The last 15 miles of the race gave "g" (and other runners in the bottom half of the pack) some concern. According to a few handlers and runners, the last few aide stations and their designated mile-markers didn't seem to correctly add up. Runners counted heavily on the miles to go factor as they psychologically and physically paced themselves to complete the race. As a result of this concern, "g" became over-focused with trying to determine correct mileage data to calculate the number of miles to the finish line, and more importantly, his finish time.

"g" knew the only course mile markers were at the end of the race... 5 miles to go... 4 miles to go... etc. Should a runner reach the 5-miles-to-go marker thinking he had only 2 miles to finish the course... his physical and psychological clocks would lose momentum... not to mention... feeling pissed off! If aide stations were overstating their distance along the race course (e.g., 42 miles instead of 40), like "g" was thinking, then runners wouldn't know until mile-45 if they had "extra" miles to run.

To say the least, this mileage quandary provided "g" with a super-duper, endless amount of mathematical possibilities to consider (and reconsider and reconsider and reconsider) as he trudged through the woods. He persevered through three hours of adding and subtracting and dividing as he calculated and recalculated and recalculated his running pace, miles to go, time to reach the next aide station, and his all important finish time. At one point, "g" lost focus on his footing and at about mile 38 stepped on a spindly garder snake... and then, had a near miss some two miles down the trail! (Yikes! This really freaked "g".)

Stepping on a garder snake... concocting a cognitive mathematical pea soup... the awsome views...

Aside from the entertainment/puzzle value of having something to think about during an 11 hour run, this mileage dilemma created 2 problems for "g". First, during the last 15 miles of the race he found himself under-estimating how much water he should carry and need between aide stations. Secondly, he was sick of eating carb gels, pretzels and drinking H2O. He knew he had to eat and drink, and he postponed both at the Goodman Aide Station ("42.5 Mile") because in "5 miles" he expected to catch up with C-Team and those 2 glorious bottles of Gatorade (mile 48).

		Goodman's Aide Station (42.5M): Only 5 more miles to C-Team and those 2 glorius bottles of Gatorade!

And, then... it happened. 1 mile before reaching C-Team and the last aide station... there it was... the long awaited... little white sign... 5 miles to go! DANG! HE KNEW IT! He did have aide station mile-marker misinformation, and instead of there being only 1 mile until C-Team and those two dreamy bottles of Gatorade... he had 3 to go! "g's" Garmin had been correct all along. This was a huge problem! "g" was nearly out of water and the thought of eating a pretzel or carb gel from his fanny pack made him want to puke! He decided to tough it out...

	By the time "g" arrived at Johnson's Aide Station and C-Team (mile 48), he was seriously nauseous and in dire need of food and Gatorade. He figured he had become slightly hyponytremic, so eating was the priority. Seeing C-Team's smile was Part-A of his medicine. But, he knew he had a serious fuel problem to focus on. He had to force himself to eat... and, then drink. For the next 10 minutes, he slowly strained 5 heavily salted chunks of potato into his stomach and drank sips of Gatorade. He left the aide station as he had arrived... not feeling good and walking.

The last 2 mile leg of the VT 50M was hard. Runners meandered up the face of a very steep ski slope and then back down to the finish line.100 yds into this last leg, "g" began to feel better. He picked up his pace as he began to jog and jog and jog and jog... until... the course finally headed down hill to the finish line. Aside from a fear of falling as his body seemed to get ahead of his legs, "g" zoomed lickety-split to the finish line with a race time he was proud of: 10:55:12! What a race! With two 50-Milers now under his belt, "g" was well on the way to completing his goal for '07: a 50 Mile Hat Trick ... or was he... stay tuned!

Aughhhhh... the glory of the finish!

(Editor's Note: "g's" Garmin indicated 50.5 total miles to run the VT 50M. We at G-WeB figure this is probably close enough to the actual distance of the course.)