ONLY IN AN ULTRAMARATHON. . .

. . .is it entirely possible to beat a finish time from one year prior by over 3 hours (I finished in 9:45 this year -- last year a lot of issues slowed Iris and I down). At the Swan Crest 57k, which was actually 36 miles, I finished much better than last year. Above all, I felt really good and finished strong.

This year both Iris and Callie came, which was a lot of fun. Although Iris totalled her hip and didn't finish, and although Callie didn't finish due to knee troubles, I was glad they came. I wish they weren't hurt though. Here we are before the race:

Callie was nice enough to drive us down in her camper where we slept in relative luxury and comfort. Nonetheless, I didn't sleep very well. My watch alarm went off at 4:30 but we ended up sleeping until 5:00. We loaded up in vehicles and drove to the start at Napa Point, which is somewhere around 6300 feet. After a nice tribute by Brad Lamson to his late friend Cal, he said "start" and start we did.

The early morning saw a lot of cold fog:

But then it warmed up. For much of the first 8 or so miles, Twila Moon was in sight, and I'd chatted with her briefly prior to the start and knew she was super cool so I really wanted to catch her so that I could run with her a bit. I did finally catch her and we ran together until the top of 6 mile mountain. I really enjoyed running with her. She was having a bit of trouble on the downhill, something I know nothing about :p, so I took off and sprinted to the finish. Below are more "view" pics I took:




Below is the view of Swan Lake in the foreground and Flathead Lake behind. It was cloudy but due to the lack of smoke, the views were somewhat better than last year.
Heading up to the top of Six Mile Mountain, we saw one of the strangest animals I've ever seen while out running trails. It looked an awful lot like the RD, Brad Lamson, wearing a blonde wig, crouching behind rocks. But surely that would be too bizarre to be true.
Below is Twila heading down Six Mile Mountain. From here to the finish is 9 miles of downhill. It's funny to think that the 8,000 or so feet of climbing is all packed into 27 miles. Ouch! No wonder it takes so long to do those 27 miles.

I will have to get Brad's pics, which include the "costume" portion of the event at the finish. All in all, I had a lovely day and am pretty sure that's my favorite event, plain and simple. There's a ridiculous quantity and quality of schwag and a keg at the finish to boot. I left with a tech shirt courtesy of LaSportiva, a ton of Hammer Nutrition stuff, a Kleen Kanteen courtesy of Big Sky Brewing, along with several pint glasses and a belly full of delicious brew. This is a top notch event -- self supported, casual, festive, fun and totally worth while. This is one NOT to miss.