Big, Long Thing (26.2+) #41 for the year, the Azalea 24-Hour Race in Ravine Gardens State Park in Palatka, Florida. The concept: race starts at 8 AM, you keep going until 24 hours later, or you don’t care to go anymore. Course is a 2 mile loop, plenty of opportunity to visit the aid stations and restroom. Only about 60 people participating between the 50 miler, the 12 hour, and the 24 hour races. The first 20 miles went relatively quickly. The tedium of the loops started to get to me by 30, and by 40 I really had no interest in continuing. I did one more loop in the dark to see if that would make it more interesting; it didn’t. 42 miles was enough, so I cashed in my chip and started the 5 hour drive home to my bed. It kind of sucks to have quit, but I do this because I have fun and I would’ve had more fun at home. So my distance PR remains 50 miles. Fun fact: The state gem of Florida is moonstone, a form of feldspar that is not natural to the state, nor found on the moon
