Sitting here at the Holiday Inn Express in Moab - soft bed, warm shower, AC, TV, yada, yada, yada…. all the luxuries of life. Now that I’m acclimated to 100 degree + weather, bathing in the Colorado river, sleeping on rock hard ground, eating camp food, and oh ya running 150 myles in the desert…. luxuries are overrated!

Stage 5 in the books. I won the stage (26.2 myles) in a time of 3.23:35 with 2500 ft of climbing. From the moment I woke up this morning I knew it was gonna be a good day; I was getting nervous and I had no stiffness. The only time I get nervous is when I really think (or strategize) about how I’m going to run.

The stage starts with a 1800 ft climb for 6 myles, not real steep but always going up. Since Allen is such a good climber I decided to put us both above the red line and see who could hold on. I got to the top in 55 minutes with Allen about 5 minutes behind. From this point the trail descends to the Porcupine rim trail 8 myles later. I poured it on! Mile 16 starts an out and back up 700 ft so it gave me a good indication where Allen was, he was now 12 minutes back. Last aid station at mile 20 I was feeling the best I had all day and decided that I wanted to see how fast I could do a 10k after 20 myles - ended up with 42.44 and had opened up a 17 minute gap on Allen. Allen came in around 3.40, which is still a phenomenal time!

In the end Allen wins the race with a time just under 22 hours and I came in 2nd with a time of just under 23 hours. It would have been nice to take home $1000 but my goal was to go under 24 hours - DONE! In that time I set new two stage records (stages 1 and 6). When I get home tomorrow I will reflect on the entire week from the people I met to the amazing terrain. For now though I am safe, I am happy, and I am extremely thankful to all my family and friends who have supported me. In particular I’d like to thank my Dad and nephew Conner who did an amazing job crewing me all week.

Hello friends! It’s Friday about noon and I’m sitting at Eddie McStiffs on my day off enjoying my favorite all natural earthy, hoppy beverage. Much needed! Obviously I haven’t had any cell coverage because we have been off the beaten path a bit. So without further delay here’s the story:

Stage 2 5.25, 101 degrees: 36 myles today. The stage was supposed to be 38 but the place where we were to set up camp was under water so we ended the stage a little short making the next day a little longer. I had predicted a time of 5.55 for the stage to keep me under 24 hours so my time was right in line for that. Allen and I ran together until mile 26 when the heat just slapped me up side the face! We were pushing and we knew it so I opted to stay below the red line and Allen continued on as he saw an opportunity - don’t blame him. I was reduced to a run/walk the last 6 myles because of the heat. Lost 19 minutes to Allen today that will be hard to make up because he is so smart and tough. Spent the rest of the day lounging at the Colorado river soaking my dogs because as Aric Manning would say “they were barking!”

Stage 3 1.25, 97 degrees: 11 myles today. The additional mileage was added today from yesterday, didn’t mind. Allen and I ran together today (again), no sense in sprinting on this stage for minimal gain. We both used it as a meter to test each others foot speed. I can say this with confidence, I have more foot speed and Allen is better longer - we both concur. Having said that, I have a feeling he’s gonna pour it on for the long stage. This stage has a little up and down along the Colorado river so it made it seem a little cooler, and because it was early in the day we avoided the heat of the day. We ended in a gentleman’s finish and called it a draw. Even though we didn’t want to push the pace it seems easier to go faster with someone of like speed. 24 hours is going down for both of us but how far under 24 hours?

Stage 4 9.46, 101 degrees: 52 myles today. This stage is what it’s all about! The most scenic, the most diverse, the most arduous! 10,000ft of elevation gain! This stage starts out in the slick rock canyons and ends high in the La Sal mountain range, some of the most beautiful terrain I have seen in my life.

The plan today was to go out nice and easy, stay together through 28 myles and who ever had something left would hit it. Turns out Allen had it and I didn’t. I am climbing very well but Allen is just really, really good climbing late in a race. Allen came in at 8.53, about an hour before me but he said he was running scared all day and had given it everything he had. After the race he told me that he saw me eat a PB sandwich and saw his opportunity. Eating food late in a race slows you down to digest so it takes blood away from circulation and him being a physician, he understands the dynamics. He put the hammer down on the second climb around mile 35 and never looked back. I tried to match his footsteps in the sand, which I did most of the time but he slowly pulled away setting a course stage record by 1 hour 25 minutes - remarkable! My predicted time for this stage was 9.55 so again I stayed within the 24 hour mark. Allen told me last night that he gets very nervous during the early part of every stage because I’m setting the pace and he’s hoping it doesn’t last. That makes me feel good because my plan was to take it out fast and burn him up a bit, obviously that hasn’t happened. Allen is the man!

Right now I’m on pace to hit the mid 23 hour range. I feel pretty good right now but the morning will tell the story. The stage tomorrow will take us along the porcupine rim trail and then drop us down into the famous slick rock trail. There is no chance I will catch Allen but remember in the beginning my goal was to under 24 hours and that’s exactly what I’ll do! I will give it everything I have tomorrow. I’ll post again tomorrow around 3 p.m. to give the final standings. I thank all of you for your support and look forward to chatting with you soon!

Stage 1 is in the books! The stage is 19 myles but I decided to put an extra mile in to make it an even 20…. Yep got lost in the last 3 myles.

Temps were hovering in the middle 90s by the time we started at 1:00 p.m. Thank goodness for the warm wind in our faces because it didn’t feel that hot. That is until we started running with the wind, it got hot real quick. I felt good enough to push the pace from the get go, in tow was Allen Belshaw who stayed about 3 minutes back all day. Come to find out, he was gonna let me go out and set the pace. I pushed as hard as I could all day trying to lose sight of him. He’s a pretty smart runner so towards the end I eased off.

Now back to getting lost: Coming down the last gravel road to Rabbit Valley I followed a yellow flag, which took me up a road for 1/2 mile and then dead ended. I turned around and looked down on the road I was on and saw Allen cruise past. I gave it everything I had to catch him, caught up with him and we came in virtually together. Actually he let me go ahead 10 seconds because of my unfortunate turn. 2.45 turns out to be the course record for stage 1. I hope I didn’t over do it and can preform tomorrow. I need to get under 6 hours tomorrow to stay on course to go under 24 hours. Daily results can be found @ www.geminiadventures.com. We did not use SPOT today but they should be updating the website as I write this. Stay tuned…