My 16th Howl at the Moon Ultra?

The annual Kennekuk Road Runner "Howl at the Moon" 8-Hour ultra is this Saturday. It's the event's 25th anniversary! If I run, it'll be my 16th Howl at the Moon race. Until last night, it looked like I'd be in Chicago for the weekend. Now that trip is delayed. I am free to run Howl! It's my favorite race of all time and I'm almost trained. The last few weeks have been half-marathon focused training, rather than ultra, but I think I'm still ready. This could be the year I turn it around (the last 2 races have been my worst ever).

Here are my lifetime statistics for the Howl race (15 finishes):

Total miles: 603.95
Average miles: 40.26
Best miles: 47.06 (2006, 2008)
Worst miles: 23.03 (2016)
Best placing: 12th (208 finishers, 2005)
Worst placing: 245th (298 finishers, 2016)

I'm already past 600 lifetime Howl miles. Now it's a march toward 700 miles and eventually 1,000 miles! If the weather forecast is correct (high of 80F, sunny, but dry), I can crush 40+ miles this weekend. Doubt I'll approach my best ever mileage (47 miles), but it will be MUCH better than last year's dismal 23 miles when I dropped out after 4 hours. Sad. Time to get a finish I'm proud of at Howl. Good luck to all the Howlers this Saturday.