I got to leave CG with Diane Van Deren, who was featured in a front page NY Times article the day before. Really nice to get to chat with her for a bit, quite an amazing person.
Soon we started one of my most dreaded climbs of the day, up to Green Mountain. 2,500 feet, basically straight up a cliff. I remembered it from last year when Melissa and I were running down it, saying how much it would suck to have to run up it.
I settled into a strong hike, dropped Ms. Van Deren, and actually started passing quite a few people. I was not pushing very hard but I was making up a lot of ground on people in front of me. It was my first of many good climbs I'd have during the race.
Slow and steady, I finally reached the top of Green Mountain and broke into a run. It was such an awesome feeling, I had just finished the climb I was dreading most and I felt great. From Green Mountain I was able to run most of the way to the next aid station. Hooked up with a runner from Virginia, who I'll call Mr. East Coast since I can't remember his name, and we started some friendly banter after I told him I was always embarassed when I was losing to sea level guys. He did tell me he was a former top five finisher at Hardrock, so at least I wasn't losing to a sea level scrub.
Up and over Buffalo Boy Ridge and down to Maggie Gulch. Mountains and wildflowers everywhere I looked! Same drill at the aid station - took in a ton of food and liquid, refilled my water bottles, and took off. Into Maggie at 10:33, out at 10:35. Two aid stations, four minutes total, not too shabby. 15.3 miles down.
2 comments:
i bel. mr east coast is Michael Bur?
naresh
Watch out for those Sea Level East Coasters!
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