I got out hard and lead the race for the first 3 miles then my friend Zach Holt passed me. I was strong on the uphills. At around 4 miles another dude was right on my butt so I let him pass and tailed him the rest of the loop. I think he was trying to ditch me. Then some biker tried passing me but I told him I was racing so I wasn't going to pull off to the side. There were several paths he could've taken to avoid the racers. I yelled out "freakin bikers" to the runner in front of the me and he responded with something about being a biker. Then I put my earbud back in because I didn't want to hear what he had to say. I wanted to let loose and pass the guy on the downhill stretch but there wasn't much room. So I started to plan my attack for the 2nd loop. We got to the transition/finish area and home boy stopped. He was a 10k runner. He said: "I wouldn't have raced you if I knew you were doing the half." Marieta handed me a kickstart and I took a sip and charged into the 2nd loop. At this point I knew no one was going to catch me and that I was going to take 2nd to Zach. I kind of wish there were some more runners around to help me attack the hills. I was all by myself and did my best to keep competing. I walked a little on the 2 worst uphill sections. Then the last 2.5 miles I cruised! I was going up this hill and I started cramping in my inner thigh/groin area. I was really nervous I was going to suffer through that and have to walk. Luckily it only cramped when going uphill. So I shortened my stride and dug in for the last 2 miles. I had a really strong last mile! I like me some trail racin!
1. 7:23
2. 8:19
3. 10:50
4. 10:30
5. 8:06
6. 7:34
7. 8:21
8. 8:13
9. 11:00
10. 11:23
11. 10:50
12. 8:49
13. 6:42
1:58:06/9:09 mi
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