Very hot and humid. Got into 90's by the end. Fun course. All shaded. 95% single track. Very curvy , up and down. Hard to get a rhythm. There was maybe a 1/2 mile of steady terrain where you could actually run. The rest you were either climbing, descending, decellerating for a curve or accellerating out of one. Stayed within about 4-5 minutes of the lead. Closed it to 2 minutes within 3 miles of the end but the leader (Eric Charette) saw me at the out and back and really picked it up. If there wasn't an out-an-back and he didn't know I was coming, I think it would have come down to a sprint. 50K PR. Of 14 ultras, that makes 2 seconds, 1 first, and 1 third. 3 of those 4podium finishes were in August in the south. I guess my niche is running in the heat when no one else wants to. Eric and I had about a 50 minute lead on the rest of the field. I'm glad I didn't know this when I was running or I may have sloughed off.
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