Leg 6 - 6.9 Miles - Very Hard - Summits Avon Pass then descends into Ogden Valley.
We started at 3:00pm. I watched our first four runners valiantly battle the heat. Tom and I got a little break with some shade and cooler temperatures up and over Avon Pass, but we had other challenges. Tom valiantly conquered the relentless uphill run climbing 1200' to an altitude of over 6200'. I took the baton from Tom and began my leg with energy. After over 4 hours of watching my van mates, it felt good to finally be running. The leg begins with a 1.5 mile ascent to the 6500' summit of Avon Pass. It wasn't very long before I began to feel the affects of the climb and the altitude. I was glad when the descent began. I had seen the WSU runner (Weber State ladies "has beens") head out a little before me and hoped I could catch her. The dirt road was pretty rough and I had to be careful as I tried to take the brakes off. I made good time on the steep part of the descent and managed to pass the WSU runner and a few other runners. My pace slowed considerably as I reached the base of the mountain and the road flattened out, but I still felt like I was running pretty well and continued to pass other runners. One young, tall, fast runner passed me in the last mile or so. Overall I feel like I worked hard and ran the leg pretty well.
Splits: 8:10, 7:09, 5:48, 6:00, 6:36, 7:02, 7:06/mi for 0.9 (Avg. 6:50/mi)
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