A simply amazing day!

I competed in my final OUS race of the season in London called "Vulture Bait" and by the end of the day I had secured a 3rd place plaque in my age category. It was extremely cold as approximately 100 runners started out at 9AM on Saturday morning. The route was fairly flat although there were a few challenging climbs and a couple of water crossings (not fun in chilly temperatures) plus plenty of mud thrown in for good measure.
Last year I finished this race in 2:20 which I was happy with considering it was only my 2nd trail race. I entered today's race with a goal of trying to better that mark.
At times today, I felt sluggish while other times I felt like I was going at a good clip. I was surprised as I sprinted toward the finish line and realized I had finished the race in 2:16. This put me 27th overall and 19th in my age category and was just enough to allow me to secure a 3rd place finish overall. This has been a grueling season and the 7th OUS race in less than a year. I ended up losing 2 toenails today which I'm not happy about but it might force me to slow down a little bit before running again.
Thank you to Cassandra, Nancy, Miriam, Theresa and Jayne for being there for me when I needed you most. Today was a special day and one that I will not soon forget.
Greg