Unbelievable. Mind-bendingly, expectation-shatteringly, reality-alteringly unbelievable.
Holy cow. Now I have a PR for a freakin' 72-hour race. And I actually had gas left in the tank at the end. And it didn't really suck hardly ever.
It really, truly was not what I expected. And then it was all that I expected and more. So, so much more.
Final total: 183.5 miles. Fifth overall. Fourth boy. Day-by-day totals of 66 miles, 55 miles and 62 miles.
Had the pleasure of sharing the path with some remarkable runners. Formed some bonds that I expect will last the rest of my life. Laughed until my stomach hurt. Slept so hard that I woke myself up because of the slobber ... twice!
Ate the best McDonald's milkshake in the history of modern civilization. Burned the back of my arms and the insides of my ankles -- the two places where I failed to put sunscreen -- so badly in the first 10 hours that I'm not done peeling yet and it's 10 days later.
Basically sprinted the final two laps of the .85-mile course with the awesome Sabrina Moran, who managed to tally just nine fewer miles than me even though she was in the 48-hour!!!!
Joe Judd. Mike Potter. Fred Murolo. Pete Stringer. Charlotte from Canada, who beat us all. Mike Brooks, a retired firefighter from Maine who notched 150-plus miles walking the entire way.
RDs Rick and Jenn McNulty. Rick's sis Marie. The McNulty children. Jessi Kennedy, who ran some of the 48 but who i think was awake for the entire 72 hours helping out. Scott Brockmeier and Liz Bauer starting the 48, not having the best of days, yet still coming back out to clock some miles and offer amazing support ... especially to ME! Inspiring work, you guys. I am in your debt.
So many stories shared. Such rich laughter. A teeny bit of suffering along the way, but nothing like I expected on the way to collecting so. many. miles.
A dream come true? Yeah. Sure was.
A return trip next year? 10-4.
