Peacock 54

The Peacock 54 was held on October 24,2009. The weather was very good, a bit hot and humid, but to my liking. There were 40 starters, less than 20 finishers. I was satisfied with my 15th place finish.

I had hoped to do two eight hour loops, but I was hit with some bonking on the way up the Kealia the second time (a 2200 foot climb in under four miles.) and then again on Gordon's loop, the jeep road and single track loop in hours two and three of the loop. I walked almost the entire distance, and still managed to maintain a good pace.

I ran the first loop with Don, Dr. Bill, and Rex. We pretty much stayed together to the bottom of long road, about 16 miles in. The guys had left me behind on the long steep hill of Long Road and I had to hussle a bit to catch them by the aid station. I granted no mercy on the way back up Long Road and pretty much left them all in the dust until the long down of the Kealia, when Dr. Bill and Rex caught up with me again. I lost some time on the cross-over when I ran into Ryan and Brenda. Ryan was in a bad way and I spent some time trying to get some fluids into him and talking to him a bit. We were less than 20 minutes out from the Truck, and I finally left them as it appeared he was capable of making it, and there were three others behind me, if something went wrong. I lost ten minutes there.

Dr. Bill dropped at 27, and I chased Rex out of the aid station at (8:30) Don was just coming in as we started toward the trail head. He was done at 27 but doing a relay with Cheryl, who as being paced by Fish. We were all together just beyond the trailhead and then it got hard.

Coming up on the second loop is always hard for me. Kealia is a bitch and the first section of switchbacks just overpowers me for some reason. I kept ahead of Cheryl and Fish for a while but had to pull to the side and let them by. I took the opportunity to down some energy drink and hoped it would kick in. Rex was having even more trouble, and finally dropped. He had a very hard time on Long Road and then fast paced it across and down. It showed up very quickly on the Kealia. I pushed on alone, knowing it would be hard to catch Fish and Cheryl. I saw them across the valley on the early part of the single track when I was still 15 minutes out.

I had problems on the single track. Nutrition basically. I had been taking my energy drink but had not done enough carbs and protiens. It hit me hard and found myself bent over at the top of the ups, my heart racing and close to gasping. It worked itself out, but it was brutal for a while. I found myself telling myself that if I was going to die to just do it cause it didn't matter much at that point. I took a few moments at the top of one of the ups and downed the protein shake I was carrying. It took a bit to take effect but nutrition was what I needed and I finished off the single track feeling better.

I swigged a few cups of an iced gator aid water cocktail at the Rob's truck and pushed on down the cross over. I felt better and made the trip in the hour that I allot for the west to east run. But I was running late and had to run jog Long Road on any of the more level points I could find, making it to the aid station with 15 minutes to spare before the cutoff of 8:00 PM. (14:00) hours in.

The push back was very hard, and at one point I had to regroup and just look down at the small circle my headlamp made on the road and take one good step at a time. I made it to the top of Long Road in 67 minutes which is not too bad, and was moving well on the cross over. I didn't see any light ahead of me, but knew the girls were just ahead of me, with Cheryl leading them. I was feeling good and pushed hard and steady catching the first group just before Robs truck. I slipped past them, watered, and was on my way before they all really knew what was happening. I pushed hard down the Kealia, jogging a bit on the less steep downs, making it to the finish line at 17:15, by my watch.

One hard race.