First attempt at an ultra, first DNF. I had a fantastic morning. Met some of the most wonderful people. There was a last minute change to the course which was an absolute blessing since it eliminated 1.8 miles on pavement at the start and end of each loop. My body didn't handle the rapid rise in temperature so I pulled the plug after one loop of 20 miles. I don't do well with temps over 65 for more than an hour or two and by noon it was almost 75 and topped out at 80. Not normal temperatures for Dubuque Iowa in October. As someone who has completed so many things out of spite or to prove everyone wrong at the cost of creating health issues for myself I'm actually very proud of myself for knowing I needed to stop. The race is very well run. The aid stations were awesome. I'd highly recommend it to anyone.

I gotta say, I've heard a lot of nightmarish race day stories about first time races. Saturday's race started with some of those anxieties. It was the first ever foot race in Rockaway Beach Mo. and it was organized by someone who had never organized a race before,and later I found out I want the only one with those worries. However!!! She did an amazing job, the only thing she really didn't do right, was the time frame and promotion of the race, she planned it about a month before it happened, so very little time to get the word out. With that in mind she did an exceptionally well job. I want sure how many people were actually going to be participating, but I think there were about 30-35 of us. When I first arrived I seen some very familiar faces, a few of them were the very same people that first inspired to start running, so being able to run with them was super exciting, and a little intimidating. I thought, "surely I have no chance of placing in the top 3 now with these guys here", very seasoned runners. The course was a great challenge, I run those same hills almost everyday though, so it did give me a bit of an advantage, even against the super seasoned runners who aren't familiar with those streets. The guy who took first is a friend, his girlfriend is the #1 top person who inspired me to begin this running journey, so him and her have been kinda mentors to me a bit, he beat me by a long shot, lol. The 2nd place winner was a high school student who had never been to Rockaway, ever, his coach signed him up for the race, that kid was awesome!! He's graduating on a scholarship to run. I took 3rd place!!! And right behind me, was kinda my run girl crush, but i didn't know she was behind me, I thought i was chasing third place against another high schooler, but somewhere during the last half mile, Tori overtook the high-school girl. I could hear the footsteps, but i never looked back to see that it was actually Tori I was racing against for 3rd place, and I maybe would have lost to her had i known lol. 🤷‍♂️

It was a beautiful day for a half marathon and after the ups and down this year and not knowing if I would make it to the start line at I managed to finish with a 4 minute PR 🎉

👋👋ECRC What's up!!!! Today was pretty awesome gang! I remembered pace, and started exactly how I wanted to this time,slow and steady. The loop we made was actually one i make all the time, I didn't plan it that way, but I was more than familiar with the course they mapped out for us. About 2 1/2 miles in I was questioning myself though, legs started feeling tight, and my heart rate was high, and I thought about walking for just a min, BUT, I pushed through and came around that first 5k totally ready for the second one. I actually felt like I had just got warmed up at that point. There was another runner pacing with me, we kept changing who was in the lead between us several times throughout the whole run, but there at the end he passed me up one last time and I tried with everything I had to over take him, but he crossed the finish line about 4.5 seconds before I did. His name was Yanik, and he is one year younger than I am, so that was a whole lot of fun racing Yanik like that, being on the same level, and we remembered each other just from passing in the mornings sometimes, that was seriously super cool. All the volunteers were so helpful and ready to do whatever they could to make things awesome. One of my favorite parts aside from racing Yanik though, was cheering the other runners on as we passed eachother from opposite directions and seeing their faces light up and their poster straightening up and pacing a little stronger, that was my absolute favorite part. Thank you ECRC for everything, I truly believe I only ran this race as strong as I did because of you all. I got 11th place in all, but I was 4th place in my age group, I ran 6miles in under an hour, THAT was my goal overall, 57:55 according to the race clock, my watch said 56:15, either way, I set a new PR, and I felt so good after the race, I attempted to take back my title as local legend on (what we locals call) Hamburger Hill, I didn't take that title back yet, lol, but its the toughest hill there is around here, so maybe next week.

Dude!! That was my first trail run, first 10k, and longest run I’ve ever done and it wasn’t easy. Nearly 2000 ft of elevation. Now that it’s over, I’m super proud of myself and especially proud of my son even though he kicked my butt. Thanks for providing all the content and support in this community. It proved super helpful. https://strava.app.link/AnyKL2vDtWb