Provincial Marathon Championships MTB XC Race 2012 @ Hinton (Western National Marathon series) #1

Sunday August 26th, I finished 18th place out of 25 in the full marathon results . It took me 5hrs 20mins and it was five laps long and a total of 53 Kms and it was over 5,500 feet of elevation gain. My average heart rate was 161 and max was 183. There was a time cut off in effect you had to have the first three laps done in 3hrs 30mins and I was there in 3hrs 6mins, I could not believe I had made this time cut. I decided to keep going even though all of my muscles and bones were sore and some minor cramping, but I grinded it out and the best part was when I was coming to the finish line all the racers & volunteers were there cheering me to the line. It was an amazing atmosphere and well worth it to finish as pride for myself and also, I now get to post 18 points in the Western National Marathon series. This was my first ever Marathon and it wont be the last because I am more geared towards them because I am a very slow starter almost like a diesel engine. The race was held at the Hinton Nordic Centre and the temperature was 26 deg C. A huge thanks to Nathan F and free wheel jasper and all the volunteers for putting on the race.