#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
int findmin(int arr[],int *loc,int n)
{
int min=arr[0];*loc=0;
for(int i=1;i<n;i++)
if(arr[i]<min)
{
min=arr[i];
*loc=i;
}
return min;
}
void del(int arr[],int loc,int *n)
{
for(int i=loc;i<*n;i++)
arr[i]=arr[i+1];
*n-=1;
}
int main() {
int n;
cin>>n;
int arr[n];
for(int i=0;i<n;i++)
cin>>arr[i];
int itr=n,i,cost=0;
for(i=0;i<itr-1;i++)
{
int loc,min;
min=findmin(arr,&loc,n);
if(loc==0)
cost+=arr[loc+1];
else
if(arr[loc-1]<arr[loc+1]||loc==n-1)
cost+=arr[loc-1];
else cost+=arr[loc+1];
del(arr,loc,&n);
}
cout<<cost<<endl;
return 0;
}
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