In the final stretch...

A shuttle, a hike down with beautiful vistas of nothing but a wide expanse of trees, & we checked in with the boys at 10:30, coming up from the river crossing with headlamps bobbing in the darkness. They were in good spirits and refueled before taking off for the last 20-mi stretch. We learned that the winner, Tim, finished in 14:45 (ish) - setting a course record. After a climb back out with our own headlamps & a sky painted with thousands of stars & an orange sliver of moon against the silhouetted ridge, we crammed onto yet another shuttle, wound up the curvy road back into town, and are checking into the hotel before heading back out to run in the last mile - very hopeful for that silver buckle 24-hr race and most likely a bit before. Hard to believe Mike has been out on the trail for 19 hours now - this morning's departure at Squaw seems so far away... Looking forward to the end for lots of reasons, including cheering Mike & Alex through the finish line & finally getting some sleep!