OK, so it’s the land of the midnight sun. I am told that there are a few hours of darkness, but I don’t believe I saw them last night. Blackout drapes don’t work and are certainly not a staple inclusion of the RTP-provided tents. The airplane blindfold will be my friend for the next week. This was not exactly something I expected in my preparations, but not surprising, and easy to fix. May any other upcoming challenges be the same.

I slept hard anyhow, even though my body said ‘WTF?! Time zones, Iris!’ as I tried to get on schedule with an early 5:30 wake-up.

Better than caffeine: hitting the breakfast room and seeing so many patches representing countries of the world. Friendly faces, although a little timid to start, until I found a few old friends from the Patagonia race. Always fun to reconnect and start sharing concerns about rain, weather, packing. And a good reminder on flags and which countries they are!

The Finns are an interesting crew. They are not outwardly engaging or friendly, but as soon as you have an opportunity to connect, they are right there with you. As you walk down the street nobody is making eye contact to give you a smile or a hello. But should you reach out and make that connection, there they are: smiling, helpful, and happy to speak in English. What an interesting way about them.