Sawtooth 2008 (in pictures)

Thank you to everyone who donated to Cystic Fibrosis Ireland. It meant a lot to me running this race knowing how many people had supported this cause.

I'd be lying if I said I hadn't dreamed of winning this race. And anyway, no one would believe me...

But the past few days were about so much more than realizing that dream. In the company of old and new friends, and with the help of the best crew I could have asked for, I had one of the most incredible journeys of my life. I have so many memories to share but my (swollen) feet are submerged in ice as I write this and can only handle another few minutes so I'll upload some pics and tell the rest of the story soon.

But first I have to mention Larry, John and all of the volunteers - these people don't just make the event possible, they make it what it is. Thank you for all the hard work before, during and after the race. Your friendly faces and kind words throughout the day and night made such a difference. The only downside of coming into an aid station was enquiring about how folks were doing and hearing of those who had to drop. I was especially sorry when it was some of the guys I have raced and trained with over the past few months - Adam, Wynn, Duke, Matt, Steve, Pierre and Molly - all top notch athletes that had various things go wrong on the day. Though I think in Pierre's case it was a well planned 50 miler! Recover well. I have no doubt you'll all be back stronger.

102.6 miles in pictures...

The day had come



The hour had come

There was time for a few pics with friends

And then it was time to run



We could have sat by the lake



And enjoyed the view from the shore


But we chose to run some trails



And some hills


And enjoyed the view from up here instead



We got to run a little of this



And a LOT of this


And even some of this. In the dark...


We weren't meant to run on this. But some of us did anyway. Despite excellent course marking!

We got to run across lots of bridges

Even a few real ones

And see waterfalls

Our crew even got to sit by them (I guess they deserved a break...)

We got to run with cool people



And have a laugh along the way (kinda hard not to laugh at Doug's stories!)


We got to pose for the camera


Even when we didn't want to :)




We got to change socks MANY times

But we had friends to help


We sometimes ran too fast for the camera



And sometimes not


But mostly we sat on our ass



And got treated like royalty!



And FINALLY...


We got to cross the FINISH line



And take off those damn shoes




And grin like a champion :)



And relax in the sunshine enjoying an ice cold beer. Ooups, hallucinating again! Except for the ice cold...

We got to hang out with cool people

And watch our friends finish


We got to shake Larry's hand



And scream in horror at the mention of next year's race



We got to watch our friends pick up awards


And then we got to pose some more



And once more


And the prize for best crew goes to...


Thanks sis!

Congrats to Chris on a phenomenal race winning in just under 22 hours. And to Joe and Brent who came in under 24 and 26 hours respectively. Full results for all of the races available at http://uppermidwesttrailrunners.com/superior/fall/index.html.

End of post.