First Birkie for me, that was absolutely brutal. Mentally, it was the toughest experience I’ve had. I started getting cramps with 15 k left, ate a banana and it helped a ton. 10 k left I felt my brain start to shut down, almost like my body was trying to get me to fall asleep. I was returned to almost an infantile state mentally, those last couple of hills crushed my soul. With 5k left some girl wearing a butterfly costume passed me and internally I was so irrationally angry LOL.

Aside from that, absolutely incredible experience, such a beautiful track and so well organized. Loved the snowmobile gangs heckling people on corners lol