I just got back from there. Sorry, i dont have any results but it was damn hot. the guy that won, dont know name, was 9 minutes up on his first climb of Sugar Loaf and 17 minutes up on his second pass.

My brother's body shut down on him, while he was in the top 15 OA on the bike and a friend of mine was in the top ten until he missed the full distance turn around on the run and ran an extra 2.5 miles.

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Yes

The results are now posted @

http://sommersports.com/...efault.asp?event=gft

No Grogan at GFT?

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What if the Hokey Pokey is what it is all about?

Did ST's swimfan actually race GFT as he alluded earlier? If so does anyone know how he did?

updated results are up now too. Last night they posted results up 'til about 13 hr finish.

http://www.sommersports.com/...6gft&file=fdivis

...any info as to if the swim start was delayed?

I was at a water stop most of the day and way into the night.... was looking for swimfan. One dude, at about 11pm, scoffed at the people wanting a cookie. That may have been him.

tough day.

Chip,

I was wondering the same thing too..! Grogan did appear on the Entry List. Check it out..

http://www.sommersports.com/...ploads/gftalpha.html

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Paul..

I swear I saw Grogan come out the water....about 5th or 6th out....don't see him on the results though.

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Jerry: What you're suggesting is illegal.
Kramer: It's not illegal!
Jerry: It's against the law.
Kramer: Well, yeah.

Yeah it was damn hot out there, I was bad at the start having woken up at 2am with major indigestion...and it just got worse all day. I was okay on the bike, but got dehydrated early and never recovered, let's just say I was very familiar with every porta-potty on the run course. I went past Kevin at about mile 65 on SR19, he came out to water stop 6 with Manny and co. He said he just hadn't done enough long rides this year. Hell, it was kicking my butt enough and he was probably 20-30 minutes ahead of me for the entire first lap.

My bike computer read 102F near Sugarloaf on the 2nd lap...record highs yesterday and probably today too.

I don't know how many people started the race yet, I forgot to ask Fred...but there were only 261 finishers. I think that's about 40% DNFs. Ouch!

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sorry to nag.....but was the swim start delayed?

The conditions this weekend in Central Florida were miserable: windy, hot and humid. I was at the CATS water station with Grogan, Manny, Beasterling and a few others, and you could see some serious suffering on most everyone's face. I got seriously dehydrated just "manning" the station in the height of the heat for several hours (which followed several hours on a tennis court). Lots of walking going on, many of my buds were about one+ hour off of pace. My ride today was equally nasty. And get this: cold front moves through tomorrow. Odd weekend. The guy that won came in at 9:43, which is about one hour off his PB.

The swim start was delayed a little, maybe 3 or 4 minutes , dont know why.

Hottest I have ever been- and I live in the tropics, my slowest Half ever and I can count on one hand the number of folks who passed me on the run. Pretty poor aid stations too, the volunteers were amazing but the poor guy all on his own at the third bike stop had queues of cyclists screaming for stuff...

Nice course, but unfortunately too hot to enjoy will post RR later- never did see swimfan out there though

Weeman

How did swimfan do?

The first group hit the water at 7:30:23 (our cameras are set to the atomic clock and is updated each time we connect the bodies to download the images). Differences shown on personal watches (which usually are not set using the atomic clock) might show a variation of a few minutes. Right now, this is all I am going to type about regarding the race. Will do a RR later in the week.
Mark

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Mark E. Lepow
Owner, Lepow Photo, lepowphoto.com
"Quality at a Reasonable Price"
Winter Garden, Fl.

[reply] Pretty poor aid stations too, the volunteers were amazing but the poor guy all on his own at the third bike stop had queues of cyclists screaming for stuff...[/reply]

Actually when I went by the first time there were supplies but no volunteers. I mentioned this to Fred...I think. Anyway, self serve is better than dying. :)

I had to walk the entire first lap of the "run" on the full because of major stomach problems, and there were no more than 5 or 6 people that passed me on the run. I was shocked. I think a lot of people came back from the bike course and just went home. :(

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Wow sounds like a really tough day. Did GFT a couple of times. Always thought as a mid-westerner with little chance to accilmate it was a tough race, but temps at 100 or better!! Wow. Survival is a good thing. Congrats to all who toed the line.

I was out there for the half, and just melted down..walked most of the run. 40 minutes slower than last year, and I'm in much better condition..oh well.

I feel a little better knowing everyone else was in the same boat o' suffering. :)

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Kendall Frederick

Orange Park, FL

I got to Sugarloaf at 11 am and cheered for a while. The FOP of the Full and the Half had gone through, so I watched the MOP and the BOP. Saw lots of walkers. I don't think the weather helped any. Many complained of cramping.

Kudos for all who finished. You had to want it to finish on Saturday.

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BottomFeeder -

Speaking as one of the walkers, I appreciated the cheering. (I was at Sugarloaf sometime around 12, I guess--were you there that long?) I wish I'd known who you were, although probably just as well I didn't, because I might've been tempted to stop and chat. :)

Susan

Hi Susan,

How'd you do??? Did you survive? As I said, kudos to all who survived, even those who walked Sugarloaf. It definitely took guts to race in that heat out there.

I was the shirtless Asian with the black and white dog mid-way up on Sugarloaf. Did you see me?

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BottomFeeder -

I saw people sitting in folding chairs. Were you in that group? I think I also remember seeing a dog. I didn't look carefully at the people, not imagining I might actually know any of them!!

Re: how I did. I don't know yet. I did just the bike leg of the FL Challenge as part of a relay team, and last time I looked, the relay results weren't up yet.

Re: the heat. I can imagine GFT people wilting on the second lap of the bike and on the run. I was thankful to be done with my piece before the heat really kicked in.

Susan

Cool. Mustabeen my dog, Spotty Girl. I don't remember seeing any other dog out there.

Congrats on your race.

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Thanks. I really had fun. There was a lot of stuff I learned here that helped make it such a good experience--will post about that in a separate thread later, maybe.

Susan