Umstead 100 A few more pictures and comments

Approaching the finish after 27 hours, 46 minutes and 48 seconds! I was able to jog/run up to the finish line which I very pleased about (my first Umstead I was so exhausted, pained and just not feeling good so I just walked there...but this year was different and I scampered in running about a 13-14 minute mile pace as per my Garmin:-)

Gilligan attempting the "100 M" for the second time at Umstead. Sadly you can see this time he did not even make it more than about 20 steps before lagging behind me! As in Vermont I had to drop my pacer for running too slow...luckily Tristan was happy enough to take Gilligan to various parts of the park to go hiking and swimming (since I am a little groggy my sentence structure may be unclear, but just in case you are confused: Gilligan swam, Tristan did not)

With a huge horse along the course...I saw this horse twice. The second time, Tristan and Cindy were with me. It was really cute and very friendly. Since I was a bit salty it did attempt to lick me a bit.

With my pacer Deb who ran with me from mile 62.5-75. She was an excellent pacer and we had lots of fun chatting, laughing and passing the time from about 12:15 until 5:30 a.m. We had good times and she was hysterically funny (or else perhaps I am easily amused that late at night).

Right near the finish I stumble upon Bob (well not really because if I stumbled at the end of a 100 miler, I would just lie on the ground until a) a person picked me up and carried me to the finish, b) a buzzard picked me up or c) take the opportunity for a 2-3 day nap until my legs were less painful and I could actually get up. Bob was in good spirits but his feet were messed up something fierce...poor Bob:-( But he finished a little bit after I did. Last I saw Anthony was making Bob walk to their car (about 400 meters from the finish and I believe I overheard Anthony suggest Bob was the designated driver (and they might have switched out the rental car to be a stick shift:-) Anthony cracks me up!

A few more Umstead pictures

My Umstead 100 pendant I was awarded in 2007. I now wear it all the time with pride:-)

In the background of this picture, you can see Tristan and Gilligan lurking around. This year, it looks like the weather will be perfect again, so Gilligan has freed up his calendar and will be traveling and spectating at Umstead.

Gilligan stops lurking and starts running (I am behind the cameraman for this action shot and Gilligan finally realized I was on my way jogging towards him and Tristan and he was exited to greet me). This incredible burst of speed lasted about 20 seconds...but Gilligan doesn't know how to pace himself so he was wiped out after this effort. It's good he was only participating in the 100 m (meter, not mile) race.

With the Race director, Blake Norwood being given my "Finisher's Norwoodie" (a stick given to the final female, which I qualified for in 2007--in fact I also qualified for a perserverance rock that year as the last overall finisher). I keep my stick around just in case someone tries to pass me in the final lap ensuring I never am last again:-)