Process stuck on Contains/Not Contains assertion

Hi.  I am having a problem.  I have a TestSuite that I have been using for a while now without any problems  For some reason I have several tests that are getting stuck on either a Contains or Not Contains assertion.  In debug mode I can see the process stuck on the assertion step.  It will sit on this step until I stop the process.  I have let it run as long as 60 minutes.

Contains Assertion (See attached screen shot)--> (?s).*${#TestCase#errorDesc}.*

Not Contains Assertion (See attached screen shot) --> (?s).*${#TestCase#errorDesc}.*

#TestCase#errorDesc  contains the word ‘Unmarshalling’. (See attached screen shot)

No errors in the Ready! API log.

I don’t have any errors in any of the ...readyapi/logs.

I’ve checked the response for XML reserved characters.  Everything has been escaped.

I am using Ready! API 1.8.0.

Are there any additional places I can check for error or processing information?

The response is lengthy – 23302 lines/1.04MB.  Could that be the issue?  That seems crazy that it would take more than an hour for a simple Contains/Not Contains.  Actually more than that - I stop it after an hour.  Something else is going on.  Any ideas?

Thank you,

Angie