After a long day of watching and helping out along the race course, we (Tori, Heather and I) decided to try to make our way down to the finish line to watch for a while.
We opted for showers and food and didn't make it to the fairgrounds until 9:30. The front runners had been ahead of last years times all day, so we thought we had missed the first of them. Well we got to the stadium to find out that they had just left Franciscos! Boy were we surprised. So we packed up the stuff and headed across the street to the official finish line.
We got there, and stood, waiting, expecting someone to come in any minute. Well, we waited, and we waited. Over an hour later at 10:59 here came Potato Richardson. 1st place. His horse looked tired, but bright eyed, and not in any trouble.
At 11:09, in rode Marcia Smith, and she trotted by. She had left Foresthill in 4th place and 36 minutes behind Potato and had made up all of that time. All of the top ten horse and rider teams made it in within the first hour. We watched until about 1am, but not having a specific rider to crew for,Heather and I decided to make our way to our pillows.
What a great day. Exciting and sad, all rolled into one. Hope for those still out on trail. Condolences for those who for today at least the trail won. All of the riders that I spoke with or their crews, just said it was better for them to pull if in doubt rather than risk it on this trail. There was no particular thing. No one reason. But all of the riders had put their horses first. They would rather take their horses home to try again another day, rather than risk any permanent damage to their horses.
Finish or not, these people are all winners in my mind....