The Wasatch Back Relay continued... After getting a spaghetti dinner and a couple of hours of sleep at East Canyon, I began my second leg at 3:07 am. Leg 21 overall is a gradual uphill of 6.2 miles rated as "Moderate". My target time was 49:40, at a pace of about 8:00/mi. My actual time was 46:10, at a pace of 7:27/mi. I truly believe having Kevin Jessop as a bike pacer made the difference on this leg. I could never have held that pace on a dark night without his bright light and companionship. Thanks again, Kevin. After a shower and another couple of hours of sleep at our team room at the Yarrow Hotel in Park City, my third and final leg began just after noon. Leg 33, also known as "You Gotta Be Kidding Me", is a 3.6 mile "severe uphill climb through Wasatch Mountain State Park" (average grade 7.6%) rated "Very Hard". My target time was 38:45, at a pace of 10:46/mi. My actual time was 40:41, and a pace of 11:18/mi. My pace was 7:42 for about the first 0.6 miles. Once the steep climb began my pace slowed to an average of around 14:15/mi (not exact, lost GPS signal a little over 3 miles into it). Even though I ran Ragnar in 2004, I was still unprepared for how difficult the climb would be. There was a runner ahead of me that walk a lot of the way, but I still had a hard time gaining much ground on him (he had long legs and walked quickly) so for a short distance on a couple of the very steepest sections I walked instead of running because it seemed I could walk as fast or faster than I could run. The heat was intense, and there was not much shade. Get water every mile from my van mates helped me make it up the hill. I was very proud of all of my van mates. They all ran hard and did well. I was especially impressed with Kerry's long run in the scorching heat on leg 32, and Tom's powerful ascent up Ragnar (leg 34). I consider each of my van mates a true running buddy and brother. The whole experience was awesome. A little less heat would have been nice, and maybe a little moonlight at night, but it was nice that the weather at East Canyon was relative mild at night, much more comfortable than previous years in the bone chilling cold wind. I have no complaints and consider myself blessed to have been able to participate. | 