Standing alone in our tiny, two-room, bathroomless cabin in Winthrop on race morning, I took a step, felt a twinge atop my thigh, and collapsed, which didn’t seem like a great start to my Cutthroat Classic 2017 adventure. Even worse: it happened twice more before I’d even made my way to the start line. Less than a week earlier, seven friends and I completed a team total of 126 miles with 36,000 feet of climb at Crystal Mountain Resort at Ragnar Trail Rainier. I knew that racing back to back weekends was a bad idea, but I had been looking forward to seeing the view from the top and wasn’t going to let a skinned knee or my fear of falling get in the way.

To read the rest of Julee Rudolf’s blog, Island Unseen, go to https://juleerudolfblog.wordpress.com/2017/09/05/bad-news-free-shoes-spectacular-views/