Today was running partners by committee. Dave and I headed out from our campground and started running Leg 34 of the NWP course. Exch 33 was right at the campground turnout. After a couple miles a runner caught us. We asked if he wanted company, and went with him. Dave turned off just a little bit later, but I continued with the runner, who was on the Blister Busters team. We got to talking, and it turned out that we had actually talked on the phone a few months ago, as he was interested in getting a quote for course maps for a race he was thinking about starting. Small world! Our pace was around 6:50/mile for the 6-mile leg, which worked out well for me.
The Blister Busters handed off at Exch 34, and I continued running with their guy. He was a little slower, about 8:00/mile, but we had some nice conversation and we were both happy for the company. The leg was about 4 miles long. Their last runner was a bit faster, and we held 6:50-7:00/mile pace for the final 6.5-mile leg. This guy was a high school geography teacher, so we "talked shop" a little bit, discussing GIS (among other less nerdy things). When we got near the finish line, I backed off and walked it in, so that I wouldn't confuse the volunteers. 16.5 miles for the day, with 4 different running partners. 7:26/mile average pace. Sea level was nice, and the last part of the course is very beautiful. So much oxygen...The course was very rolling though, and fairly challenging. Did I mention it was 70 degrees? Ahhhh. I look forward to doing the whole course next year. (1120: 121)
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