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temps were in the 90's. It got up to 92 with the humidity at
55%. It was brutal to say the least!!! On top of the mountains,
you could feel a light breeze. Drop down into the valleys and
you felt nothing but the heat and humidity. It was like running
in a sub-tropical forest. There were a few places that the sun
could get through the trees and that was like being in an oven.
HORRIFIC!! Fortunately, it was only a minute or two at a time
for a very short stretch.
The morning was 68 degrees with 84% for the early starters and had warmed to 72 for the rest of us. Last year, I finished around 5:38. This year, I clocked on my watch 7:13!!!! Rob had planned six hours per loop. The first loop took him six and a half. His face was ashen when he finished and he couldn't speak. It took a while before his color returned and could talk. Randy Saxon (PBP) got the dry heaves around mile 44. He stayed with Rob until then, but managed to finish around 3-4 minutes after Rob. Iva Lightsey (PBP) finished around the same time I did last year. She's fast and I'm betting if it had been cooler, she would have done a four hour marathon. I heard that she finished in 5:30. Official results will be posted soon. I don't think I've ever been so dang hot. I don't remember stopping during a run and feel the heat build up and it seem like your whole body was about to catch on fire, but I did yesterday. I had to run to cool off! My shorts stayed saturated. They dripped sweat and the sweat ran down my legs keeping my socks soaked. My feet were white and shriveled up. I was going to walk in to the finish. The last 10 miles, I forced Booper to walk, but when she realize where we were, she bolted for the car after returning greetings to two dogs on the sidelines. She was ready to get in some air conditioning and so was I! All I could think of during those last 10 miles was the air conditioner! Randy said that all he could think of was getting to the car and seeing Potosi in his rearview mirror. İRaz (ex PBP, now a fast old SLUG. Finished 3rd in her age group)From DRS: Approximately half the field in the 50-miler either dropped down to the marathon, took a marathon finish at the "halfway" mark (by doing an extra mile), or DNF'd on the course. Few runners were prepared for the heat and humidity. |
