Logan Peak Trail Run - This year it was the race of champions! We had the winners from the last 4 years all there to determine the champion of champions. Spoiler alert! I didn't win....not a big surprise there. Seth Wold won in a flat 4 hours. Amazing. Only 9-ish mins back from him, Joe (Predog) took second place honors (for the third year in a row). Only a few mins back from him, Mr. I had to bum a plane ticket (to get to the race) off Dale (Dale is AWESOME) Jon Allen. Thanks for nothing Dale, having Jon there pushed me off the podium. Some friend you are! Still, I was happy with my 4th place finish though as I managed to squeak under my course record (it was 4:22:52). That makes 3 4th place finishes and 1 win. Still, PR is a PR! Special congrats to my running buddies as they both did sweet!
Anyway, that is cliff notes version. The blow by blow will take more mental energy than I can give right now....to be continued. A few boring details... (actually, very boring commentary this time...)
Lets see, Seth, Joe, Jon, Neil, Drew and I were the lead pack. By the time we hit the mouth of Dry Canyon Seth was already off the front. Neil went after him and the rest of us took it easier. Joe led the chase group up the the canyon at a steady pace. After a couple of miles, I got antsy and took up pacing duties. I was pushing pretty hard. Probably too hard, but it felt good to push it. We dropped Jon in here. Hit the first aid in 57:30. (5 mins under course record pace but 2 mins behind Seth/Neil. The next 7 miles were rolling but with a net climb of 900'. No sign of Seth/Neil until the aid where we nearly caught Neil. Jon caught up in this section. Joe and Jon pulled away from Drew and I by 100m or so. We were still a tad under course record pace, but we gave back a few mins. The section from Aid 2 to the peak was a newly cut forest service road. Much smoother and perfectly graded to keep a steady trot up the mountain. This section was much easier this year. Too bad my climbing legs were gone. I was quickly falling back from Jon and Joe, but managed to nearly catch Neil and was able to drop Drew. Tagged the tower -2:36:45 (ahead of pace still)
It took a few miles to get the legs moving. I was barely managing 7-7:30 pace downhill. Not great. I was able to squeak by Neil as he was struggling. Now I was in 4th, but Jon and Joe were long gone. I was hoping to get things going on North Syncline Trail, but the opposite happened. I continued to slow down. I was losing about a minute per mile to my course record pace. I was all alone and in a bad place mentally. Didn't care anymore. Just keep moving. Didn't care how slow. A stop at the final aid station helped with the motivation. I downed 2 cups of coke and poured a cup of water on the head. Lets get moving again. Too bad the legs wouldn't cooperate. I really wanted the Hokas for the final stint down Dry Canyon. Oh well, I did the best I could and got 'er done. Considering my training, I am very satisfied with this race. I wish I could have felt better, but I will take it!
Stats for the fellow nerds....
T-4:19:48 7261' vert (advertised), measured at 6500' (SportTracks), 7170' (Garmin Connect) PROFILE
Finish Line Celebrations: 
The best trail runners around...
Writeup in Herald Journal HERE
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