Coldwater In Your Veins

This is a LAST PERSON STANDING race. What does that mean? Well this is a story all about how. . .
You get 2 hours to do the 7.7 mile Coldwater Loop with 1200' of vertical gain/loss. Every 2 hours, the loop/lap starts over again.
You don't make it back to the runners corral by the next 2 hour start: DQ
You aren't in the runner's corral at all by the start of the next loop: DQ
You have to have 2 runners minimum on each loop or the race doesn't continue. The winner has to complete the last loop that the 2nd place runner doesn't complete.
For example:
-2 runners start, but 1 turns around and comes back to start after a mile. 1 runner completes that loop. They are declared the winner. Not allowed to continue on their own
- 2 runners start a loop, both complete the loop but one finishes outside the time limit. The 1st place runner needs to complete the next loop to be declared the winner. If they don't, everyone is DQ'd and no winner is declared.