I was excited to race this event again this year after winning it last year while preparing for Ironman Florida. I really wanted to use the event as a 
gauge of my 2008 fitness vs. 2007, and was pleased at the end when I stopped the clock at 1:10:20, over 90 seconds than the course record I set last year.Thanks goes to Morgan Ramey who showed up and kept me honest all day. He started in the wave behind mine, and was in the virtual lead ( I was actually at the front, but he lead as he begun the race in a wave 2 minutes down from mine) for a good portion of the race.
He is quite a speedy rider and his bike split was nearly 2 minutes faster than mine on the rolling hills of Northern Alabama/Georgia. Luckily my swim and run were faster than his, and with a couple of miles at ~5:30 I was able to secure the win and set a new course record.
Overall, I had a great time. The RD's were so kind to put me up in a very nice cabin, right on the water. I wish I had stayed longer.
