I am 50 years old. I should be in my warm bed, not shivering in my sleeping bag in the middle of a baseball field in Somewhere, Colorado. I've run over 17 miles of mountains earlier and I'm not done yet.
But, see, that's the point! I (we) do these things because they take us out of our warm and safe beds and into the wildness of the world around us. That's exactly why I do all of these crazy races and adventures. It forces me to the side of discomfort, which means it forces me into growth. It prevents complacency and boredom. It rocks your little world - chews you up and spits you out and leaves you yearning for more (or, maybe it's just me?)
The Colorado Ragnar Relay on August 25/26 was my seventh relay. My first was accidental, back in 2009, before I even knew what a relay was. I won a contest and was rewarded (<that's subjective) with a spot on a fast-as-shit Hood to Coast Team, where I certainly did not belong in terms of running experience and skill. I was tentative to go it alone, so they also welcomed Ken onto the team.
Ken and I were by far the slowest. We never changed our clothes over the 21 hours. We smelled and looked disheveled. I cried a couple of times and we felt completely out of our element. And, it was awesome. You can read those race reports HERE and HERE (yes, I've been blogging that long).
We came in 8th in 21:47.
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The infamous Mt. Hood
Fast forward to today. Over time, we've found a group of like minded friends who like to do this shit. If you really want to love or hate someone, spend 30 hours in a van with them. This group is like none other, and I adore them, sweaty balls and all.
From 2014 - Grand Tetons
In case you don't know how a running relay works - typically, you have 12 participants, 6 in each van. You take turns running and everyone has three different legs they run. Relays are usually about 200 miles long and take anywhere from 21 to 35 hours depending on the runners and the course.
We only had 10 runners instead of 12, so some of us took extra legs. I had four legs - my first one was at about 10 a.m. and was 10.4 miles. It was labeled as VERY HARD and I would agree with that given the distance, the elevation (10,000 feet) and the climbing (1,100 feet).
At mile 5 I almost crapped my pant and there was nowhere to hide. Somehow I controlled my colon and things stayed in tact. Thank you Jesus. After running up a mountain, I cruised along beautiful Lake Dillon and stopped to take some shots (pictures, not Fireball or tequila, although that would have been nice).
The run took me 1:40 - a 9:36 average pace.
After our van finished the first 6 legs, we drove to Edwards, CO, where we rested for about 5 hours until it was our turn to run again. By rested I mean drank a beer and took pictures of Ken and myself.
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Don't be jealous of my pillow case. Or, my neck
Our van was on the move again at about 10 p.m, so we all ran in the dark with headlamps and safety vests. My run was 6 miles at 1:00 a.m. I forget how much I love to run in the dark with the cool air and peacefulness (except for all of those cars coming at me - could do without them).
We rested again in a baseball field from 2:00 a.m. until 4:00 a.m. when it was time to run again. These were some of the most beautiful runs of the race as they were on more remote roads and the sun began to rise.
I promise you that coffee NEVER tastes as good as it does during a relay
Right before Ken's run, we got this text. Always comforting.
My last run was two legs combined for a total of 7 miles. Basically I was running on (fart) fumes by this time and pretty exhausted. We all were. We then headed to Snowmass to wait for Van #2 at the finish line.
So, obviously we are a coed team and old-ish. Usually we will notice other masters teams (masters means all are 40+ years old) participating. But this year we were one of six masters teams. And we came in 1st in this category with a finish time of 31 hours. GO in shape, geriatric, menopausal, ED people!
Then the drinking and storytelling started - the best part of the whole thing, IMHO.
My advice to you - be sure doing a relay is on your bucket list. These days you can pretty much choose a destination (Napa, Rocky Mountains, Cape Cod, Hawaii, etc) and there is a relay waiting for you. You will hate moments of it, but you will love most of it, trust me.
Ever run a relay before? Which one? Love or hate?
SUAR
