WBR Leg 17. I started this leg at about 1am. The route winds along some rolling hills toward East Canyon. I felt very good through most of this leg, although I was not always hitting the splits exactly where I wanted them. This is, ultimately, an uphill leg--and fairly long. In fact, both Sasha and I measured it as over 6 miles (it was supposed to be 5.9). But the moon was out and the cool temperatures were ideal. I passed many runners. I was a shade over 37 minutes overall. Here are the splits: 6:09, 6:05, 6:03, 6:00, 6:07, 6:23. The last mile had the most climb. My stomach did not feel great, but otherwise no real complaints. I tried to run as hard as I could.
Leg 29: We had about an hour or so of sleep at exchange 24 before it was back on the road for us in Van 1. My leg, 29, starts at the overlook above Jordanelle reservoir and drops down into Heber. It's a 4.1 mile downhill cruiser, with a very steep 8% grade. My projected pace was 5:11 per mile overall. I knew that sounded way too ambitious, especially given that the last 1.5 are fairly flat and there is even a little hill in there. But I wanted to give it my best shot. I wish I had started faster, I think that's where I lost the most time. I didn't really feel warmed up until I was into the second mile. Splits: 5:21, 5:02, 5:17, 5:40.
And then I was done! We had a great race overall. We were competitive, but mostly it was just fun to be with some great runners and great guys. Thanks Paul for driving us around! My Van 1 compatriots were Mitch Zundel (who ran amazingly), James Barnes (who beat all his projections), Dustin Ence (who also beat his projections), Jon Allen (who smashed his projections) and me and Steve Hooper (who had to balance out the other guys by merely "looking good" even if we weren't running as fast as projected. | 