I'm glad I skipped the speed portion of yesterday's run, I needed those guts for this run. It was really fun though, my first trail run and the first race I've done with Nick since the SF First Half 14 months ago. We were 13th and 14th overall, but it was a very small field for the 5k. The 1st runner turned in a time of 20:xx, which is amazing considering the terrain. We saw a guy being treated by first aid when we came in, I guess his hands were all torn up and I heard him telling some other people that he is used to trailrunning in SoCal and the east coast, not where there is lava rock. I guessed he'd been responsible for one of the two rocks along the route that had been tipped from their earthen seat. Lava rock can be surprising--you think it's so big and buried deeply enough they won't move but they pop right out like toast from a toaster and then there are those teeny looking rocks you think you can pull up no problem but end up being some spur of a two ton slab. I nearly diggered on a descending switchback myself but I saved it at the last second. We had a blast-- it was such an amazingly well marked course and wellplanned race. The first quarter mile was on the road, with everyone working out their paces and order, then up onto the trail and gently ascending switchbacks, then the half marathoners split off from the 5k. Since it was almost all single track, it was also awesome that it was a loop course, almost like a lasso so there wasn't any issue with oncoming traffic. And the two people we passed in the singletrack section were super nice and gave us room to pass without any problems. In all it was a great 5k, even if it was probably my second slowest ever. :)