Day 2,988-9 —Must be Some Kind of Mistake— with a PICTURE of SUNSET after it RAINED #761

When I made it to the finish line, I asked timidly, “how far ahead was the person who won?” 

I had suspected there was still one person ahead of me. I was going as hard as I could on the last 6.7-miles trail loop. Part of me was disappointed that I would end up only completing 40.2 miles. I had hoped to at least do 46.9 miles. I knew getting to 53.6 miles would be tough, but that was my secret goal. When I finished the first lap running 9-minute miles, I figured that it was possible, but a little rain got in the way. 

The rain made the trail incredibly slippery. It made it impossible for me to not carry mud. I was filthy. I normally don’t mind rain so much and running through a stream or a puddle isn’t that bad when you are already wet but adding how slippery it was and the weight from the mud on my shoes, it made me slow down a lot. 

I stopped thinking about time, and I took a long break sitting on my chair for five-minutes. 

I saw some people that I had passed earlier start ahead of me. I felt for sure, I was no longer doing as well as I had been. I stopped thinking about that and started focusing on the trail and doing the best I could to navigate the new obstacles with the rain and the mud.

I started passing a few people, but I figured they must be from the 6-hour group, or maybe I had lapped them already? 

“I think you’re the first male 9-hour finisher. Let me double check. . . yeah, you are—congratulations!” The guy told me. 

The race director asked me to clean up a little before she gave me the trophy and took my picture. I was shirtless and muddy, “that’s fair,” I said.  

I think the rain ended up giving me an advantage. I have had so much recent experience running in the rain and mud; It didn’t bother me that much. It would have been easier without the rain, but I would have ended up dealing with something else.

It was a fun race, and I enjoyed running through the night. It wasn’t easy, but it was fun and rewarding. The race was also marked extremely well, so there were no worries about getting lost on this one. Great job! 

I didn’t really get to talk to anyone, like I usually do. It just seemed odd to talk to people while running in the dark. When I did talk, I was almost whispering. It just seemed rude to be so loud in the dark.