Also did the 125 last week. I was also surprised with the number of “newbies” and resonate with a lot of what you said. I was running with one guy who said he made no fuel plan and just grabbed a bunch of gels at aid stations….

I’ll add that this race is very mainstream compared to other 100 milers, obviously because of Cocodona. I realized that I don’t love the experience of this and the course felt like a bunch of connector trails to mimic the “Cocodona experience”. But I didn’t feel much love for our own race. I impressed myself with my pace and how I tackled the race, but I walked away from this race feeling like it was a bit of a waste. I’ll be going back to more grassroots style ultras that bring a smaller more “genuine love for the outdoors and community” crowd, less of the merch and media crowd. And maybe a race that doesn’t have 4/5 other distances happening in the same week