I’m in my hotel in St. Louis, fly out early tomorrow. Will post full race report when I’m back in Bend. Short version—at least 80 of the 100 miles consisted of 4 inch deep fallen oak leaves covering rocky, rooty singletrack—trail running by braille.
Beautiful course, but definitely the most dangerous course I’ve been on at night for actual running (with all the leaves hiding the obstacles and route finding). I ended up running 18:38:59. Finishing rate was really low…not sure official finishers yet, but approximately 40 out of 126 starters finished. Big DNF rate due to the challenging aspect of the leaf factor.
Had a great time with family and the friendly folks in the Show-Me-State. Volunteers and aid stations were great and the course was marked perfectly. You would never have known it was a first year race. Like a well-oiled machine…except the leaf blower must have been broken. Giddyup!