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After some "real" food, a shower, and a quick nap everyone felt much better and ready to take on their night legs. It was an incredibly dark night, which made taking photos pretty much impossible.
The nighttime transitions were a lot of fun - the volunteers got really in to things blasting upbeat music and having plenty of fun glow accessories around. It was a real treat to see my friend Mike working at one of the nighttime transitions. We got to catch up while my team waited for our runner to come in.
Soon enough it was time for my night leg. It started out on a quiet country road, which I really enjoyed because I could look up and see the stars. I thought I would be in for a nice run until about a mile in when I turned on to a road that quickly headed in to thick woods, turned in to dirt, and headed up a mountain.
The next 7 or so miles were pretty terrifying. There were multi-mile stretches where I did not see another runner or van and ran in pitch black silence (the trees blocked the moon and stars from view). Then, suddenly, clusters of vans would drive up, kicking up dirt and forcing me off the narrow road in to a ditch. It was creepy at best and incredibly unsafe at worst.
Luckily, the last mile of my leg was on another country road. I was happy to see the stars again and to have a shoulder, and sometimes a sidewalk, to run on. I finished up far faster than I said I would (I ran a few 8:17 miles!) and got to the transition before our next runner was ready. That gave me an opportunity to cool down before jumping in the van.
After our van finished our night legs we had another opportunity to head back to the hotel, shower, and sleep for a few hours before starting our third legs. At this point I'd covered almost 19 miles and my left IT band was really bothering me. I was ready for a nice, hot shower and a soft, fluffy bed.
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