It was and early start, 4:30 AM, but all smiles this morning before we started the paddling section on Day 1 of the Ultimate XC. With a claimed 34 miles of paddling ahead, we new it was going to be a tough day. At the race  briefing the night before the race director said “Anyone who knows me knows I’m not good with distances” so we weren’t really sure if that was an accurate estimate or not. After the day was done, several folks with GPS’s measured 40 miles. I hope the distances for the run and the bike aren’t off by that much.