4:53:14

The day started out really cold and this is the fog finally starting to lift just before we started to run. 

I have now completed 4 trail marathons.  5:16:16, 5:26:01 and 5:19:46 and yet I really thought I should be able to do one in under 5 hours. 

 I did it! Arrowsmith Marathon time: 4:53:!4.  That time includes a big climb of 2278 ft. besides all the rest of the up/down along the way and stopping to take pictures! When stopping to take pictures I thought of the single speed world champs philosophy that there is 1st place (I was pretty sure that was not me) and everyone else.  Turns out just under 3 minutes faster and I would have won my age group --- maybe I shouldn't have taken pictures... :)  I had no idea.

The first pictures I took were as we rounded the corner at the top of the ridge.  The fog is still lifting. Then later, near the bottom of the Arrowsmith valley we could see up into the mountains with a glacier.

 Mike Steel (U. of Canterbury host) brought tequila to celebrate finishing the marathon.  David Wahl (U. of Canterbury) joined us.  While tequila may not seem to make sense, the problem Mike and I have been discussing grows out of a tequila drinking game used as an example in a paper in the The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science.  I finished with a homemade salad with roast veggies and steak.  Great day!

While I'm still pretty proud of myself, Tom pointed out that the starting elevation of my run was only 2288 ft. and all my other attempts started over 5000 ft.  On the other hand, I was carrying a pack with 3 L. of water to start as well as all the clothing they make us carry, a first-aid kit and a camera.  I'm going with its a wash.