Arkansas, Arkanseen!

Been there (twice), Done That (twice), Never going back again (twice?)

As most of you gathered:

A- It was hot

B- Chaser and I braved the weather and were not in the 60% that dropped out

C- I ran harder than last year, yet I was two hours slower

D- Had an unbelievable 11th place finish.

5- Made two spot on predictions about the race, and so did you!

First here is an actual picture of Chase holding a thermometer at the Lake Sylvia starting point:

If you look very closely at the picture you should notice three things. 1st, that the Thermometer is reading 100 degrees, wow, that's hot. 2nd, the thermometer is not in a park but at some dude's house. 3rd, that's not Chase holding the thermometer. It's some dork with glasses on the top of his head, (hey buddy, whadda you got eyes on the top of your head too?). So, it really wasn't 100, but it got to be 92, and Chase was too busy running to be posing for pictures. This is no lie, I was still pouring ice water on top of my head at 2 O'clock in the AM. And I liked it!

Next. 150 signed up for the race. 10 were really smart, showed up, got there shirts and numbers and took went home without running a step. Did Not Start means they probably weren't falling into a mud-puddle at mile 19, then dropping their sunglasses in said mud puddle, then trying to grab them and falling back into said mud puddle, then dropping said sunglasses again, then realizing that there is no one around to give them any sympathy. Ok, so 150 signed up. Chase and I beat the 10 that didn't start, then 74 more dropped, Chase and I beat them too! Just by finishing we had already finished in the top 1/2, yea us, beating at least 84 of the 150!

Third. No question, I ran harder this year than last. I constantly worked my up through the field, and I don't know when the last time I was passed was, but I know it was before mile 48, if I had to guess, I'd say no one passed me after mile 30. I never made a declaration not to let anyone pass, and I wouldn't have put up much of a fight (well before mile 50 I wouldn't have), but no one did pass me, I was running well.

Fourth. Wow, 11th place. Seemed so much better than last year's 9th. Because I wasn't expecting it. I looked at the entrants list and I noticed that 7 of the 8 guys that beat me last year were back (for some reason you never think the heat is going to effect them, but you know it will effect you!), also I saw the names of several entrants that are lightning fast, including Jeff Browning who won Bighorn in 2006, when last Chase and I hooked up for an easy 100. (Chase you, may not like my choice of races, but you are 2 for 2 in those events!) Anyway, I wasn't really expecting much place-wise. I hoped to be in the top 25, but I had no idea. I ran for several miles with Brian Kuhn who came in 10th last year, and he was struggling. He said we were in about 20th place at mile 35. When I got within 6 miles of the turn around I saw the dude in 1st place, he had a handy 12 mile lead on me. Then I counted dudes in front of me. My calculations put me between 22 & 26 (I saw 22 race numbers, the others could have been pacers or runners, I couldn't tell) The sad part was that only two of the guys in front of me were just in front of me. Of the remaining 20 the next closest guys were more than an hour in front of me (30+ minutes for me to get to the turn-around). Also, there were many people within a minute or two behind me at the turn. I figured that I'd be lucky to hold onto #22, but I had a modest goal of moving into the top 20. Well, I ran as hard as I could for as long as I could, and no one passed me. I also passed 5 people during the night. I had one great race with this cat at mile 80. I passed him coming out of an aid station and I mean I dropped the hammer on his pathetic arse! I flat put the kibosh on him. I was flying. I patted myself on the back so hard I knocked myownself down, I said out loud, "I can't believe you are tough enough to drop the hammer at mile 80. " Further, I said, "I don't care what he does, I don't care if he passes me back, I can't control him. I am still proud of myself." You know, I never thought I'd see that cat again, and yet, he came back and passed me. "I'm back from the dead he said." Well congratulations. I told him that I was I was proud of him, and I was. I said, "How did you do that, I was running like a madman." He said, "my Advil kicked in, and I'm feeling better." He took off, I tried to hang on, but I wasn't going to get sucked into his race (plus, I knew that I'd closed a one-hour gap on him, just to catch him with 20 miles to go, so I thought, I may see him again.) I passed him again at mile 85, this time when I dropped the hammer, it stayed dropped. the next time I saw him was at the awards ceremony. In addition, I got a heckuva gift 7 of those in front of me dropped! When I finished I asked Stan (the RD) what my place was (I figured and hoped for 18), but I finished in 11th. Boy, I'm glad I didn't know that I was in 11th, because I'd have pushed to the point of physical harm to try to claw into the top 10. It was great, because it was so unexpected.

Last (finally). My predictions. #1, that was a two-foot putt. Prediction, pain! Well, yes. My feet are mincemeat. Even my wrists are torn up from where my watch rubbed against my skin. Next the time prediction. Yeah, my first guess was 22:40, and I figured in 80 degree weather that's what I'd run. Then I changed it to 23:30. I had no idea what I was running as I was running it. I guessed I had finished right around 22 hours. Well, I missed by 49 minutes, but I forgot about little facts like lying on the ground for a full minute at mile 75 after tripping on one of the millions of rocks on the course. I forgot about having to run the last 5 miles by striking only the heel of my right foot because the ball was in too much pain, that has to slow you down.) Hey, three of yall were right on with your predictions too. 22- 22:59. A couple of you must have either been reading the weather reports for 30 degree South Latitude instead of north, or you were just flattering me by predicting a sub-22 hour race. Anyone who guessed slower should have been right, shoot, I guessed that I'd run almost an hour slower than I did.

Any way, I'm glad it's done, and I am glad that you all shared it with me. Your encouragement and your faith in me meant and means a lot. I'll be hanging tough through the slam and I'll be needing your help!