Joe,

Thanks for everything you did for the Burning River this past weekend.  It was such a great race and everything was perfect.

I finished this year in 26:57 after dropping last year at the Merriman Rd Aid Station due to vertigo.  It felt so good to finally get across that finish line.  That had been haunting me all year long.

Could you please mail me my finishers medal?  I was unable to attend the awards ceremony since I couldn't get out of bed.  Incidently, I had some severe pain in my lower right leg and went to the ER on Sunday afternoon where it was diagnosed as simply shin splints.  By Monday morning though, the swelling and redness in my leg told me that proably wasn't what was going on.  A visit with Dr. Shah on Monday afternoon quickly escalated to emergency surgery by 8pm for acute compartment syndrome in my leg.  So needless to say I'll be on the mend for a while.

I don't know if my wife will let me run again next year, but I have a whole year to work on convincing her.  Though if I can't run next year, you can count on me to volunteer for sure.

Thanks again to you and all your terrific volunteers for an awesome weekend.

Matt Kee  #79

130 Cedar Woods Dr.

Cuyahoga Falls, OH 44223

P.S. If you were wondering about all the sirens a few minutes before 8, it's because I am a Lieutenant for CFFD there at Station 1 and they heard I was coming in.  They pulled out the trucks and gave me a welcome home finish I'll never forget.  Totally cool!