Wild Hare 2010

It is not the critic who counts, nor the man who points how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly...who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at best, knows the triumph of high achievement; and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat. - Theodore Roosevelt



First things first, I had to drop.  Mile 43 and I dropped.  Seven miles left.  GI problems, dehydration, and bloody urine were the culprits.  BUT I do know what I did wrong, both the day before and the morning of, to screw myself over.  Oh well, lesson learned.  Time to start planning next years races.

At 6am, the few of us tackling the 50 mile option gathered outside the main house on Bluff Creek Ranch.  I hate using tired cliches, but the air truely was on fire.  Everyone was litteraly quaking with electricity as the countdown to 6:00 began.  Headlights aglow, we headed off into the woods for the first of seven loops.

The course was broken in such that the first loop was a quick 5 mile and each subsequent loop being 7.5 miles.  About halfway through the loops was the second aide station where the spread consisted of bananas, apples, oranges, pb&j's, a few candies, water and gatorade.  Oh, and always smiling, happy volunteers.

The course itself was great.  A solid mixture of sand, dirt, rock, and some sketchy pavement.  I cannot wait until next year to have another go, and bring a medal back home.