The last 25 miles of the wasatch 100 with spencer. He was beat, but finished just under the final cut-off at 35:35:35. (time unofficial, but it was close to that) We left Brighton at 8:45 and finished at Soldier Hollow just under 8 hours later, so a lovely slow pace, just over 3 mph, mostly walking miles. We ran the flat, runnable sections, but they were few and far between. Footing on descents was horrible; I slipped numerous times. I couldn't afford to look up and enjoy the scenery, otherwise I would trip over a rock, rut or stump. The climbs were very steep, and in his condition, running them was out of the question. The last 8 miles were on a wider dirt road, and we were able to make up enough time to make the cutoff easily.
I was pretty beat after 15 miles or so. I can't fathom how he continued for those last 10 miles. He was a ghost, bent on finishing. I was really proud.
The clouds rolled in and we watched uneasily for the last 7 miles. We were glad of the cover, but nervous about lightning. I was, anyway. I think Spencer was too out of it to care. I told him the thunderclaps were God's applause for the runners, for their efforts. It rained on us for 10 minutes, very lightly. Thank goodness they ran this on Friday Saturday instead of Saturday Sunday. What a slog that would have been. My white shoes aren't white anymore...
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