It's warming up

Just a bit after 8 hours out here in the desert. After three laps the men's lead changed to Andrew Heard, with Jeff Riley hanging tough and early leader Todd Braje having some issues and dropping back to third, but only 7 minutes behind Andrew. Women's leader Jamie Donaldson is now sixth overall, trailed by 30 minutes by Deborah Livingston, who is five minutes ahead of former race winner Michelle Barton. Conditions are pretty ideal, though a bit warm--the temperature just passed 80 degrees, about 10 degrees or so below last year at this time. Still, this is the time for runners to just hang on for a lap or so until the sun goes down a little after 5:30 tonight, about 3 hours from now. Once it does, things will cool off quickly and those with gas left in the tank can start to roll. -- Dave Combs