Across the Years (Race Recap)

Glendale, AZ
Friday, December 30 - Sunday, January 1
Ultra marathon #21
Weather - Pleasant day 1, then #alltherain

Packing

In a moment of insanity (and ok, thriftiness) I booked my outbound flight on Frontier. With all the drama over Christmas about people having missed and incredibly delayed flights, I was really stressed out. I was also a bit panicky about the baggage rules. I studied the "personal item" information pretty carefully and decided that I could totally pack everything I needed into that so I wouldn't have to pay for a carry-on. See?

Thursday

Went to work in the morning. Headed out to the airport around lunch time. The lines at security were not very long and I was at the gate in plenty of time. I was incredibly amazed that the plane was there on time, we boarded on-time and we departed on time. However, it's been a LONG time since I flew Frontier. The seats are completely different. No more TV's on the back. No cushioning and the tiniest "tray tables" ever. I'm a tiny person and I hated this. It was so uncomfortable. However, I only paid $18.10 for the flight, and at least it was short, so there's that. Arrived a few minutes early and took the shuttle to pick up my rental car. Like last year I had to keep checking for a reasonable rate. Knowing I'm only driving about 50 miles total, I hate paying a ton for it, but know I need the heater for nighttime. Not as inexpensive as last year, but booked a piece of crap car (Chevy Spark) for the whole weekend for $83. Again, like last year, I stopped at In-n-Out for dinner, then headed to the local Wal-Mart for dessert (cheesecake) and beer. Arrived at the race and got my tent assignment. It seemed warmer than last year, which was nice. However, unlike last year I didn't have a sleeping bag/pillow. I did have a space blanket, but that didn't seem enough for me to actually fall asleep. So... Groundhog Day, try to sleep in the tiniest/most uncomfortable vehicle ever. Sigh.

Friday

Got about 12 minutes of sleep. (Well, maybe an hour here and there, but nothing to brag about). The race was scheduled to start at 9:00. I went to the food tent and got some french toast, part of a quesadilla and coffee. As I was getting dressed, I noticed I already had a small blood blister on one of my toes. Yippee! Went to the medical tent to see if there was anything I could/should do with it, and it was recommended that I leave it alone. Ok then. Picked up my bib, and it's time to go...

We started out running clockwise. Having run the race before, I had no plans of "racing." I took a walk break at least once every loop, hoping to save my legs. Within a few hours, I was already feeling pretty terrible. Back in the beginning of November, I rolled my right ankle and it was screaming at me. I also felt that I was developing blisters on my right pinkie toe and possibly my right heel. So basically, my whole right side was... wrong. I recognized many of the same people from last year, which was fun.

The only food I think I did NOT have.

Storm is rolling in...

What's not really fun? Running around in circles... I know, I know, what was I thinking? Anyway, I was feeling pretty terrible very early on, which doesn't bode well for a very long day. I was super disgruntled to not hit my 50 miles in 12 hours. I was not happy when it started to rain. I was also INCREDIBLY upset when I went to change into my warmer clothes for night and discover that my tent was flooded!! The rain flap wasn't attached on one side and pretty much everything got soaked. DAMN IT!! I had to gather up all my stuff and bring it to the car. I sat in the car for a bit (I think I was at mile 46) to get dry and to try to nap. DID NOT WORK.

Saturday

Didn't even pretend to try to get any real sleep. Any time I went to the car I would set my alarm for about a half hour. If I was still awake after 10-15 minutes I went back out. It was so muddy from the earlier rain, and my feet were really screaming at me now. I did not do much running. I know in an event like this that even walking and continuing to keep moving makes a huge difference. I really had a pretty terrible night. Unlike last year, however, I didn't have any issues actually being cold when I was out. In fact, one of the only things I brought with me that I never used were my gloves!

By the time the sun came up I was so blah. I decided to start my day off with one of my beers and some pumpkin pie. I walked a LOT. The most interesting part of the day was watching the course get squeegeed!

Yep, this guy is using a squeegee to get standing water/mud off the course!

That helped a lot, and the course did dry out quite a bit. By late afternoon I was at about 83 miles. However, I was moving SO DAMN SLOW. I couldn't even believe how long it was taking me at this point.

#allthemud

There was more rain in the forecast, so I went to the car to change clothes again and hoped for a quick nap before heading out for my second night. The biggest catastrophe of the day was when I headed back out. I got to the timing mat on the opposite side of the course and didn't beep. I looked down and realized I didn't have my chip on. OH NO. A few other runners convinced me it was fine and if I just talked to the timing people they would give me credit for the lap. Got back to the start and they said that was fine. I went back to the car to get my chip and COULD NOT FIND IT. I looked for about 15 minutes - throwing things around - remember, everything I have is now in the car because of the flooded tent. In hysterics, I go to the timing tent and tell them I lost the chip. They get me another one to use and warn me I'll have to pay $75 for the other one if I can't find it. I head back out and I'm looking everywhere... there is only a small section of the course where it COULD be, because I had done only half a loop before realizing it was gone. NOTHING. It was getting dark, so I figured now that I have calmed down a bit that I will go look one more time in the car. I mean really, where could it have gone??? Then I see it. I had put it around the emergency brake, for safe-keeping. Son of a... I turn that timing chip back in and off I go. Geez.
Hooray for pizza!!!! Another few hours and my feet are just pissed. I decide to go for my spare pair in hopes that I feel a little better. Just before 8 pm and I'm finally at mile 90. And then the longest night ever. Because of all the mud and my aching feet, I was barely moving at a 20 minute mile pace. Around 9 and the rain started again. Man, I can't catch a break!! Ugh. Lots of complaining and resting and just suffering to get it done. Right around midnight I headed out for my "last" loop. My "A" goal had been to beat last year, with 116+ miles. I was perfectly ok with stopping at just over 100 miles.

As soon as I finished I sat in the warming tent and chatted with some runners, and apparently, I was also just in time to spectate the "underwear beer mile." LOL. And most of these people had been out running for at LEAST 15 hours at this point. Crazy. Around 1:30 I went to the car to "sleep."

Sunday

It POURED all night. I was really happy I stopped when I did, because before I even got situated the rain had started. I dozed on and off until maybe 7:30. I decided to go out and do a lap or two since I had time. I was running pretty good the first loop, stopping to take a picture of how badly the course had flooded during the night.

I got halfway through my second loop and it started pouring again. OH COME ON, HAVEN'T WE HAD ENOUGH? So I ended with a total of about 103 miles. Not anywhere close to my goal, but damn it, I fought really hard through this one. I collected my buckle and then headed to the car to pack up all my stuff.

I guess it doesn't look too bad in the picture. But for real, everything I had was on this seat or the floor

At 10 I went over to the awards ceremony. Unlike last year, they only announced top three for each race. As an aside, had I hit my "A" goal, I would have been on the podium. Ah, maybe next year. I already have runnesia.

Goodbye, shoes! 400+ miles and two 100+ miles races later, these guys were TOAST

Miles 1-10 - 12:43, 12:51, 12:10, 12:18, 12:01, 12:01, 11:45, 12:18, 11:59, 12:46
Miles 11-20 - 15:14, 13:50, 12:39, 12:57, 13:17, 13:35, 15:06, 13:05, 13:11, 17:11
Miles 21-30 - 14:18, 15:32, 15:02, 14:41, 14:31, 15:30, 18:04, 14:54, 14:37, 14:49
Miles 31-40 - 14:29, 14:42, 17:28, 15:02, 14:57, 14:49, 16:34, 17:30, 15:35, 14:49
Miles 41-50 - 15:34, 19:12, 17:59, 15:48, 14:39, 59:28, 19:24, 17:22, 19:11, 18:16
Miles 51-60 - 17:51, 18:28, 1:34:01, 18:29, 17:08, 18:07, 19:03, 25:03, 18:53, 18:04
Miles 61-70 - 23:11, 18:57, 20:16, 2:01:42, 22:59, 20:28, 20:03, 20:00, 1:38:10, 17:39
Miles 71-80 - 15:53, 17:43, 20:49, 1:00:57, 21:33, 20:14, 20:04, 19:38, 20:03, 1:25:41
Miles 81-90 - 18:57, 18:36, 19:38, 20:12, 23:01, 49:24, 23:01, 32:14, 27:34, 30:25
Miles 91-100 - 23:00, 43:54, 21:10, 22:51, 28:30, 20:41, 31:31, 24:20, 28:19, 37:03
Miles 100-103ish - 23:32, 25:36, 25:31, 20:16

I did not stop/pause my watch at all while I was running, until I was finished. The incredibly long split times are when I was in the car trying to rest. I do not have any data from  the last two loops I did in the morning, I had forgotten to put my watch back on.

Stopped at In-n-Out on my way to the airport, dropped off the car, and went to the gate. Plane was on time and landed in Denver on time as well. All in all, the travel aspect was uneventful.

Thoughts

• As I mentioned above, I ran with my Garmin Fenix 3 and it recorded my entire run. I did not have it on ultra mode this time. Once I realized it could be charged on the run, I would wait until the battery got to about 50% (because I'm paranoid), charge it. It worked perfectly.
• I still have to say that this is one of the most organized events I have ever run. I love that there is an aid station that I can hit every single mile. The food is phenomenal, I never went hungry! I also like that I don't have to actually carry anything on me. 
• The race did an excellent job again of ensuring the course was well lit at night. And again, having someone out there to squeegee some of the mud/standing water off the course was amazingly awesome. 
• I actually got another awesome race picture! I haven't bought it yet, but I will. 

• Bummed to not have hit my goal, but I worked really hard at this race and I know a lot of people modified their goals because of the weather/course conditions.
• The only problem this year was with the live tracking. Last year it was spot-on, no issues. This year, there were major delays in the timing on the TVs at the start/finish, and they never did get it resolved this year. Not a huge deal, but I really wanted to know where I was at mileage-wise and with that not available, I had to complete another loop to find out.

Sheep Mountain 50 Mile (Race Recap)

Fairplay, CO

Saturday, July 11

Ultra Marathon #14

Weather - Chilly at start, perfect

 

So the journey began immediately after I got off work on Friday. Since I have apparently lost the ability to read things when I signed up, I had missed that there was a mandatory meeting the night before, at 7:00 pm. So I had initially thought I would maybe just drive up in the morning for the race, but now I was scrambling to find somewhere to stay for the night since it's a two hour drive.

 

Elizabeth suggested I try Airbnb for an inexpensive place since I literally just needed a bed. I reserved a place that was only about 5 minutes from the start line, so it worked out nicely.

 

Anyway, traffic was wretched and it took over two hours to get there and I arrived late at the meeting. I picked up my packet, ate some pasta, and then headed to my Airbnb. I was in bed by 8:45, but I did not sleep well.

 

Race Day

 

Up VERY early. I was up before 5, long enough to get dressed and head to the start area. I had forgotten my wall charger for my phone so I wanted to sit in my car for a bit to get it as close to fully charged as possible. It was in the upper 30's, and I was wearing a long sleeve YMX top (like I did in Utah) under my Runner's Roost singlet and then had my long sleeve 1/4 zip on over that. I knew I would get warm quick, but considering that if everything went well I would be out in the dark I figured it was best if I had the long sleeve just in case.

 

Headed over to the start line at about 5:30. Checked in and then cycled through the bathroom line about 3 times. My stomach felt off. I talked to a few teammates and then at 6 we were off...

Race director is a sadist... check out the hill right at the start!

Since I was obviously undertrained not trained at all for this nonsense the plan was to just keep moving. I mean, it was "only" 50 miles.

 

Walked up the hill and then we were on dirt roads until the first aid station. It was a gradual uphill and I settled into where I would be the entire race - the very very back. I was tired, my stomach was angry and this felt exceptionally hard. There were a few downhill sections and for a while there were actually two people behind me. I had to stop around mile 6 off the side of the trail to "do my business" but then I felt a tad better.

 

 

At the first aid station I took a shot of whiskey. Which is crazy because the very thought of whiskey gives me instant gag reflex.

 

There was about another mile on the road, and then we crossed and finally were headed onto the trail. I was excited for this part!

 

 

 

 

This section was pretty runnable. I ran into Sherpa John (the race director) in this section and he asked me if I was having fun. I said yes!! He warned me the "rock garden" was ahead... what does that mean?

 



 

Oh. Rocks. Forever. So this part was NOT my favorite. This is also when the climbing started. There were sections that were REALLY pretty. That did not change the fact that I was quickly dying. The climb and the altitude were getting to me and I was taking frequent breaks. I got passed by the only two people behind me on the first climb.

 

Once I actually got to the barren top of Sheep Mountain I was really having a hard time. I would guess that I was by now about a quarter mile behind the people who had passed me only a half mile or so earlier. I took a quick selfie...

And then trudged on. Through more rocks. It seemed like it was NEVER going to end. Climb and false summit, and then climb again. I was checking my watch and it seemed like we had gained close to 3000 feet, most of that being after the first aid station.



 

Then FINALLY it seemed I had made it to the high point. There was some downhill but it was a bit technical and I certainly wasn't blazing down the hill. Got to the next aid station. Took another shot of whiskey. This time it was cinnamon flavored so it wasn't as terrible.



This section of the course was really pretty. And where the first of the water crossings were.



Thankfully, the course was very well marked as we were running through a field. The picture below shows a fairly well-defined trail, but not all sections were so clear. There were a TON of wildflowers, and I'm bummed that they don't really show up well in my photos.

 

 

 

Around mile 20 I ran into a guy who said he had gotten lost. I stupidly didn't look around and took his word for where NOT to go and ended up going about a half mile out of my way. The distance wasn't the worst part, it was the time trying to get enough phone service to get on the internet to look at the race manual. Womp. By this point I was already thinking it was going to be very tough to hit the time limit. We stuck together only for about 15 minutes. He hung back and I headed into where the next aid station should be and I never saw him again.



 

I was pretty tired and hungry when I got to this aid station, but there wasn't a great selection of food. I was pretty happy to hear that the next section was only about 4 miles and it was all downhill on paved road. I actually did pretty decent on this section and I thought I was doing well and making up some time. Thanks to 1). the course measuring long and 2). me getting off course a bit, my watch measured close to 27 miles by the time I got to the next aid station. Somehow I had it in my head that the course only had 7,000 feet of climbing, and by now I had done about 4500. So I was thinking... if this measures close to 52 miles (which is what the manual said the true distance was), I thought I *might* be able to get it done under the time limit if I had already done 2/3 of the climbing.



I grabbed an ice cream bar from the aid station, but my stomach did NOT like that so I ended up barely having any.

 

And by the way, I was completely WRONG about the climbing. The next section was called Breakneck Pass. PASS. So just by the name alone I should have realized that there was a lot of climbing. This section was even worst for me than the climb up Sheep Mountain. I had not seen anyone in hours on the course and I knew I was completely alone and that I was probably dead last. At the aid station they told me it was about 6 miles to the aid station, which the manual had at 32.75 miles.

 

I took about a thousand breaks (but no pictures) on this climbing section. At the pace I was moving and when I realized the course had 9,000 feet of climbing and that after I was done with THIS section that I would still have 3,000 (give or take) left to climb, I knew I was dropping. There was no way that I was going to be able to move fast enough.

 

I saw a volunteer on the side when my watch was about 33 miles and I almost lost my mind when he said it was still a mile to the aid station. AND THEN I found out that I "could" drop but the aid station was ATV access only so it would be a while, OR I could walk (downhill) to the next aid station 3+ miles away.

 

He said there would be beer (!!!) at the aid station and I could decide then. He told me I was, in fact, the last runner (others had already dropped), and he and another volunteer were walking with me and taking down the course markings.

 

Finally got to the aid station (34.3 on my watch) - and I did, indeed, get the promised beer. (And a damn good beer too!)

 

Minutes after arriving the wind picked up and it started pouring rain and hailing. So I clearly stopped at a good time. I was starting to get cold after I stopped moving and these amazing volunteers got me food and a poncho to stay warm. By the time the storm stopped, the ATV's had not yet left. I decided to walk down with another volunteer. Once I got to the next aid station, I was driven to the start/finish area and arrived sometime close to 7:30. HOURS after I had stopped.

I got a veggie burger and a beer and found out I had also won a $50 gift certificate to Runner's Roost! So, all was not lost.

I stayed around for a bit to eat and chat, and then started the drive back, not getting home until close to 10:00 pm.

Garmin Time - 10:57:13
Garmin Distance - 34.35 miles
Miles 1-5 - 13:24, 13:55, 12:47, 12:49, 14:54
Miles 6-10 - 17:00, 14:45, 16:57, 19:14, 26:02
Miles 11-15 - 34:45, 28:32, 18:06, 19:15, 15:38
Miles 16-20 - 17:07, 18:39, 15:00, 16:53, 18:13
Miles 21-25 - 21:54, 18:32, 17:32, 20:32, 15:02
Miles 26-30 - 13:26, 14:26, 19:51, 21:31, 34:42
Miles 31-34.35 - 24:07, 20:11, 22:45, 20:43, 23:22

Thoughts

• Holy moly, this was way harder than I expected. I was thinking, it's "only" 50 miles, and maybe that was part of my mistake. Clearly I need to work on hills as a 30+ minute mile is not great or competitive.
• The aid stations were pretty good, but at the later ones a bit more substantial "food" would have been nice. I normally don't have issues with sugar and candy, but I really wanted something... else I guess.
• The whiskey was a nice touch. But gross. I did appreciate the beer at the aid station I dropped at though!
• The race director advertises as a 50 mile, but then in the manual it says 52 miles. People that finished had it closer to 55 miles. That's a big difference. I don't think it would have affected how I approached the race, but still.
• An unbelievably beautiful course. And very well marked. Just too challenging for me in my current state.

Week in Review (November 18 - November 24)

Tuesday - 2 miles on the treadmill. Not the worst, but not great.

Wednesday - Upper body video during lunch.

Thursday - Travel day to Dallas! Eating, wandering around, last minute prep for Big Cedar.

Friday - Big Cedar!! I ended up running way less than I thought. I spent so much time at the start/finish line afterwards that by the time I left, it was already after 1 in the morning. I stopped at Whataburger to have "breakfast" and didn't get to the hotel until about 2:30. I had a few beers with my roomie before going to bed at 4 am. 4!!

Saturday - Obviously, I had planned on running a bulk of the day. Instead, I was woken up by housekeeping just after 10. Kerri and I drove over to the race so that I could get my drop bag. It was unreal how muddy the course was. We were able to see some 50K runners (many who dropped even THAT distance). We got lunch at the church with our meal tickets (a delicious burger), and then drove over to Truth Corner to get my stuff. It was so muddy just the few hundred yards we walked to get there. Kerri decided to drive back to Austin and I picked up a pizza and spent the rest of the night in bed, eating and drinking beer and watching bad tv.

Sunday - I had an 8 am flight out of Dallas. Everything uneventful and we landed early. I was home by 10. I ate and sat on the couch. Doing nothing is great.

Monday - Also a day of doing nothing.

Miles Run - 46.74

Minutes of Cross Training - 0

Minutes of Strength/Stretching - 23

Weekly Gain - 0.2 pounds 

• I ate all the things, assuming I would be running 100 miles. I didn't exactly get the miles done, but I sure got the eating done.

Everything Else

• OMG OMG OMG!!!! As you might remember from last year, I applied for the Runners Roost race team and didn't get selected... but THIS YEAR I DID!!! I found out Wednesday and it was the greatest news ever! So excited to represent in 2015!

• My work bestie got a new job... her last day is December 5. Happy for her, sad for me. Lots of terrible things going on at work so I'm on a mission to find something for the first part of the year. Hopefully I can find something less stressful.

Backcountry Wilderness Half Marathon (Race Recap)

Saturday, November 8
Highlands Ranch, CO
Half Marathon #119
Colorado Half #55
Weather - Sunny and warm

Sometimes I get confused. When L suggested we run the Backcountry Wilderness half marathon, I clearly had forgotten how much I did NOT enjoy running it in 2012. Somehow, it seemed like a good idea at the time to run one last trail race before the Big One two weeks later.

The race started at 9 am. With a drive of about 45 minutes, we didn't have to drop off the kids at my parents' house until 7:15. Of course, I realized about halfway there that I didn't have my purse on me so we had to go back home so I could grab that anyway. Luckily, we live about 5 minutes away so it wasn't a big deal.

When we ran last time, we parked at the rec center. This time, however, we were not permitted to park there because there was another event happening. We had to use street parking. With the race selling out with 800 runners, you can imagine that finding parking wasn't the easiest. Luckily, we had gotten there with about an hour to spare so we weren't that far away.

Headed to the start area to pick up our packet, where we also noted that there were only 6 port-o-potties. For 800 runners, plus volunteers and vendors. Only took a few minutes to get our stuff and headed back to the car to wait until it was time to use the bathrooms before starting.

Gender Specific long sleeve tech tee - love the elk

We risked heading to the rec center to use indoor bathrooms and barely had time to get to the start before the race began. Due to the high number of participants and the fairly narrow trails, they were doing a staggered wave start. L had started in the second wave and I started in the third (optimistically hoping for a sub 12 minute mile pace).

The first mile of the course was as I remembered, on sidewalk and running along the street to get to the trail section. I had to start walking less than a mile in due to severe calf cramping. I spent a lot of time walking in the first few miles. Even though I had run the race before, I really couldn't remember what the course was like.

Just entering the trail system, just over a mile in

Miles 2 to about 7 were flatter and on wider trails, with no substantial climbs, although I still hiked up most of the hills. My calves had loosened up, I just felt like my legs were fatigued.

Around mile 2-3

Maybe around mile 4

After the second aid station around mile 7.5 we moved onto the single track. (No pictures of this section. Most of this was pretty crowded and substantially more technical/muddy). This section of trails I remembered very clearly from Chase the Moon. I was moving really well down the trail, although in the shaded areas it was pretty muddy and slick. I got trapped behind a conga line of runners that I stuck with for about a mile and a half. For a minute, it seemed like they were going too slow, but it probably helped to level out  my pace so I didn't tire out.

The sun was getting higher in the sky and it was getting WARM out. There was a decent uphill again to the last aid station at mile 11 and then it was all downhill from there for the last 2 miles. Well, until the ridiculous tenth of a mile hill to the finish (which, at least I remembered).

Grabbed my medal and some water, then hit up the free beer from Grist Brewing Company.

About 13 minutes than the last time I ran, and I felt substantially better (albeit, slower), than last week at NYC. Of course, I wanted to run "faster" and feel "better" - but considering the last few weeks have felt rough and I've felt tired, this was a good effort.

Bib  #747
Official Time - 2:38:50
Official Pace - 12:07
Overall Place - 563/699 (101 no-shows?)
Gender Place - 267
Division Place - 104
Garmin Time - 2:38:53
Mile 1 - 12:21
Mile 2 - 12:44
Mile 3 - 11:44
Mile 4 - 14:27
Mile 5 - 12:51
Mile 6 - 12:21
Mile 7 - 11:08
Mile 8 - 11:11
Mile 9 - 11:11
Mile 10 - 15:15
Mile 11 - 12:51
Mile 12 - 10:28
Mile 13 - 10:08
Mile 13.1 - 13:45

Burger Kitty and Thunder Cat got lots of compliments

Thoughts:

• Don't be fooled, this is a fairly challenging course. The first half is not at all technical, but it can be a bit technical after you move onto the single track. There are a lot of tree roots and rocks, and this year we had the added bonus of super sticky gloopy mud. It was a lot of fun!
• I think there is about 90 feet of gain per mile. And you can definitely feel it!
• Carry your own fluids. There are only three aid stations (about mile 4, 7.5 and 11). They did have Clif gels at all the aid stations - which was nice. There was also Gatorade and water. Lots of volunteers.
• The course is very well  marked. Last time I ran this race, we were in the very back with no one in front of us (that I remember). This time, I was never even close to being alone, but feel that I could have navigated the course just fine.
• It seemed like the wave start worked out pretty nicely and that most people started in an appropriate group. Except me maybe, I probably should have started in the last wave (12+ minute per mile). Most people were very courteous about moving to the side as much as possible in the early miles. I did notice, however, that many people seem to not know what "on your left means" and there were a few near collisions when I was cruising down the single track.
• With the nice weather, there were actually some spectators at the accessible points of the course, which was unexpected and nice.
• Due to the exceptionally nice weather and clear skies, we had amazing views of the bluffs, the city and the mountains. Really, it was gorgeous.
• The shirt is really nice - I will probably wear it again.
• I also really like the medal! Two years ago, we got a dog tag, but this medal was way better.
• Last time we ran I was too cold (????) for the free beer. This time, we stuck around so I could have one. Man, I love my post-race beers!
• Price tag is very competitive - only $65 about 6 weeks before the event. Weather in November can be questionable and the race did sell out for 2014, so keep an eye out on registration numbers.
• A handful of complaints - 1). Not enough bathrooms. Only 6 port-o-potties is not enough for that many people. 2). The packet pick-up is a bit disorganized... there were supposedly 4 lines for pick up, but only two tubs of bibs so really there were only 2 lines? Also, the wave start was a nice idea, and they gave you a sticker to put on your bib to show which wave you were in. Only... they put the sticker on the back? How does that make sense? Other than that, it was actually a pretty decent event, I had a much better time this year. 
• I would recommend this race and would probably run it again. (I'm shocked to actually say this).