What a day. We had water in most of its forms on the course:
liquid, solid and vapor. The shady sides of the hills still had
a fair amount of snow on them and most flat surfaces were covered
in ice, but the streams were starting to flow and it was humid
enough to threaten precipitation. Overall it was a great day to
be outside.
Sixty-nine people (32 Teams) came out for the race this year.
The course promised some interesting footing with all of the ice
on the trails, but the competitors wouldn't find that out
until they got out there. This was in part because the trails
were removed from the map this year to make things more interesting.
And interesting it was! The last people to register did so at 10:58 a.m.,
just two
minutes before the start. After a short race talk, teams scattered
in just about every direction.
The first team in was Dave Frei and Eric Buckley of St. Louis.
They came screaming across the finish line in a record 3 hours
and 8 minutes. Michael Eglin and Dimitry Perchonok from Wisconsin
came in second 43 minutes later. Rounding out the top three were
Natalia Babeti and Maricel Olaru from Chicago. The top two routes
are posted with the results.
As teams finished they found hot food and drinks waiting for them.
The weather held out until about an hour after everyone was in,
and then it started to sleet and snow. Several people helped with
control pick-up and cleaning up the shelter. Thanks to Charlie
Shahbazian and Joe Sackett, Kathryn Connolly and Jeff Porter, Rich
Gaylord, and Gerry Voelliger and the crew from the Quad Cities
for your help. And special thanks to Frank Flack for helping with
the food and bringing bananas and more pasta and sauce!
We'll see you all again next year!
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