Texas State marathon series race #1-Holidaze marathon

Lets get it out right now......it was cold! The night before in Kerrville, Ed and I didn't think it was too bad. Even the next morning out of the hotel lobby, a bit chilly, but doable. When we got out to Camp Eagle, it was 19 degrees. So me walking around in shorts and my Crocs was a bit odd.
The warm up was key, so I set up the trainer in the sun and got a good 15 minute spin in before the start. I lined up 2nd row behind the pro guys, and after the start was in the first group of ten out through the back side of the camp and into the single track sections.
The course was super technical and rough. There were roots, rocks, rock ledges, small drops, etc. This was easily the toughest course I've raced so far. I certainly don't wish to see anything tougher.
Within the first couple miles we were into this lovely terrain and it never stopped, with the exception of starting the next loop, which we did 3 of. My first lap didn't feel the greatest, I was riding OK and getting used to the terrain, all while riding in a group which made it tough to make out a good line (just hope the guy in front of you is smooth). Once we got into some of the climbs I was able to make some moves up a bit. The doozy climb of the day featured a 100yd hike-a-bike section that no one rode, even on the first lap. Once again, it featured some of the tasty rock that littered the course.
Through the feed zone, where Ed had me all dialed, I made up a few spots by just taking another bottle and rolling on to lap 2. I rode with a few other guys most of lap 2, in which we were in 4-7 place. I felt we actually picked up the pace a bit on this lap, I think just getting familiarized with the course helped and getting pushed by your competitors doesn't hurt either. We dropped 7th place towards the end of lap 2 and back into the feed zone again, just a bottle of Infinit and a Clif shot while rolling through, found me in fourth heading out onto lap 3.
The pounding was taking a toll on my upper body, but my legs felt good. Back around to the upper portion of the course and the hike-a-bike section, I'm riding in 4-5th with a local guy who was super smooth through the techy sections so I let him lead through. I made a couple mistakes in a couple sections in which he gapped me a bit, and likely a few more mistakes that added up, because I was about a minute behind him once we got back down by the river and I could see him.
I gave it one more good push up through the next climb, but if I didn't catch him by the top, he most likely had me on the descent. Almost to the top, I saw a shadow on the trail, but it was coming at me not away from me. Just then, here comes this huge buck around the corner, about 30yds ahead of me and closing.......fast. There was no need to react, he did all that by taking a hard left into the brush like he had just seen one of his hunter friends. That could have been ugly for sure.
No more sign of 4th(or the buck for that matter), so I made sure not to make any mistakes for the last few miles to the finish. Crossed the line 1st in 30-39 open, 5th overall in a time of 4hrs 36min., just 2.5 minutes out of 4th. I did get some grocery money out of the deal, and my goal was to win my class, so all's good. Totals were: 46 miles, 4,000' of climbing total. I lost count of the roots and rocks total, believe me , they were there.
Got some huge thanks to lay down to Ed for being my crew for the day. I just had to worry about racing, he took care of everything else. That is until the keg was tapped afterwards, then he kept drooling all over everything. Thanks for the help Ed, we'll do it again.

Here's some shots

Warming up

Ready to roll

We're off

Into the feed zone

Finished!