4 am Saturday morning, I'm awake. Race doesn't start until 6:30 and it's only a 10 minute drive from where we are staying. Doesn't matter, I'm awake. I lay in bed trying to sleep just a little more, but doesn't work. Alarm finally goes off at 5:45 and I get up. I pull on my clothes, grab my drop bags and head out the door by 6. It's very cool this morning, around 48 degrees. Much nicer than the 80 degree mornings we have back in Texas. We arrive at the start line by about 6:10, plenty of time to take care of all the normal pre-race rituals. Standing around it is actually a bit on the cool side. I don't take off my fleece top until 5 minutes before start. I run into Brian Ricketts from SA again in the morning. We swap conversation until the start. At about 6:35 we start (they waited for all runners to get out of the restroom lines). As we trot down the road, I realize that I should have been one of those in the bathroom line. About a quarter mile down the way, I make a quick stop to take care of business. When I return to the road, I am alone. There is absolutely no one around me. I see them all off in the distance down the road, strange feeling being in dead last and so far behind so early in a race. No worries. I just find a nice groove and slowly catch up. The beginning road section should have broken the crowd up a little. But as we hit the single track, it's still pretty crowded. So I just slip in behind a group and look for an opening to go around. We wander through the tall pines in the dim morning light. I slowly move up in the ranks to where I feel I should be. After about 2.5 miles of pretty flat running, we cross the highway and start the first climb. It's very moderate and runnable at first. Soon after crossing the highway we come to the first aid station (Camp Sheppard). At just 3.9 miles, I don't need anything so I quickly roll through leaving a large pack of runners as they stop. I look at my watch and notice I'm going too fast too early. I'm on about a 10mpm pace. I don't worry too much about it at this point because I know we are going to be climbing for quite a while and I'll be slowing down. The next 6 miles or so is uphill. It's not too steep but steady. I follow along with the other lemmings until there's a flatter section and I go around and trot on up the trail. After about an hour and a half of climbing, we come to the next aid station, Ranger Creek. With this being a water only aid station, I'm in and out pretty quick. Pace is still too fast for so early in the race. I know this, but don't listen. The section between Ranger Creek and Corral Pass is an out and back, a very nice section. There are some very nice views of Mt. Rainier and surrounding mountains. It's also a mix of up and down, very runnable. I find myself picking up the pace here for no other reason than the weather is great, I feel good and it's gorgeous. I pull into Corral Pass, clean my feet and change socks, restock and head back out. Glancing at my watch again, I realize I'm still going way too fast. I'm on a 10 hour pace. Would love to run a mountain 50 in 10 hours but know it's not really in the cards for me. I tell myself I'll slow down. So much for slowing down. The return trip to Ranger Creek is the same nice up and down section I just ran so I don't slow here. I run into Brian on my return trip. He is looking strong. I don't stop on the way back as I've seen the views already on the way out. Again it's a quick in and out at Ranger Creek aid station. From Ranger Creek to Buck Creek, it's 5 miles of downhill. I try to slow down but the downhill is just so nice. As I come into Buck Creek aid station at 27 miles, my quads are beginning to feel the long downhill. It's very hard for we flatlanders to be able to train for this. I take my time at Buck Creek and then ease out. It's fairly flat running for the next 2 miles or so. Then comes the next big climb. This one is much tougher, don't know if it's because it's really steeper or if it's because I'm tired. Either way, it's a slow trudge up to Fawn Ridge, not much running to be had. At Fawn Ridge, I stop to clean my feet and change socks again. Gaiters would have been a good idea. The trail is covered with pine and very fine dirt/sand. It's not deep but it gets into the shoes. As I am taking care of my feet, Brian comes into the aid station. He is still looking very strong. He refills, grabs a bit to eat and is gone. I won't see him again until the finish. After Fawn Ridge, we climb for a bit more before we reach the false top we were warned about. I'm happy to see it. I've had enough of the climbing and could use a little running break to loosen the legs again. There is quite a nice downhill section for a while before the final uphill push to Sun Top. This last climb seems very steep. It wiped me out. I beg of the mountain, no mas, no mas. You would think that with a name like Sun Top, it would be nice at the top. Not so at this point in the day. The clouds have rolled in, the sky has darkened and the wind has picked up. With a wet shirt, it's pretty coo. I am just a half marathon away from the finish, but I'm spent. I knew the fast start was going to catch up to me somewhere. I graze the aid station for quite a while trying to get in enough calories to reignite the engines. After some time, I start the decent. I'm happy to start down, just to get out of the wind. From Sun Top to Skookum Flats, it's 6.5 miles downhill, all on a firm dirt/gravel road. I run the best I can with what's left of my quads. The worst part of this section is the traffic that occasionally passes you. Some drivers are kind and slow down. Others seem to not even notice you and speed by stirring up a nice big cloud of dust. Just before we cross the bridge over the White River, we make a right turn onto the trail again and come into the last aid station, Skookum Flats. I sure wish it was the finish. They tell me it's just 6.5 to the finish and it's rolling hills. Now, the definition of rolling hills is completely different between Texas and Washington. To me, rolling hills are easy ups and downs with some flats thrown in just for fun. Oh, not so fast my friend. There are plenty of ups and downs, but most are not easy. This section of the trail winds alongside the river, sometimes dropping down to the banks. It is a very pretty trail. I cannot run the downhill much anymore due to trashed quads. So I try to run some of the not so steep uphill sections and any flat I can find. Normally I would have enjoyed the sound of the river as it flowed by, but not today. All I could concentrate on was getting off the trail. Everything from my quads down was starting to hurt. After what seems like an eternity, I come out of trail onto the. 2 miles of road to the finish. Finally! I'm done. All in all, this is a great race. The scenery is awesome. The weather was perfect. Now I just need to figure out a way to keep myself from going out too hard at the beginning even though I'm feeling good. Had I been able to do so, I could have shaved off at least an hour from my time.