Final Thoughts: 1 Day Until Hardrock!

Needless to say, the last several days have been unbelievably fun and exciting, and the pre-race nerves of tackling my next Mt. Everest-sized challenge have hit me like a ton of bricks.

The official start of the 2010 Hardrock 100 is less than 24 hours away (19, according to the counter above!) and I'm writing this from the coffee shop in Silverton, a mere 2 blocks away from where the adventure of a lifetime starts, and (hopefully) finishes.

Here's what's new since I last wrote:

1. Karl Meltzer a.k.a. 'Mr. Hardrock' posted his official Hardrock race predictions, with odds, on his blog, and there I was! Karl gave Brooks Williams 7-1 odds to win.... the only problem was, it was for the womens' divinsion!! Not knowing 'Brooks Williams' gender, he assumed I was a chick! After some friendly razzing, he apologetically changed his prediction and gave me 15-1 odds in the mens' division. If nothing else, thanks to Karls' goof, now people will recognize my name at the race! In case you don't already know who Karl Meltzer is, he has won the Hardrock 100 race 5 times, and is going for number 6 tomorrow. Check out his blog!
2. I was contacted last Saturday by photographer Christian Murdoch from the local paper, the Colorado Springs Gazette. Through a mutual friend he'd heard about my story and that I was doing Hardrock this weekend. Within 48 hours I was being interviewed and photographed. Within 72 hours I was on the front page of the paper! Below are a couple of the pics he took, and here's a link to the article.
3. And finally, I arrived in Silverton on Tuesday night, and since I've been here have snapped a few photos of my own. See below.

         

         

         

         

The next time I write I'll hopefully be among the small but prestigious group of runners who can call themselves 'Hardrock Hundred' finishers!

Anxious and nervous,

Brooks