XTerra Trail Run World Championship

In July Kyle and I signed up to do separate trail runs at Kualoa Ranch on December 4th.  I was going to run my first 5k and Kyle was going to tackle a 21k.  He had heard about the run from some guys he worked with that had done the run the year before.  Finally earlier this month the day had come.  Kyle and I headed toward the ranch for our races.  I was nervous because it was the first time I would complete at 5k.  I've never been much of a runner but if Kyle could complete at 21k then I should be able to do a 5k.  Traffic about a mile from the ranch was terrible.  It took us forever to finally get to the ranch.  I decided to take some pictures while we were waiting in the car. 

The road we were on was right next to the bay.  Sometimes it was a little unnerving how close it was to the road.  Once we got to the ranch I realized how beautiful the scenery for the run was going to be.  It was absolutely breathtaking.  Kyle's race started about 5-10 minutes before mine.  I stood there fretting about the unknown until the race started.  Once it got going I began to relax a bit.  The first half was very difficult!  Most of it was uphill and my calves were screaming!  Once we got through the first half though it got much easier.  I managed to finish the race in 52 minutes.  My biggest accomplishment was that I did not finish last!  After I finished my race I settled in to wait for Kyle to complete his.

About half an hour after I finished, the first person completed the 21k.  He finished in 1 hour 21 minutes.  That is a mind blowing amount of time. 

This is the first man to cross the finish line

He completed the run in 1 hour 21 minutes and 36 seconds

About fifteen minutes before Kyle made it in, a group of guys named Team E.X.T.R.E.M.E. ran the entire 13 miles wearing gas masks.  They ran in honor of fellow Marine Cpl. Todd Love who lost both of his legs and part of his arm in Afghanistan last year.  They all parachuted into the valley before the race, including Cpl Love.  It was pretty inspiring. 

Team X.T.R.E.M.E

Shortly thereafter Kyle made it across the finish line.  He looked exhausted but he had completed a grueling 13.6 miles in 2 hours 56 minutes.  I wasn't able to get a really good picture of him since I was cheering for him. 

 Kyle was one of first of his group to complete the race.  They all met up afterwards for a victory photo.

Kyle and I were both proud of ourselves and very glad to have the races over with.  The next several days I was incredibly sore.  It was definitely glad I did it but it was a once in a lifetime experience.