brutal course but very pretty and low key. I like the latter as the *bigger ones* are getting way too circusy. I read Joe's report, looked at prior years photos...heck yeah!! I got that application. I really needed to get back into the *game*. It has been a very long road back from a couple of pretty bad injuries. Vermont 2005 was my last successful 100 mile finish and Leadville 2005 was my last attempt. The latter was a pretty bad event. I ran a really good 50 miler earlier this year (Old Pueblo) and it was good to get a strong ultra finish in but my 100 mile confidence was still quite low. A couple of weeks passed and I heard about a bunch of my friends going to the BigHorn races in Wyoming. I thought that it was ahead enough of Cascade Crest so I decided to sign up as well. It looked like a tough one as well so it would be good training for that time when the lottery Gods looked down favorably upon me and granted me a go at HardRock. I got my logistics finalized for BigHorn and started to look at CCC100 again. When I first signed up I checked out the logistics and flights to Seattle were crazy expensive. I thought that they would go down in price and waited. But since I paid for BigHorn already and the expenses to CCC were not going down I decided to cancel my registration for the CCC100. I just couldn't afford the two in one summer. I was bummed but super psyched about BigHorn. BigHorn was coming up and I was training hard. I was doing all my coach was asking of me. Even those damn speed intervals...which caused me to sprain my adductor longus (tendon/muscle going up the inner thigh to the pelvic bone). I was worried about it but decided to give it a go anyway. Well BigHorn got the better of me and my groin became way too sore to run. I didn't want to do something really stupid and tear it. Wimp? Sure. Try running a mountain 100 w/ a groin pull. It felt really bad. I decided to stop at Footbridge and rest up for the next one. SO. What now. I really needed a qualifier for HardRock next year and decided to check out Cascade Crest again. The flights were actually not that bad so got the logistics done and sent in my application again. It was accepted. I was off to the ninth running of the Cascade Crest Classic 100. The race is a loop in the Cascades of Washington State. Start/finish was Easton, about 90 minutes from Seattle I guess. There is a 32 hour cutoff and 100 participation limit. There was to be around 20,500 feet of climbing and the same of downhill. What is nice about this course is that even though it is a *mountain 100* w/ a pretty good amount of elevation change, we don't go that high (5500 ft max). That is good for us from Texas. I wouldn't have to go way early to try to acclimatize. But I found out later, during the run, that we are still at a disadvantage in a run like this. We JUST don't have stuff like this to regularly train on. The runners whom live near these trails are so lucky. But we are strong. We will show them. I found a hotel outside of Seattle (in Issaquah). It was still about 50 miles from the start but w/ a 10:00 start it really isn't that big of a deal. It was cheaper here. Logistically this race is pretty simple. Seattle isn't far, the start is right off I-90 and I don't know how easy it was for the crews because I wasn't going to have one so I didn't look at this info, but it seemed pretty fair. I was flying into Seattle about 13:30 so there would be plenty of time to get to the hotel, organize my drop bags, grab some dinner (pizza) and get a good night's sleep. There wasn't really an organized Friday night dinner so I stayed in Issaquah and grabbed dinner w/ Shawn and Becky. We were sharing a hotel/car so to cut down on expenses. It was fun. Got to the hotel and finalized my drop bags. We were allowed four drop bags. I was going to have three (skipping Kachess Lake as it was only five miles from the next bag at Mineral Creek). I think that this was an okay decision. The first bag was at Stampede Pass (mile 33). Quite a stretch but no big deal. Next was Hyak at 53 and then Mineral Creek at 73. So I was kinda approaching this race as three 50 k segments. The runner's manual portrayed this course in a similar manner, stating that the middle section was the easiest, the first section was the second toughest and the last 33 miles as the hardest. Oh joy! And they weren't kidding! I was going to try to be pretty self-sufficient this race and get most of my calories from my electrolyte drink and gels. I would also carry energy bars and eat fruits, sandwiches, perogies at Ollie. I would try to stay away from the sweets and caffeine drinks until after Mineral Creek (73). I packed a canned coffee drink in this bag. I would divide my powders into 28 ziploc bags and take one an hour from a handheld. I would carry two handhelds for my energy drink (EFS) and my Nathan pack for water. I would use the water to wash down the gels and energy bars and fill up my handhelds when needed. I would carry my ziplocs, gels, bars, tp, small amount of medical in my pack. So those two long stretches (between drop bags) at the start and finish made my pack pretty heavy. But it wasn't that bad I found out. I would take one gel (PowerBar...they aren't as thick) at the top of the hour and take two bites of my energy bar (EFS) at the half-hour (every hour). This turned out to be okay. I would start out wearing a t and shorts as we were going to be climbing a long hill early and thought that this would be fine until I got to my bag at 33. My plan was to be there by 18:00. My plan was to change into a long-sleeved and grab my jacket for the late evening haul to mile 53. I hoped to get there by 23:30. Here I would pack warmer clothes just in case it got cold in the night. Next would be Mineral Creek at 73 and my plan was to be here by 5:30 and change into a T for the morning haul back to Easton. I thought that I could do the course in 27-28 hours. That isn't unreasonable but honestly I would be just happy finishing this tough mountain 100. I was planning to do the first 73 relatively *easy* and try to haul ass to the finish. It was a good plan in theory. ;) So Shawn, Becky and I left Issaquah around 6:30 Saturday morning. These late starts are kinda nice I guess. ;) Stopped for my mandatory coffee and headed down I90 east towards Easton. It was something like 50 miles away. It was gorgeous out here. The mountains, trees...all incredible. Daunting, but not scary daunting. The anxiety level was high but not jumping. Got to the exit and found the fire station easily enough. Quite a few cars here already. Checked in and got a cool Outdoor Research dry bag, a coffee mug and an awesome t-shirt. Went back to the car, dropped off my bags in their respect pile and waited to see the others. There was to be a good Texas showing. Robert Heynen was supposed to run but was unable. Diana was to come to pace him. Robert found out this week that he would be unable to run but they both decided to come anyway to crew for us. That would be AWESOME. I had decided to maybe ask Diana if she wanted to pace me. I didn't know if she was going to bring her running stuff but thought, "what the hell...doesn't hurt to ask". I was elated when I asked her and she said, "sure". She wasn't 100% sure yet but it looked good. I just hoped that Robert wouldn't be too mad at me for taking her away. But she is a super strong runner and I know that she would get me to the finish. Shawn Fagan was also running and his sister Becky came along to crew. Axel Reissnecker, Lynn Ballard and Letha Cruthards would round out the bad-ass group from Texas. Shaun Bostad now lives in Portland but he is a club member and just moved there from Austin so he is added to the list. He's the baddest of the group. Damn he's fast. Got together w/ Robert and Diana and met Lynn and John from NTTR. John was to crew for Lynn and he was also very helpful to me out there, especially at Stampede. Also hooked up w/ Letha and we chatted for a bit. There were a couple of Big Dogs there. My early prediction was Darcy Africa for the outright win and I didn't come too far from that. I must say one thing. I'm NOT dissing ANYONE who wins these things or actually *races* (subjective term there) but I am TOTALLY more in awe and hold much more respect for the back-of-the-packers. Someone that finishes in DFL is a special person and I hold my glass out to you. They rock!! Anyhoo...the awesome people from the Fire Department made us all breakfast so I grabbed a pancake and some fruit and waited VERY anxiously for the pre-race meeting. This is the worst part of a race for me. I get crazy insanely nervous. So I made trips back-and-forth to the car, to the potty, just to pass time and keep my mind occupied. 8:30 finally came and it was pre-race meeting time. Nice and short. Crew meeting was next so I left that and went to the potty again and back to the car to finalize my gear for the next 33 miles. Was using contacts for the first time in a 100. They work great. No real issues except near the rope section (will mention later) and the dusty downhills near the end when my left one felt like it was popping out. I guess that I should have brought some drops w/ me. I would make two other HUGE *rookie* mistakes during the race and I will mention those later. Time was approaching. I don't know if the anthems (Canadian and American) were sung live or it was Memorex but that girl was awesome. WHAT a voice. Almost immediately we were told to line up and w/in 10 seconds Charlie sent 93 of us on our way for our little adventure. Took immediate stock of my supplies to make sure that I hadn't forgotten something. All was good. We were on a dirt road for awhile and then turned right to approach the trail-head for around a 7 mile haul uphill. My speciality. I wasn't going to run any of it but just make a good constant power-walk forward. The temps were good (low 70?) and an occasional breeze would come in. I was in a train for most of it. Usually in front and I didn't move to the right unless someone asked. I wasn't going to waste time and energy constantly looking over my shoulder to see if someone wanted to pass. If you wanted by, a simple phrase would have done it. I know people that like to hang behind others and some don't, like myself. Progress was good. Stomach was good, groin was good. More importantly, my achillies was good. Things were going really well. I hit Cole Butte and Blowout Mtn stations very easily. One good down and up in there and the miles were flying by. Then we hit the Pacific Coast Trail. I was waiting for this section as it is supposed to be spectacular. The footing for the most part was easy. Nice dirt w/ an occasional needle cushioning. There were lots of rocks in places but not like Bandera rocky. The trees, covered in this *ropey* moss were incredible. I wondered if some of these spots every saw sunlight. I finally got to meet Olga. I am an avid reader of her blog and we both have been dealing w/ medical issues since we were in the Slam of 05. We talked for a bit, covered miles together and then we went into our own little worlds of comfort/separation that a 100 allows. It's not a zone of rudeness but I think that in one of these things you HAVE to keep places separate from what is actually going on or you could let the enormousy of the event overwhelm you. Then we hit an exposed ridge and I wa gliding along and came across a runner flat on his back. There were about four others there and one of the guys said that he got real light headed and passed out for a bit. He seemed lucid and not too bad but was going to stay horizontal. Olga and someone else came up and we all just stood there while two guys tended to him. I asked if he wanted a wet bandana for his face and he said that he was okay. So another guy and I hauled ass on out of there to tell the aid station ahead about this guy. He had to be carried out I found and Diana was actually one of the ones helping. Tahoma Pass was next and it was about 2 miles away I guess. So I was humming along the PCT on a nice downhill when all of a sudden I get this crazy pain in my left calf. It actually took me to my knees and I screamed "FUCK". I just hoped that I wasn't too close to the station when I screamed that. It was sharp. Something had bitten me. Then I felt something on my right leg and swooshed it away. There was a little red spot on my calf. I got up and continued but my calf and lower leg began to spasm. It wasn't so much a sharp pain anymore but a weird shaking. I stopped and rubbed the area and that helped a bit. I felt a rock in my right shoe and reached down to dig it out but all I grabbed was a bee. Oh great! Taken out by a bee. At least there weren't any spiders out here. ;) So I saw someone walking up the trail (for that guy) so I knew I was close to the station. I saw the tent and Krissy Moehl was standing there cheering people in. I wanted to stop and give her a hug because well, she is super bad-ass and well...hot. Then I heard my name and that pulled me out of fantasy land. I wasn't expecting to see anyone because I thought that everyone was going to be at Stampede Pass. I grabbed some watermelon and grapes and banana and went to see Robert and Diana. They got me some ice for my calf and told me that the front runners had somehow stirred up a hornet's nest and the people behind were getting stung. There was a girl sitting in a chair w/ a huge red welt on her ankle. I found out later that someone else had her throat seize up or something. I had NO idea if I was allergic but I guess that I would soon find out. 23 miles in the bag and pretty much all was good. We were on the PCT for the next 25 miles or something so it would be lots of short hills but the scenery was nice and this trail surface was a bonus to run on...even w/ the rocks. I don't know what time I left but I had lots of time to make Stampede before dark (my lights were there). My leg was still sore but the spasms weren't as bad. So it looks like I escaped this one. BUT...here is the other turning point. I started to have GI problems. I don't know if it was related to the hornet bite or something I ate at Tahoma but my stomach began to fight back. W/in an hour I would start a very long, tiring and frustrating period of diarrhea episodes. I don't think that it was the gels, EFS but whenever I would eat something solid I would w/in ten minutes feel my stomach revolt and immediately have a case of the big D. I'm guessing that I went about 15-18 times. Not a huge amount I guess but there was also the periods of stopping while holding yourself together while you wonder if you have to quickly tear off everything and jump for the side, removing your jacket and pack to find TP. Hoping that there is something to hold onto because your quads really don't want to be in that position too much. To honest I could deal w/ that. Time waster and very unpleasant but what began to piss me off (especially near the end when I wanted to haul ass those last two miles) was when I would try to run my stomach would bloat up and I would have to stop and let that gas out (mostly from top). It hurt to run like that. More whining I know. So...I'm on my way to Stampede Pass and it is beginning to get chilly and misty. The trails are flying by though and I get there 5 minutes (I think) ahead of my predicted time of 18:00. Mile 33...almost 8 hours. Not speedy...conservative like my plan. I restock my Nathan pack, grab some fruits, put on my long-sleeved and Rogue vest and rain shell. IT is starting to drizzle. I grab my flashlight and headlamp for a night of fun. Rookie mistake number 1 coming on up. I eat some noodle soup and that comes back out w/in 15 minutes. I'm going to stop mentioning the Big D because you don't want to hear about it and I'm SURE don't want to bring it up. Other than that I'm feeling not too bad. Unfortunately I see Fagan there. He was having bad back problems and had to drop. Everyone else is still in w/ Bostad like 5th or something. It started to rain pretty heavily and from here to Meadow Mtn it is relatively flat. The shrubs (?) were overhanging the trail so every inch got wet from running against the bushes for so long. It made it a cold haul and I REALLY hoped that everyone brought proper gear for this wet cool weather. There were going to be issues if they hadn't. I get to Meadow Mtn still in the light (41 miles) and grab some fruit and quickly head on my way. I really wanted to minimize my time at the stations this race and try to sit only when needed. This plan worked well. At the station one guy didn't have proper gear and he was hurting. Did some climbing and then a downhill to Ollalie Meadow. On the downhill I needed to turn on my headlamp. But it wouldn't turn on. I pressed a couple of times and was REALLY hoping that the rain hadn't done something to it. Stopped and looked at it. Nothing. I had to grab my safety flashlight to open it up. I didn't want to be forced to run w/ that because I was using two handhelds and that would have been super inconvenient. Took out the battery holder and stared at it. WHAT A LOSER! I had forgotten to put the batteries in before packing it. DOOH! Luckily I brought two sets of batteries so a quick install fixed that. Onwards. Got to Ollallie and all I said was, "Is this the place w/ the famous perogies?" I didn't care the outcome of eating this. I wanted some. I had two and they were sure good!! I didn't stay long here and the workers told me to be careful up ahead because people were having issues finding their way. No shit. They said the trail splits and not to take the PCT trail on the right. I got about a mile down the trail and the trail split in three. The far right was a trail I think because it was hard to tell in the dark. But the far left one had a PCT sign and the middle one had nothing. SO...I'm standing there going, "WTF!!". I for some reason take the middle path. I don't see any markers for quite awhile then I start to head back. But I see a light and think that I am okay. I finally see a marker about 100 yards down the trail and think all is good but I have to stop for Big D. The light passes me and I collect myself and go on. I get to a wide path and a marker points right. Here is starts to get crazy foggy. It is hard to describe if you've never run at night on a dusty path in the fog. You CANNOT see shit. I honestly had about a foot visibility and then I came across another fork. Again, I couldn't see anything but I assumed that this was the fork that the station workers were talking about so I decided to go left. I finally saw a marker. We were going downhill on the worst trail of the course. It was like the side of hill that recently got weed-whacked w/ a machete. But the fog decreased and I saw a bunch of light ahead and saw that they were highway lights so I knew that I was near I90 and must be near the "rope-section". Yes...there it was. Stopped and looked down. A rope was leading down to an abyss of darkness. The unknown. Broken bones and scrapes. I grabbed the rope...thought...well at least there ain't spiders...and jumped. WEEEEEEHHHH!!!!. It was fun. Even the part where I lost my footing and landed hard on my ass. Numbness...no worries. Jump again. WEEEEEHHHHHHH! Got to the road. Turn right...on to the tunnel. The tunnel was a straight anti-climatic no-fun experience. Surface was hard to run on. 2.5 miles of weirdness. Went on and on and on. Saw a strobe light in the distance and when it went off like five feet in front of me it scared the shit out of me. A photographer. Gee...thanx! Hyak was near but we had almost two miles on asphalt. Bleech. Got to Hyak, mile 53 about 23:05 I think. 13:05 into the race. Taking stock...everything was not too bad...the quads were starting to complain but that was expected. I didn't see Robert there so I guess they were taking a nap. Lynn came in shortly after me. I restocked supplies, changed shirts, grabbed my gloves, hit the potty. Robert and Diana had come to the station and I think we came in early than expected. It was GOOD to see them. Grabbed a tiny bit of food and headed out for a seven mile uphill climb. A lady said to turn left at the asphalt but I didn't see any markers. This went on for quite awhile. But there wasn't anywhere else to go really. I saw a glimpse of a glow-stick about 200 yards down. Good. There was about two miles of asphalt, gently ascending and this was not fun. Finally hit the trail so there was five more miles. Climbing went okay...not spectacular...just forward progress. Forward progress is good. I left the aid station at midnight (or just before) so I had 18 hrs to cover 47 miles. Doable. I had changed focus at the aid station. Running for extended periods of time was not possible due to my stomach revolting. So I would have to get by w/ a good power-walk and hope my stomach got better. I had also picked up my iPod which was helping this long climb. Diana would meet me at mile 68 so that would lift my spirits. Climb and climb. Lynn passed me and we would yoyo for the next many hours until he would pull away in the last 11 miles or so. Finally got to Keechelus Ridge Station. Looked like an ER. Runners sitting in chairs w/ blankets. I was not going to do that because I KNEW that would be it for me. Decided to grab some GingerAle and that was a good idea. It almost immediately settled my stomach. It was temporary but I would take that. Grabbed a pb&j and went on my way. It was a six-seven mile downhill and I did my best to run but I couldn't haul ass like I wanted to. I took what my body would provide and went on. Little lights were all over the ridges...it was quite a sight. Each in our own little lighted universe. Six feet in a direction provided by a light. It doesn't get much simpler than that. Move forward or all your light is going to provide is a beacon for the vultures to look down into. Keep your ass moving!!! Someone on the downhill I thought I heard mention that there was an aid station between the top of the mountain and Kachess Lake so that is why I was shocked to see Diana at the next station. Did I miss one? WTF? No...just loopy. Olga was wrapped in a blanket...she was injured or something. Gave her some kind words and then tended to myself. No drop bag here. I really don't remember what time it was when we left, something like 3:56. Diana would help me get to the finish from here. It was 32 miles to the finish. In between us and a cold beer was a nightmare. We had what was called the Trail-From-Hell. Statistically it takes the leaders 90 minutes to do this 5 mile stretch. The rest of us would take at LEAST 120 minutes. Then we would have the Needles. This was five wall ascents. I became worried inside. I couldn't run hardly at all. But I would try. Diana and I left for our adventure. The trail-from-hell was nasty, yes. But gorgeous just the same. We could hear the water crashing against the rocks/beach below and about 3/4 the way in, light started to appear. The lake was really pretty. So serene in this *hell*. The hardest part of this section was the enormous logs that we had to navigate. Most of them I jsut crawled under because it hurt to much to jump on, grab w/ all fours and roll to the other side. What a sight. I was still moving okay in this section. Time in the bank for later. Made it to Mineral Creek in 2:40 I think. Not bad. It was light at this time so I dumped the lights, gloves, long-sleeved shirt, hat. Rookie mistake NUMBER two. I decided not to change my socks and shoes because my feet were pretty good. At least THAT decision never bit me in the ass. Grabbed some food and headed out. It was another seven miles uphill to the next station. All exposed but no sun. Diana and I were pissed about this because the views are supposed to be dish but we got to see nothing. Clouds and the moon of my ass and more clouds. Depressing. Climb...climb. Made it to No Name Ridge. I have no idea what time it was. I wanted to get out of there ASAP because the Needles were coming up. Pretty much nine miles of walls to climb. A couple of them I would hit after a bit of flat along a ridge, stop, start to look up, look up some more and just say to Diana, "Fuck!". Then look up some MORE. It was quad hell. I was also worrying because my achillies started to hurt. Forward motion y'all. Made it to French Cabin. Second last aid, mile 88. I don't think that time was REALLY an issue but I began to worry about making the cut-off. It was un-necessary to worry but it was still bothering me. Oh yeah...forgot. Thorpe Mtn was in there. It began to drizzle a bit before we hit this section. And it got cold. I thought that it was just me because my immune system was probably shot at this point but Diana was struggling too. We hit Thorpe Mtn and I dropped unnecessary stuff for the 1/2 mile climb/descent out-and-back. We finally got to the top in what appeared at the time to be a winter storm and my hands were so cold I couldn't open the bag to get my ticket. Rookie mistake number two. Not taking my gloves, hat and warm shirt up w/ me to the needles. It was a mountain 100 dammit and how could I be so stupid. At least I wasn't totally brain dead and leaving my jacket at the bottom. Geez. We made it down and headed out. My hands were so cold that I had to put my spare socks on my hands. No dexterity but it helped SOOOO much. Forward progress. Made it to French Cabin and I was a wreck. >From here to the last aid station is described in the start of this journey. I don't know how long it look me to go downhill from French Cabin. There was one steep climb before the descent because Charlie the RD is a sick bastard. Forward progress. Simplistic. Fear does that to you. Narrows your senses to survival mode. Diana and I were going to make it. Nothing at this point in time would stop me. After Silver Creek at mile 95 where I saw Shawn and Becky it was three dirt road miles and two miles of asphalt to the finish. IT was so cool to see them. They also stopped a couple of times before the finish to cheer me on from the car. I tried to run some of the dirt section but my stomach was definitely winning THIS battle. I saw the asphalt. Two miles. The finish. We turned over I90 and some one stopped in their car to high five me. I don't know if Diana saw this but I sort of started to cry. Something as simple as that put it all in perspective. I had done it. I had beat ALL those demons over the past two years. I had beat a pretty darn hard 100. My time isn't what I had hoped but to be honest that meant less and less as the journey progresses. I was passed by Hans, Krissy (pacing) and another girl. I didn't care. They were going for something. Beating me...probably. I didn't care. I beat the course. Along the railroad tracks we went. I was actually running. I saw Robert. I smiled. It was good to see him. I saw the finish. Forward progress. I crossed the line. I was done. In more ways than one. Charlie congratulated me and all I said was, "Dude, that was epic!". Now what happened next I am not quite clear on. All the Big D or just the journey finally caught up. I think that putting my feet in a bucket of cold water was a stoopid idea because I became very nausiated and light-headed. The paramedics were called over and vitals were taken. It was decided upon to give me an IV. I was helped to the ambulance and they gave me that. I warmed up and felt SO much better. I hope that I didn't make an ass of myself from the period of time from finishing to carried to the ambulance. If I did I am sorry. Thanx to those who cared for me. Thanx to Diana. I've thanked her offline. I can't express how grateful I am to her for helping me get my goal. For those who want to know, my time was 29:34. 46 out of 93 starters. 67 finished. I really don't care. Leah Jurek made some sweet awards and I am going to hang mine proudly. Thank-you Charlie for a great race and thanx to all the volunteers, aid staff, fire department and medical staff. My stomach is still messed up so I don't really know what happened yet. I might have gotten the flu somewhere. Congrats to Lynn and Axel. Congrats to Marc Greenberg. He came in DFL. Somebody came in first but we all won! P.S. This is unedited. I just typed away. Don't tell my boss what I did today...