well I'm back home and rested...and not moving all too much ...so I thought I'd give a run down of the race....
 
They varied this course a few times but it's generally been the same as prior years.  The course starts at a trail head of the Mickelson Trail west of the town of Hot Springs, SD.  The race was entirely on this trail except for the last 16miles and a short 3.5 mile out-and-back around mile 30ish.  The trail start was no shade-wide-open prairie.  This wasn't a problem with the 6am start since it was still cool.  Later the trail got some more tree cover but it was only good for shade when shadows were long since the trail is so wide.  The trail there is about the same kind of surface as our local Rock Island Trail.   Elevation was NOT as mild as its reputation suggests.  There were several sections that were MILES of uphill/downhill (depending if you were heading out of heading in of course) ...they were real grinders!  The last 16ish miles had the course divert from the trail and follow some gravel roads into town.  These parts were exceptionally hilly and painful and I had to walk a lot  
 
About mid day I got behind on fluids and started to suck pretty bad.  Bill (guy I was running with... met at Ozark and have seen at a few races since) told me to stop and made me walk for a looong time even though I really wanted to keep going.  We got passed by a LOT of people during this time but it really paid off and we passed most of them back up later as things got cooler.  Once the sun set we were cruising again and making up our "time bank" that had gone negative.  When I pulled into the Pringle (76mi) aid station (which disappointingly did not have any Pringles Chips!) it was FULL of people in various states of exhaustion.  some guy was asking around for Tylonol and as soon as the word got out that I had some I had a line forming!  I think I gave it out to at least 4 people there...one of which blew past me on an uphill later that night...so it must have worked.   If Bill hadn't held me back earlier in the race I don't think I would have been anywhere near my finish time.  I would have gotten even more dehydrated and maybe not have finished.    Finish rate seems to be a hair over 50% for this year.  I saw a lot of people dropping due to heat related problems.  Temps got to about 90ish and no real shade to speak of.
 
Sarah and her little sister Christina were my crew. it was pretty nice to be taken care of at the aid stations even though I didn't stick around at all.   The longest I stayed at any aid station was about 10 mins.  (This was a big help in getting my finish time where I wanted it.) Christina paced me for the last 16ish miles and was a big help....I'm not sure I would have had enough motivation to keep walking as briskly as I was if there hadn't been someone there to hold me accountable when I slacked.  They were awesome!  They also drove all but 2 hrs of the 14 hour drive home
 
 
heres a lovely chart of my planned times vs what I actually did...and a graph of the "Time Bank"  (I love spreadsheets!)
 

 

a negative number means I was ahead of schedule.
 
I wore my Washington 5K shirt mostly because I thought it would be funny to wear a 5K shirt when everyone else was wearing some hardcore ultra shirt
 

 
 
 

The guy in the Tutu (Keith Straw) ended up 3rd place overall.  He's done a lot of the major Ultra and does really well.  he seemed like a nice guy despite the tutu
 
 

 
 
heres a few pics of the course
coming up to Mountain aid station at 37.2mi (see, trees, but no real shade.), this is part of the day when most of the people caught up and I did most of my walking,  The picture doesnt show it too well but this was uphill for a long stretch and was the highest point on the course I think.

 
Oreville aid station (i think) on the return trip 52.9mi (a little shadier there as the shadows got longer)

 
 
and for the strong stomachs...here's a picture of one of my blister!  I had a matching one on each foot, the other one popped with about 12 miles left in the race.   gross.  it hurt way worse after that.
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d137/deekeeyzer/Lean%20Horse%20Hundred/Screens hot2011-08-29at22133PM.png
 
 
and last but not least..... The Prize!

 
all in all it was a pretty great experience!  I don't hurt much worse than after doing the Farmdale 50 last year...so I guess the saying that "after a certain point it just doesn't hurt any worse" is true  
 
The event was well run and I think the RD Jerry was a heck of a

Quote from Jeep4x4greg on Aug 29^th, 2011, 2:27pm:

 
I think we are supposed to finish the report for him.  I'll start.
 
Relatively early in the race, I realized I had neglected to put Glide on my ___________. The chafing felt like my skin was being sanded off by a burning hot _____________.
 
Ok Duck, you take over from here.

Not sure what happened there!!!! sorry about the "tease" post Dexter!
 
full report should be up!  I ran out of words up there so I'll say here that the only problems I had with the race were that a few of the aid stations didnt know where they were or which direction the runners had to go.  The RD said he had some last minute changes with helpers and this was the reason.  It threw me a little when an aid station helper told me I had 4 miles to go till a turn.... and I ran about 6 before I found the turn (had my GPS for the last 10 miles of the race to keep pace)....that can really cause some frustration when you start to worry you may have missed it!   The RD normally has an info packet for aid stations but with the crew changes last minute this wasnt available for that crew..... I don't imagine it would be a continued problem in future years.

Quote from Queen of the Dammed Squirrels on Aug 29^th, 2011, 7:57pm:

 
some Haiku perhaps?  (it really is a lazy man's poetry)
 
"so close to the end  
big blister popped in my shoe
Sock is soggy now"
 

Awesome report!  Are we to fill in the last blank?  Let's see... "The event was well run and I think the RD Jerry was a heck of a" liberal.

Great report!!!
 
That blister is a dead-on twin to the one I got at Javelina.
 
Now...you missed some key info in that report, Greg. What the crappity smack
 did you eat and drink? Did you run on air only?   Come onnnn!

Oh glad I'm not alone in that regards then....I don't have the stomach for more than a handful of chips or a couple cookies during these things, and it makes you wonder where the energy is coming from.  
 
Great job!

Great report, Greg!  Your report has re-energized me for what I have planned Sept. 9-10.  I've been having a few "blah" weeks of training and some doubts have been trying to creep in.  
 
The pictures of the wide open trails are bringing back some flashbacks of the Kettle Moraine "meadows" for me.  
 
Thanks for the info on fueling and hydration.  That always seems to become an issue for me at some point or another in these things.  From my own experience, and the experiences of others like you, I can at least have a mental checklist of possible solutions should problems arise mid-run.
 
Congrats again!  What a great accomplishment!