It was April 15 and I was up at 5:00 am getting prepared for the first race of the year. On the drive to Mansfield where the race was being held I relaxed and got myself prepared. It had been nice and warm for the previous week and on race day it was cold and raining. But at least I was ready and brought all of my riding gear. It was the first race in the Ontario XC Marathon Series put on by Substance Projects. My coach was there as well as some of my teammates. I was doing the half marathon in preparation for the Ontario Cup which was the following weekend. It did feel a bit weird dong the Half Marathon since I am used to do the full distance. My coach and all of his athletes went and did a warm up just before the race. After the warm up I went and did my final preparations and then headed to the start line. I lined up right behind my coach and on the right of him were my two teammates, Thomas and Scott. The start buzzer went off and the start was hard and fast. After the first few co