AMERICAN TRIPLE T

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Weather- 85 and sunny
format- 4 triathlons over three days that add up to Ironman distance
best part of race-prologue and scenery on bike
worst part of race-hill after hill
Words to describe the races-fun, fun, I can do this, these hills are not where it is at

This past weekend was the American Triple T in Ohio. It takes place at Shawnee State Park in Ohio. Very scenic. Imagine very long hills with lots of green trees, quiet country roads and single lane fire roads to bike on, lots of dogs that like to chase you on your bike, and a gravel/ rocky run path with a long hill. Also, lots of college girls from Shawnee state volunterring as well as a lot of friends/ family members at the start/finish cheering you on and an announcer who announces you every time you come through. By the way, it seemed Wisconsinites made up about 1/4 of all the participants based on the announcer.

Prologue-Friday Night-
After driving about nine hours with the Race Day Events van packed full of triathletes, bikes, and wheels, we arrived at Shawnee Park. The drive down was uneventful. Along for the trip were friends Cory and Kim, and a few guys from the UW tri team. (Kim and her partner took first in the female team and won bike frames). Upon arrival, everyone got ready for the first race- 250 swim, 5 mile bike and 1 mile run according to the race director although it turned out to be about 400 swim, 3 mile bike and 1 mile run.

I told myself I would take it easy but once the race started found it hard not to race with everyone. I even had on toe clips on my bike to save extra time in the transition since it was such a short race. (Thanks RD for the tip). Overall this short race proved to be very fast and fun. Most wore wetsuits even though the water was about 70. The bike was a short sprint up a very long hill and then quick descent. The run was very fast on grass and gravel out and back. Overall, a very fun race.

After the race we bought supplies at the local Kroger store (actually about a 30 min drive round trip). Everyone went to the top of the hill where the cabins were. It was like a triathlete village-about 12 cabins all with porches filled with bikes and parking spaces filled with bike racked vehicles. Some stayed at the hotel on top of the hill instead of cabins. We stayed with Madison triathletes Heather and Steve who had a great race and won wetsuits for third in their division.

Saturday-first Olympic
At 7:30 a.m. the first olympic took place. The order for all the races was supposed to be seed times but people were unsure whether it was based on USAT scores and their number or the seed from the previous race at this event. Many people who were seeded near the back end of about 400 racers moved up and the race directors ok'd this. All of the races went off with the first person then next person every 5 seconds. I thought the swims and bikes would be crowded but they were pretty spread out. The lake seemed fairly shallow. It is long and narrow and has a few decent sized carp in it. A little more brown than a Wisconsin lake but not too bad.

In my first oly, I again had trouble holding back and ended up racing pretty hard. I took the swim easy as I was in the middle and didn't have any fast swimmers to draft off of. The bike was interesting, the first few miles seemed super dangerous with two dogs chasing after me and a rider behind me almost getting taken out by an oncoming truck. Overall, the dogs thinned out and the traffic was pretty sparce. On this first oly there is a short nasty hill.

The run felt pretty good since my legs were still fresh. I ran about 7:05 pace or so. The course is out and back I would estimate about 90% is either uphill or downhill. It's fun for the first time but after you run the same course in the afternoon and then twice on Sunday, it is not cool.

I finished this first oly quite happy and in about 47. Little did I know things were going to go downhill. The UW tri guys that rode with us had great races in the olys and half with one of them finishing top 10 overall in half.

Saturday-Second Oly
This race is different from the first in that it starts with the bike and then swim, then run. Since I raced the relay with bro-Ryan we rode together. We took turns pulling mostly with him doing slightly more work. Unfortunately for him, he is a much quicker descender and had to wait on a couple nice long descents. It wasn't as fun as I thought it would be riding as a team. I was imagining like a nice group ride with lots of rest and didn't consider that with only two people, there is a lot of pulling.

We got off the bike and jumped in the water. I tried to lead so Ryan could draft but there were other people around. We finished the swim together and ran together. The hills were getting to me by this point and Ryan would drop me on the uphills with me passing him on the downhills.

We managed a good pace and passed our friends Cory and Ben on the run. (They later destroyed us in the half the next day. I admit to holding Ryan back also).

Sunday-Half Iron
This race may have been fun but for the previous two days. I woke up feeling alright and felt fine on the swim, but felt week as soon as the bike started. I had to keep forcing Ryan to slow down to my pace and he did the majority of pulling. The hills on the bike got to me- it wasn't the length or steepness, but it seemed like the longest flat spot on the whole 56 miles lasted for about 1 mile or less. Plus my legs were pretty toasted from the days before. I thought that since we were riding slow that the run would be fast.

I was wrong. From the time I got off the bike, I continually got slower on the run. The hills sucked the life out of me and I had to jog them at walking pace. I am proud that I only walked during the water stops, but it didn't matter because my run pace was about the same as the walkers. We got passed by about 150 runners which was harsh. I felt bad for Ryan because I could tell he had a lot left but had to wait for me.

I was very happy to finish this race and get off of these repeating hills. Although there was one steep hill that stands out, I think my main problem was that there were very few flat spots on the course and my legs were not prepared.

Overall the race was very hard and not much fun for me. Plus Ryan had to wait up so we will never know how fast he could have raced it.

The ride home was uneventful. We actually made it through Chicago without traffic problems believe it or not.

Would I do the Triple T again? Don't know. I am more a fan of short tri's and definately a fan of flat courses. I would reccomend the race to anyone though because it truly is a unique experience. Imagine 400+ triathletes all wearing the same jersey and all racing the same course over and over and staying in the same area. One thing that I will remember is all the athletes who chose to ride up to the cabins (up a giant hill) each day after the races.

WHEELS ON WILLY CRIT 2009

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Ryan showing his great cornering skills. Yes-he is from the North Side of
Sheboygan.

Ryan up with the big boys

Kestrel cheering for her papi (she will half step anyone she runs with

and will choke herself out with the leash until she gets into first place
-a true Griessmeyer-)

Ryan with Capitol in background

Ryan making his move up the outside

Ryan in third

Ryan leading the pack with a few to go- a true racer

Today was the Wheels on Willy crit. This year becuase of road construction, the crit was relocated to the capitol square.

I didn't race, but my brother Ryan raced the Masters 30+ cat 4/5. He had a great race and it was very fun to watch. Ryan hung in the front pack for most of the race.

The highlight was when the pack (of about 90) had slowed near the start/finish and Ryan took off on his own. The announcers said something to the effect, "look at that rider from Atkins, he isn't going to sit in and rest, he wants to push the pace." Then they looked up Ryan's name and gave him credit saying, "Ryan Griessmeyer from Atkins wants to race, he isn't going to just sit in with the pack." It was really great.

At the end, Ryan finished up around mid-pack. He told me he was a little concerned about the corners the last few laps becuase we have the American Triple T coming up this weekend and he didn't want to risk ruining the weekend with a crash. Overall, it was a great race and he hung in their the whole time without help from any teammates. Way to Go Rye G!

RIDE FOR HOPE

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Date: May 16, 2009

Locale: Middleton, WI USA

Type: 100K ride

Weather: Very Windy but no rain

Yesterday I rode the Ride for Hope with some friends. It was a 100k leaving from Capital Brewery in Middleton, WI. It was very well organized with coffee and donuts prior to the race and the course was very well marked.

The 100k group started out together and ran into a huge headwind right off the bat. People were getting crabby and yelling and other people to start pulling/ rotate etc. After about 15 miles the groups split up.

I rode with about 6-8 people. It was a great group with everyone riding about the same pace. After we turned with the wind about 20 miles in, we were crusing pretty good. We stopped at the Brewery for some food and bathroom breaks, and then started on for the second half.

The second half proved as winding as the first. There were sections where the wind was so strong the pack was only going about 10mph or less.

We finished about 1:00 and enjoyed the food, bevies, and music from the live band.

Overall it was a scenic and fun ride (except for the wind). The race director (Andy Barishka) has planned and ridden many rides in the past including from top of U.S. to bottom, and a circle route around Lake Mich. He has a ride going this June that travels the west side of the Mississippi up to the top and then back down the Wisconsin side.

CRAZYLEGS 5 MILE

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Date: April 25, 2009
Weather: lot's of heavy rain
Number of runners/walkers-18,500
Location-Madison Capitol to Camp Randall

This was my first time running the Crazy legs race. I had heard that it was very fun and had a great turn out. The weather was not helpful. It was raining off and on when I woke up and on the drive to the race. It was kind of funny to see all of the runners huddled together under building overheads to stay dry. Fortunately we had garbage bags on and didn't mind the rain as much. A lot of runners must have been waiting in cars because up until about 5 minutes to race start, the area was not very busy.

This race is neat because they organize everyone into heats based on best prior time. Since I hadn't raced it before the best heat I could get in was group D the 36 minute group. This made it interesting because my rival and brother, Ryan, was in group C leaving about 30 secs in front of me.

The volunteers at the race start were very helpful and had a lot of positive energy despite the nasty weather. Near the start, a lot of Wisconsin football players and basketball players were directing everyone and handing out high fives and positive words.

At start time, it was mostly misting. The race starts with a nice decent and good crowds on the sides so everyone takes off fast. Although there were a ton of runners, it wasn't bad because most ran the same pace and the roads were wide enough to accomodate.

Just as we got to Observatory hill, it started to pour hard, large, raindrops. Most people didn't mind because we were already wet. The rain kept up the rest of the race and day. Throughout the course were large puddles that some runners tried to go around and others went straight through. It was pretty fun running in the rain.

Just before the turnaround at 3 miles I noticed a familiar jersey in front of me making the corner-bro Ryan. I was surprised to have caught him and decided to hide alongside others in the hope he wouldn't see me. It worked. After turning around, I spent a good mile closing and caught up to him mostly.

About a mile from the finish Ryan had caught Cinndi, a friend and they seemed to be picking up the pace to race with each other. I slowly caught up and passed Cindi who told me Ryan was just in front.

Since I hadn't raced this one before I didn't know where the finish was and didn't want to get out sprinted-I wanted to keep surprise on my side. We climbed one last hill and made a corner to the stadium. I saw the finish and a ramp leading into the stadium. I timed it perfectly so that I blew by Ryan just before the finish and he didn't have time to react. It was quite fun to finish that way.

After the race it was great watching all the runners and walkers coming into the stadium. You can hang out in the stands and listen to the announcer and watch the stadium fill up with people whilst having a cold one.

Overall-great fun race. Time was about 30:30 which I am very happy with considering the race condish.

Black Earth 10 mile

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My sweet Bottecchia between ride and run.

Early spring in Black Earth Wisconsin

PHOTO OF STEVE DONOVAN ON RIDE HOME

PHOTO OF RYAN G AFTER THE RUN

Weather: about 50 and partly sunny
Wind: not much on the run course
Total distance: 10 miles running and about 30 miles biking
Time for the race: 1:07:39
Best part of the day: the scenery on the bike and beating my big bro in the run

This morning I raced the Black Earth 10 mile. Since it was Fleet Feet Madison's birthday and the weather was cooperative, a group of people decided to bike to the race and back from Fleet Feet.

I began the morning helping set up the finish for the Madison 50k at the Arb. Then it was on to the coffee shop in Verona for some coffee. It didn't take long to decide on which coffee I wanted when I noticed a roast called "Bike Fuel."

Ryan (bro) and I headed to Fleet Feet where we met about 10 other bicyclists. Everyone was in good spirits because the weather was pretty nice and most of us had not been on the bike outside in a while.

The ride to Black Earth was perfect. We rode as a group most of the way and enjoyed the nice descents and scenery. The grass is begining its turn to green, we biked past a narrow stream (about 3-4 feet wide) that looked great for trout, and only saw about 5 or less cars the entire ride. This is one of my favorite things about riding on these roads. Having spent the last 3.5 years in San Diego, I will always appreciate biking on roads with minimal cars. Although a few times some riders took off, the ride was mellow with most people staying together and having good conversation.

After arrival we had about 40 mins to get ready-I chose to play a little soccer in the school gym whilst we waited.

At 10, the run started with about 100 people racing. Most of my group started around mid pack. The first 2-4 miles were enjoyable with some chatting between racers and everyone in a good mood. My brother Ryan was near me as we are almost always running the same pace. It has been great fun the last six months racing with Ryan again and pushing each other. Our last race was in January at the multisport Expo where he outran me by about 15 seconds.

After a nice 4 miles or so, people began working and as always happens, the run went from fun and discussion to fighting to hold my place. My breathing was pretty fast and loud-maybe from the bike ride in. I tried to relax and just stay behind Ryan. He seemed to have a lot more energy so my strategy was to stay behind him (and use him to draft) as long as possible and see what happened at the end. Also running in our group of three was Lisa, who had a great race.

At about mile 6, we got passed by two men and Ryan decided to speed up and join them. There was a slight headwind and it made a difference to draft on the second half. I didn't think Ryan could hang with the two so I let him go and figured I would see him later. He must have felt the same because about 30 seconds later he slowed down and Lisa and I joined him again. Ryan continued to pull until just after mile 7 when I figured he was tired and tried to pass him.

I passed him and sped up just enough to change the pace and hopefully max Ryan out who had lead the whole race so far (out of our group). I didn't want to look weak so I didn't look back. I figured he would catch me eventually but I wanted to make him work for it. With about a mile left I looked back and noticed a decent lead. This was a mistake because it made it hard to keep pushing the pace when I knew I had a good lead. I ran the last mile at about 8:30 and felt spent.

I ended up finishing 107:39 a small amount ahead of Ryan and Lisa. The group rested about 30 mins and rode back to Fleet Feet which was about twice as hard on the way back because of headwinds, the race, and 4 big hills that we decended on the way out. Overall it was a great day and I earned my afternoon nap.

Grand Canyon Run

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This is a report from my friends Paul Todd and Mykl Shannon who recently ran the 48 mile Grand Canyon Loop.

Running the Grand Canyon has been on my list of things to do for a while. So I started to look into the logistics of it and see what was involved. Initially I was thinking a run from south to north would be good. It turns out it’s a 200 mile plus drive to the north side for a pickup. No way was I going to convince my wife to do that. Not to mention the north rim is shut down until May. So after reading about what other people have done, I decided to hoof it back and make it a double.The route is just shy of 48 miles and has about 21,000 feet of descending and ascending. It’s almost flat. We also ran around a little bit on the trail adding in some distance to get to 49 or 50. We weren’t completely sure since GPS is a little goofy in the canyon. March seemed like a good time since it wouldn’t be during race season and the weather would be manageable (not too hot or too cold, just right). My goal was to build up to a couple of 50 mile weeks. Between general obligations and getting sick a few times I was only able to run about 20 miles a week and get in one 30 mile week. My longest runs were between 10 and 11 miles; all 5 of them.Mykl and I arrived on Friday afternoon and did some trail recon to check conditions. The weather was going to be perfect with highs on the south rim of 60, 80 at the river, and 40 on the north rim. It was going to be a new moon, meaning no natural light. There was not really any ice on the south rim which is about the only worry this time of year. Dennis was running late so we went ahead with a gourmet dinner at the local pizza joint. One pizza and a pitcher of beer later we were good to go. We went back to the room and double checked our gear and relaxed.The plan was to start at 3:30 AM. Well we woke up at 3 but for some reason it took too long to mobilize and we didn’t hit the trailhead until 4:20 AM. It was 20 degrees at the start. Which, for me is cold. I think 50 degrees is cold! We put on our head lamps and started out nice and slow to ease into it. We were all pretty excited. Going down was easy. We hit the 1.5 mile rest house and used the facilities. We took a few pictures and kept going. After a little bit longer we hit the 3 mile rest house. I pulled off my gloves here as my hands were warming up. The trail was well maintained and easy to descend on. I would start getting into a rhythm going over the logs in the trail. There was a fair amount of dust so I took the lead to avoid breathing it in. Somewhere around mile four I tripped on a log or rock and crashed hard on my right side. As I was getting up and assessing the damage Mykl and Dennis caught up to me. I felt okay but my left hand had a few scrapes and was bleeding. I rinsed it off since there was plenty of mule crap on the trail.We went through Indian Gardens quickly and started to hit the devil’s corkscrew. The morning light was starting to filter into the canyon. We stopped to get out the medical kit and clean my hand. We put the lamps away since we could run with the morning light now. Our first glimpse of the river was at Pipe Creek beach. From there it was a couple of miles along the river in some loose dirt and soft sand before we were able to cross at Bright Angel (Silver) Bridge. A few campers from Phantom Ranch were stirring and starting their hikes out. We got our fair share of funny looks.We stopped at Phantom Ranch to eat a little and grab some water before heading onto the North rim. We were still feeling pretty good up to this point. I started to strip off layers as it warmed up. There was one deer just hanging out by the water stop. He didn't seem to be bothered by us at all. We started out on the next 14 miles to get to the North Rim. The trail was nice and easy for a while just winding along next to a creek. I was taking a lot of pictures and some video.Eventually it started to wind up and we passed Ribbon Falls. We didn't detour to visit it and just kept trucking. I was starting to feel the fatigue in my legs as I was now past my longest run of the year. Cotton Wood campground came at 14 miles. We stopped again to eat and rest a little. Next up was Roaring Springs.This was perfect as there was water to reload with. I checked my pack bladder to see how much water I had. It looked like I had enough but the reality is I should have reloaded. After more food and a quick drink we started up the steep trail. On the way up we came around a bend and were faced with a heavily iced over section of trail. Crossing would have been dumb. If anything happened it was a shallow drop to a slick section and then a major drop into oblivion. There was a section to boulder down and up to get around the ice. We wisely opted for that.Somewhere around three miles from the top Mykl start to drop back and bonk a little bit. He ate his sandwich and took some time to digest before catching up to where Dennis and I had found some nice rocks to sit on and enjoy the view. The Supai Tunnel was the next major marker along the trail. It's a tunnel blasted out of the rock.After that there are only two more miles to the top, but each mile climbs about 700 feet. This section was really more of a hike with very little running. Mykl was going to give up once he ran out of water but Dennis and I threatened to drag him up if necessary. I ran out of water soon after that as well. About a half mile from the top we saw two other rim to rim runners coming back. They had started about 1 hour and 20 minutes before us. As Dennis and I were hiking together he busted out a Golden Delicious apple. I said "where did you pull that from??" He was kind enough to give me a bite. That was heaven right there, especially since I was out of water. Once we hit the top we took a break to grab some food and Dennis being a camel shared his extra water with Mykl and I. It took about 7 hours to reach the North rim.We started to bomb back down the trail since we were out of water. It was only about 4.5ish miles back to the water stop at Roaring Springs but it was not fast going. When we were a mile out from the water stop we caught the other two runners and passed them. One guy asked me if I was an ultra runner. My response was "this was my first run over 10 miles this year" so not really. Which is pretty close to accurate, I may have rounded down a little, by one mile. They thought we were nuts. We made it to the water stop and I drank about 1.5 liters of water (with some Gatorade mixed in). This was probably our longest stop at 30 minutes since we had to wait for Mykl to catch back up. At this time I put on my extra socks I had brought and I sat in the sun for a while to warm up and snack some more. Those clean socks felt sooooo good.We got moving again and eventually made it back to Cotton Wood campground. Mykl was having knee problems at this point and couldn't run. This was bad news since we had another 18 miles to go. 9 miles of it was relatively flat. Being a physical therapist he gave me some line like his crucial anterior ligament was failing to stabilize his patella femoral groove or something. I just chocked it up to his knee hurt. I have no idea what he really said. He started power walking while I rested in the shade and Dennis was using the facilities. About 15 minutes later we got rolling again and eventually caught up to him. We stopped behind a big rock offering the only shade we could get to. There we busted out the med kit and helped him tape his knee up. Mykl started on his way while Dennis and I cleanup up the trash and packed up the kit. It took us a couple of miles to catch back up to him. This was good news as it meant he was running. We were making good time. I eventually drank all of my Gatorade bladder and switched to my water only bladder for the last few miles into Phantom Ranch. I had to stop frequently to stretch out my left hip to keep my knee loose. Otherwise I was doing pretty good.When we arrived at the Ranch we sat around for a while drinking water,eating, and commiserating on how bad we were feeling. The hardest part was left. The climb back out. We only had a few hours of daylight left. I was pretty sure we weren't going to make it back before sunset and we would be pulling the lamps out again. We started moving again and I had totally forgotten about the soft sand along the river. That sucked. The Devil's corkscrew took forever to get through but eventually we hit Indian Garden. Dennis and I were about 15 minutes ahead of Mykl so we tanked up on water, put on some additional layers since we were chilling down and laid down on some benches. It felt good to prop up my legs and close my eyes. I was starting to get pretty sleepy on the trail. Once we had regrouped and fed ourselves we headed up for the final 4.6 miles. We passed a group of deer just hanging out on the trail. We caught up with some others for the final ascent. At this point we were just hiking along with no running. Dennis and I took turns pulling Mykl along. He would grab onto our packs and get a nice tow for a while. Once he let go it was like having rocket boosters moving up was much easier. I was hiking next to someone else on the trail when their phone rang. I was thinking cell reception?!? Holy crap I'm going to call Suzie and let her know where I was. That was a total surprise and relief.Once we hit the three mile rest house I was getting tired and I wanted it over with ASAP. I started to run 20 meters and alternate it with walking 5 meters (or treacherous sections). I was making good time here. Pretty quickly I came up on the 1.5 mile rest house and I stopped to break out my light. With about one mile to go I needed to use the light and my legs had finally quit. I was resigned to hiking the last part in. Another hiker without a lamp caught me to share in the light. When I saw the final tunnel I knew I was almost there and it was just another few meters. Getting done was just amazing. Dennis and I stumbled over to the car. I had planned ahead and packed some spare clothing and a down jacket. The temps were down in the 30's and it was cold once the sweat started to chill. I changed into warm dry clothing and ran the car heater for Dennis. It took a while to get warm and he was shivering for a while. We pounded some Gatorade and called Mykl to see where he was. He had picked up some light less stragglers and was working his way to the top slowly but safely.It was an amazing adventure but I was just glad to be done. I knew it was going to be hard, but it was a little harder than I hoped for being so under trained. It took us a total of 15 hours and 22 minutes to complete. With all of the resting and picture taking we had about 2.5 hours of rest/downtime included in the 15 hours. A big thanks to my wife for giving me the pass to get away while she took care of the family. This was my longest workout ever and my first run over 26.2 miles. It was definitely epic.

Shamrock Shuffle

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As the result of a long lasting flu, I didn't run in this race. However, I did help set up the race course with Race Day Events-putting out cones, measuring the mileage etc. I also got some great photos of the race. The Best part of this race is the bagpipers who play before the race and on the gigantic hill that runners must climb.

It was a beautiful spring Wisconsin day. Sunny and about 60 degrees. The race turnout was huge (see photos) and everyone seemed to enjoy the course and weather. The race course includes a nice climb up Observatory Drive about one mile in and again just before the finish.

A post race party was held at State Street brats with most people prefering the outside dining areas to get some early spring sun.

NEW YEAR'S DAY DASH

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This run took place at Quaker steak and Lube in Middleton on Jan 1. I was not sure if I was going to race, or help out as a volunteer. Then , my mind got made up real quick. I was offered to race in the Quaker Chicken Suit. After being told the chicken record was a 42 I knew I was meant to race on this day.

I donned the suit and ran the one mile kids race as a warm up. Got beat by a few kids. Ran about 6:30. The suit was nice and warm in the cold weather, but it forces you to rebreathe the same air over and over and made me feel tired faster.

I started the 5 mile near the back and started slow. After about the first half mile I started passing people and working towards a new chicken record. In the beginning people were laughing and liked the chicken but near the end, no one wanted to lose to the chicken. In a similar race report, I found this quote from one of the runners: "Mile 4 wasn't so bad, but mile five was dead into the wind, and it felt like the wind had picked up. It was miserable. I saw chicken guy falling apart a bit up ahead, and decided that I had no business losing to that son of a b1tch. So I didn't. I passed him in the last half mile.

I remember speeding up to try to drop this guy but my large head acted as a parachute. I enjoyed the race and had a lot of fun meeting all of the other runners after the race. There were some very fast runners at the front including the girl's assistant cc coach at UW who ran around 6 flat miles.

And it was a new Chicken record. 38:53. Thanks to Race Day Events, Fleet Feet, and Quaker Steak for a great New Year's Day.

Snow Fun Run

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This race was at the old Playboy club in Lake Geneva. It's a 5 miler. The weather/sky was dark and dreary. It was seriously cold at the start and very windy. Picture lot's of runners gathering around each other, trees, small buildings etc. to get out of the wind. The race is not chip timed so those who start near the back are at a disadvantage.

The race started with a gun and everyone was anxious to get moving to warm up. I started too far back and had a slow first mile (6:50) and was passing a lot for the first mile or two and trying to get a good draft off my brother Ryan. The roads were wide, no ice, and very little traffic. Because of the temps- the only non-volunteer spectators were at the finish near the hotel.

After hill leading up to the turnaround, the wind was mostly at our backs and everyone had settled in to their paces. I tried hard to close the gap and draft some more off my brother, but it wasn't happening, and instead I got stuck all by myself for the second half-and watched a nice pack in front of me that was out of reach.

This was my first time at this race, and I didn't realize how long the hill was just before the finish. As I was climbing (and struggling to breathe) I heard cheers for my friend from Sheboygan (and past sausage dance champion) beyond me. I had finished just in front of her at the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving and hoped to do it again. After cresting the hill, there is a nice decent along the hotel and into the finish. I finished strong and didn't get passed.

Overall, it was a nice winter race and I finshied about 33 minutes and about 1 minute behind Ryan. The party afterwards was great, Ryan got first in his age and a pic with the bunnies, and the Sausage dance champ got second in the dance this year. (See pics above).

Overall it was a great race