Day 1

After nearly five months of training and anticipation, it was hard to believe that the event was finally here. Having packed the day before, here I am at about 5am on 9/19, ready to go!


Mike dropped Salwa and me off at the state fair grounds at about 6am:


Everyone else seemed similarly excited (notice all the pink?!) ...


...and I tried to pass the time with stretching :)


Finally, the opening ceremony began...


(I walked in honor of my Aunt Joan)


...and we were off!




There were pit stops or grab&go stations every few miles, which made it easy to stay nourished and hydrated, and the stations all had fun themes to them.






So many teams wore such fun attire! (unfortunately neither Salwa nor I got pictures of all the men with bras outside their clothes, or the men with "dudes for boobs" or "I'm a breast man" t-shirts on - clothing they could only wear at an event such as this!)




By the time we made it to the camp area...


...and set up our tent...


...we were both exhausted!


In addition, I had developed a few blisters that I had to have lanced and dressed at the medical tent (I thought all my training was supposed to have prevented that?!?)


Salwa and I were both so tired that we were in bed, with our flashlights out, by 8:15pm - and I think we were both asleep shortly thereafter!