Move over, coming through!" That was my yell on the way down the Hill of Death (HOD). The HOD drops about 100ft in 0.2 of a mile after the long stretch under the power lines. The fun sections of this course are the downhills and this one is no exception. As I fly past the runner picking his way through the rocks, I say "thanks". I skip and skim through this rocky section knowing that one wrong foot placement or one little trip would send me careening down the rest of the way. What an adrenaline rush! Close to the bottom I do step wrong. My right leg is extended and my knee locks when I land. This forces my weight to the other leg which throws me off balance. As I stumble down the next few steps, I find a tree and catch myself. "Whew, that could have been ugly!" I say to myself. As I hit the bottom and find the flat section of the trail again, I assess my body. The knee feels okay and everything else checks out. Now it's time to hit the difficult sections of the course.

A chipped-timed, time trial format was used for this race to help with the bottlenecking of runners along the trail. There was a 30-minute start window and you could take off anytime during that 30 minutes. Though this would help with the bottlenecking, you would never know how your competition was doing... unless you started at the same time. I wanted to start early to beat the heat, but knew that might cause me to go out too fast as I picked my way through slower runners. If I started later, then I would have to deal with the heat. I took my chances and started early. This turned out to be the wrong decision.

My heart rate jumped as soon as we got off the flat section of the trail. And this was less than a mile into the run. "Boy, this is going to be a long day", I said to myself as we headed up the first climb. I finally see a chance to pass quite a few runners on a downhill section. I take it and catch more runners. I'm able to weave my way through quite a few people before we hit the next flat section of trail. I know there are sections coming up where walking will be almost mandatory for the majority of runners, so I hold on to the fast pace.

I see Diana H. up ahead and slowly reel her in. We hit the "chain" section of the course and she asks if I want by. I say, "no, I need to take it easy through here". We take our time along this section because the rocks are usually pretty slick. Then we pick up the pace again as the trail flattens out. The first aid station is coming up and I am ready for it. We cross the dry creek and head up to the aid station. Last year this section of the creek had water that was waist deep, this year it's bone dry. As we climb to aid station one, I can hear the chatter of the volunteers. As I crest the top, Robert M. is misting people with water as they reach the top. That felt great! I see Becky G. and ask her to top off my bottle with water. As she hands me my now full bottle, other runners are making the climb. A few I know. Diana takes off along with Mark R. I grab an orange slice and head out right behind them. Running with these two, I know my pace is way too quick since they are faster runners than me. I'll just hang on to them as long as I can and see what happens.

After a long downhill section we hit another flat section of trail. We are cruising along and Mark starts to pull away. I can't match his pace. Diana now catches me after I passed her on the downhill. I fall in behind her, but she is slowly pulling away. I hear runners coming up behind me. Some pass and some just hang out behind me. We are getting close to the Hill of Life (HOL). I am really starting to feel the fast pace. I know the hardest section of the trail is after the HOL. As we reach the bottom of the HOL, I start my walk up with Diana and David M. Others are doing the same... some faster, some slower, and some even running. About halfway up this monster we take a left onto a side trail. Ah, there's aid station two, manned by Sammy V. As I come in, I say Hi to Sammy. He grabs my water bottle and before I can say anything else, he has it filled and is handing it back to me.

I take off out of aid station two with Diana and David. Just a ways down the trail though, I need a pit stop. As I get back onto the trail I fall in behind Cindy D. I think to myself, "I just can't get away from all these fast runners". Luckily this section is mostly downhill. I cruise past Cindy knowing that she will pass me back on the next uphill. But I can't resist the urge of flying down the hills. We hit the bottom of the hill and cross the creek again without getting our shoes wet. Now the terrain starts to roll. Up and down, walk and run.

I'm really starting to suck wind now and am glad to see the hills because it's a chance for me to walk. And as predicted, Cindy comes by me on an uphill. There are a couple of us at this point leap-frogging each other. I pass them on the downs and they pass me on the ups. We cruise along like this for a couple of miles. As we come around one girl that is struggling, she asks how many miles are left. I say, "about seven". Her jaw almost hit the dirt in disbelief. I take a couple papaya enzyme tablets on this stretch because my stomach is feeling a little funny. I started eating a Clif Bar back at aid station two and haven't been able to finish it because of my stomach. The tablets settle my stomach a bit and also seem to pep me up some. Ah, finally aid station three is in sight. I see Jim B. hanging out. We say our hello's as my bottle is topped off with water. I walk out of the aid station eating on the Clif Bar I had started on miles back. The power line and HOD are next.

I really hate this section of trail. As I walk and try to down the rest of my Clif Bar, Ed C. and the other girl that has been running with me the last few miles pass me. I finally give up on the Clif Bar and start to run again. I know I need to catch these two before we hit the HOD. I'm much faster than either on the downhills and I don't want to try passing anyone on the HOD. I catch and pass the girl a bit before hitting the top of the HOD. I see Ed up ahead and it looks like he is far enough ahead me that I won't catch him on the way down. I was wrong on that assumption. As I start my descent I realize that I'm closing in on him very quickly. That's when I yell "coming through". Boy that was a rush!

Now back on another flat part of the trail, I know what's next; The Hump. As we start to ascend, I let a female runner by and warn her of the slick rocks at the Grotto. Ed has now reeled me back in. We do introductions as we walk. I also warn him of the upcoming slick rocks as I start to run. Down and to the grotto the rocks are slick and I fall on my butt as my foot slips out from under me. "Don't run on green rocks" I tell myself. As we head out of the grotto to the main trail, I see Henry. He gives me a hard time for not running through this section. I just smile and say, "I'm just cruising".

Now off the main trail again we head up to the field and the last aid station. As I roll in, I see Shan. I ask if she can fill my bottle with water. As she hands it back full of water she asks how I'm feeling. I say, "good, just a little warm". She says, "it's only about 3 miles to the finish". As I head out I thank everyone at the aid station. The two that I've been running with the last few miles go past me at the aid station. I catch and pass the girl on the downhill. Ed is a bit in front of me. As we round a corner he takes a wrong turn. I yell at him that he missed the turn. He falls in behind me as we head down to the main trail. This flat section won't last long.

Finally we head off the main trail to the hidden loop and the last mother of a climb. This is a slow climb for everyone around me. I hear mumbling as we ascend this thing. As I crest the top I keep walking to catch my breath. Finally I'm able to start running again. This the last downhill, then back to the main trail for the home stretch. I let quite a few people by on this flat section. I'm wiped out from going out to fast, so I walk quite a bit of the last part. I see Joe P. running up the trail towards me doing some course control stuff. He asks how I'm doing as he walks along with me. I told him I'm fine, just tired. We chat about course stuff for a bit. I decide to start running again and he wishes me good luck as I take off.

I run some, walk some. People pass me, but I pass no one. This is all fine with me because my race is with the course. My original goal was to finish in three hours or less and if I don't get my butt in gear I'm not going to make it. Finally, I start to run for the last time... all the way to the finish. As we start the switchback climb to the finish, I see Logan behind me. I try to stay in front of him, but he has just a little more left than I do as he comes around me right before the finish line. I come across the line in 3:00:58. I stagger around the finish area and see Terry, Janice, Gabe, and Cathy. They have a chair waiting for me and I plop myself down in it. The course almost won today.