The longest version of the Trail Travail is now behind us. I say 'longest,' because I achieved my goal of slowing the fastest down to a 2 hour finish. 2:06 to be exact. Congratulations Nathan! Speaking of congratulations, we have the first ever husband/wife first finishers. Awesome job, you two!I thought Daniel was going to give Nathan a fight out there, but Nathan grabbed an early gap and never let go of it. It was Daniel's first Travail, though, and he did manage to grab some Mardi Gras beads to lower his finish time to an Unofficial 1st. Next year I will iron out the bead bonus. Nathan was rightfully confused about the leaders' eligibility to the time bonus.
I will leave most of this open to the runners' and volunteers' comments (assuming there are any), but I was very happy to see the time difference between first and last finishers was relatively the same as the shorter course years. And no one got lost! At least they didn't admit it to me...
The Belle Isle 'Rock-Hop' was my biggest concern, both because it was late in the run so folks would be more prone to fatigue and injury, and it is a part of the course that the marking ribbon was likely to be torn down. No problems on either count though. I don't know if I would choose to incorporate that next year, but I think I might go back to a shorter, more arduous route.
Congratulations everyone, and thanks to all the volunteers! Be sure to get by Crossroads Coffee and thank them (Will & Olivia) for their generous donation of Joe. Support your local businesses!
