Trail season has officially begun! Well, I don't think it ever really ended this winter so I should say it's more of a continuation of trail season! I was pretty excited for this race this year because my winter was infinitely better training-wise than last year so I was more or less going for a course PR. I knew Taylor Farnsworth (BYU-alum) was coming so I wasn't expecting a win or anything. After warming up and seeing a few other people who I thought would be some challenging competition for a top 3 finish, I decided to set that as my goal and just come home with a rock. The gun went off and there was a pack of maybe 5 or 6 of us on the first round of big hills. By the end of the first big climb, Taylor was about 5 seconds ahead of me and I was sitting in second with Jordan hot on my tail. By the time we hit the flat part of the road, Taylor was long gone and I was just trying to hang on to Jordan. I'll be honest, I wasn't feeling the greatest and my legs still felt like they were in recovery mode from my 3:01 marathon the week before. When we made it to the single track, I knew we had some decent separation from the rest of the field but I could sense that we were being hunted. At the turn-around I was still within 10 seconds behind Jordan but I caught a glimpse of a white SRC jersey behind me. At first I thought it was Dave Taylor and I knew I was in trouble because he is a rocket when it comes to downhill running and I knew I wouldn't be able to hold a lead on him if he got too close that last .75 miles. A little bit later I got another glimpse of this white jersey behind me and I realized it was Kyle! Once I realized it was him, I felt a little relieved it wasn't Dave but at the same time I know Kyle has some speed in him and he was closing the gap fast. As soon as we started the downhill, the boosters came on and I surged down the hill. Once I hit the road, I knew I had about half of a mile to throw it down on the steep downhill. Downhill running is one of my favorite things to do and the whole way down I was averaging 4:10-4:40 mile/pace. I took a couple glances back to see where Kyle was and I could see I opened up more of a lead. Jordan also starting come back to me and the gap was closing but I just ran out of real estate. I finished 3rd overall and with about a 60 second course PR. Great race, great atmosphere. Now it's time to get ready for the SLC half!
Finish: 3rd Overall
Time: 20:29
Splits: 7:19, 7:22, 5:29
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