BBU Tour

Rick and I made sure to get to the Pownal Elementary School early; since the TMs were hosting a tour of the Big Brads, we guessed we should be there for our guests.  On the way past the park, we saw gIANt heading to put the water out at the Brad aid station.  Yahoo!  There were non-TM runners there :D  Rick also pointed out that George must be out getting in some pre-tour miles; his car can be identified by the coffee cup on top.

Some introductions, some faces I recognized, some names quickly forgotten :(  By the end of the day, I'd remember all in our group.  I think there might be a few in the lead group I can't recall, but hopefully I get to learn them race day.

Oh, I guess I got ahead of myself.  George came in from the not-cold.  Nathan, Mindy and Ian arrived.  Ian handed out some maps, at the same time assuring people we would not lose them, explaining we'd likely run in two pace groups (Ian's and S&S's), but all start out together.  And that's how it worked out.  I think, besides Matt, the consensus was the start's a bitch :)

S&S were joined by Rick, George, Kevin, Jim, Curt, and we picked up Mike at the park and Dora on the beginning of the east side trails.  I loved hearing comments about the course; who wouldn't love Brad?!  Rick did a perfect roll out to save himself from getting hurt somewhere on GinnWest or Ragan.

After a quick pit stop at the aid station/ out houses we began the mountain side of the course.  It's fun to have the ski trail immediately to reinforce this is not the east side.  The group did really well, but I think everyone was happy to finish.  Most of them had a good long drive down to Southern Maine/NH area.  At least race day should have none of the humidity we dealt with.

Only two things I didn't like about the day.  We saw a Great Pyrenees that seemed to be lost.  I tried to get him/her to come, but they are known to be wary of strangers.  I hope its person was nearby or it found its way home.  What a beautiful creature!

The other thing that was a little disconcerting, E&Ls was closed.  Yeah, we missed out on yummy food, but we were more concerned about them, especially since they're scheduled for vacation next week.  Hope everything is ok.