" The Adventure"

 Last night and this morning was the St Croix 40 Winter Ultra and it was awesome! 40 miles in 10 hours on brutal soft conditions. It began with the required gear check at 8:30.


After the gear check, I crawled in the bivy and waited for the start at 10:00 p.m.



And then I was off  to complete the first 20 miles.  At 2:24 a.m. I hit the water boil checkpoint and then began the second 20 mile lap. This lap was brutal with all the bike, foot and ski traffic along with super soft conditions. A lot of :hike-a-biking had to be done! 


I had  a chance to race a mouse! The little fella came out of the woods and ran alongside me for about 20 feet.
Then the sun came up and it was awesome!!



At about 8:24 I approached the finish line and my wife was there cheering me on, of course I had a few tears in my eyes for what I had just accomplished and  Laurie being there. 




For me this was an accomplishment I will never forget and I can't wait until next year! An adventure this long with no sleep and the brutal conditions takes a toll on the body. However, the body will almost go into a "zen" state and once it goes beyond a certain point, it keeps going. I can't say I have ever experienced the pain and fatigue as I did with this adventure! But every mile was worth it!!
And I am looking forward to next year doing the St Croix 40 Winter Ultra once again!


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