Stay the Course!

So I decided that my first race of the year would be this low-key event called Moab's Red Hot 50k+. What I didn't realize is that the + could mean more than what was advertised as a 34 miler (50k's are about 31 miles), it would have many meanings by the end of the day.
I was really anxious to to run on solid ground and have some decent footing for a change. I have been running on so much ice, snow and mud this winter that I have forgotten what dry dirt feels like under foot.

Everything was going well for the first part of the race, legs felt great, feet were fine, and my stomach was stable. I was in about 5th position at the 20 mile mark with 2 other guys when we decided that we didn't like the current course that we were on. We didn't make the conscious decision to go off course, but we did ignore the red flagging that indicated it was the wrong way. A mile and a half later we decided it would be better to stay on the intended course. I later learned that we weren't the only runners who got off course as it was sometimes difficult to know which way to go on the long sandstone sections. I guess I'll just say that I really got my money's worth after my GPS showed a total of 37.7 miles instead of the standard 34. I will also notch it up as a good learning experience on a great course. I recorded about 4600' vertical for the day over the 5 1/2 hours that I was out there having a great time.