Looking over people's splits, it was clearly a map on which big mistakes were easy to make. Kudos for running (what looks like) a pretty clean race. Good luck in the long and sprint.
Thanks. Just got back from the Long. I ran Red today even though I figured I would OT. It was close---3 hours 9 minutes. Also, I was the last Red X finisher. (Hammer won M45 in 1:10!!!)
The middle was scary in a lot of places. It was definitely a championship-quality middle course.
My choice to do Red means I'm probably toast for the sprint. I'll be bummed if I have to walk it, but I wouldn't change doing the Red. Totally worth it.