R2P 2007

Relay day began with the gathering of runners. Rob and Steve arrived at our house, we loaded our box on top of Steve's Expedition and our gear inside and went to get Jenny. Rick was with Van 1 up on the mountain - he was getting them signed in and running George C's first leg, then George ran Rick's first leg later. We made our way to the first major exchange where we finally got to meet Annette. Annette found our blogs last year after the R2P - we discovered we had both run it a few weeks before, so it was fitting that we got to meet at this year's race.

We spent our wait time chatting with Annette and her teammate Kristina, putting on sunscreen and decorating our van - which was really the infamous Yeti that has faithfully carried us to many races this year. Van 1 pulled in, handed Rick over to us, and shortly after Emily came cruising in, and Rob took off. It was pretty hot out, so we divided each leg into thirds, and waited with water. Sometimes the water was used to drink, sometimes to pour over our heads. Our race was going well, and we were holding third spot in the nine o'clock start group. Our leg order was Rob, Jenny, Eric, Steve, me, Rick.

We came into the best exchange point of all - the one where Wendy and Sonya were performing our volunteer duties. We had fun chatting with them, then we were off again. Steve was out running when we drove into heavy traffic in Yelm. Rob was driving and could see Steve in the rear view mirror, getting closer and closer. He'd say "There's Steve", I'd say "Oh, Sh*t!" I had told Rob the only thing I needed was to get to the exchange with time to use the porta-potty before the hand-off. The next thing we knew, Steve was even with us and it was obvious he was going to beat us to the exchange. Eric and I hopped out at a stoplight, in the middle of traffic, and darted to the sidewalk. Steve and I slapped hands and I took off. Unfortunately, I took off to the South and I needed to go West another block. They called me back and Eric and I ran down to the real exchange - we'd been a block early. Eric got me to the trail (no potty stop!) By this time, the van had made it to the right spot and Rob and Rick were on the trail with my water bottle and cool-down scarf. I had a great run - a long, deserted paved trail with nice shady stretches. The van met me twice with water - I'd drink a little and pour the rest over my head. The second stop included Van 1. I handed over my bottle and scarf here - I was soaked through and needed to lighten my load a little. I finished my 5.49 mile leg with an 11:43 average pace. I was very happy with that, and even happier that I did it without a single heart/heat problem (unlike last year, where they had to pull me from the course). I handed off to George so he could make up Rick's leg.

We took this opportunity to get some dinner. We ate in kind of a greasy spoon in a small town - where Rob managed to put away "the Mound" - a burger of gigantic proportions. This became the source of much hilarity for the rest of the weekend. After that we drove to Elma. We tried to rest a little here. I'm not going to say much about the organization of the race, except to say that there wasn't much of it. Our team took the one-hour layover we'd been assigned, something many other teams did not do. This meant driving back along the course for the next van exchange, letting Rob run his leg (which involved primal screams between the males in the car) and then stopping in Elma for an hour. I will admit, I tried to get Steve to let Jenny go three minutes early. For just a few minutes, I let my integrity get pushed aside in the desire to get moving. Steve held on though and didn't release her until the final minute had passed. Steve is a man of values.

Rob ran with Jenny for the second, dark leg. By this time it was sometime around 12:30 am. Jenny handed off to Eric, Eric handed off to Steve. As usual, we stopped midway to wait. After a while Eric came running over to tell us that Steve must have made a wrong turn because too many people had come through. We jumped in the car and backtracked to the turn. No Steve. We were sure he wouldn't have made the wrong turn - we had talked about it ahead of time. Rob said we needed to go to the exchange - as we pulled up we could see Steve waiting. Once again, I jumped out of the car and began running, with Eric following. I didn't get my Garmin going in time, so have no official stats for this leg - but my time was right around 37:33 by my watch, and it was 3.5 miles, giving me a 10:43 pace. Eric ran with me. The only part I didn't like was a short section where the road had been torn out and it was all lumpy, bumpy and big round gravel. Fortunately, that piece was short and I got back on pavement. As we were approaching the pavement, the van pulled up alongside and Jenny sang "On the road again" to me. I had a successful hand off to Rick, and after his leg was over we were done for the night. Turns out Steve ran by Eric and even said something to him, but Eric was star-gazing or something, and missed him.

We went to the next major exchange, where Eric, Rob and Steve rolled sleeping bags out on the grass and Jenny, Rick and I slept in the van. We got two hours in before we had to be up and ready to go again. The highlight of this run was probably the donut incident during Eric's run - Rob ran along side him offering up a box of powdered sugar-raspberry filled donuts. Eric grabbed one and tried to jam the whole thing in his mouth which caused a donut explosion. See Jenny's blog for pictures of the aftermath. And don't forget - that was mid-leg. We had to drive by and hand him water and a towel after that. Jenny ran the next leg - she and Steve switched. They said it was because Jenny is trying to heal her injured knee and ankle and Steve had the easier leg. I suspect it was really done so I could have one calm and normal hand-off. Jenny and I actually had a successful wave-off from across the street.

During Jenny's run Eric, Rob and Steve gave me a, well, I'll call it a pep-talk. We were running about 15 minutes behind our projected pace and as the second-to-last runner, I was told it was up to me to make up the time. Eric told me to "red-line" my heart rate monitor. I knew they were joking and trash-talking, but I decided to take them up on it. I didn't quite make up the time, but I did turn in a world-record time for me: a 9:50 average pace! 3.32 miles, mile one was a 10:05, mile two a 9:45, mile three a 9:50, and a 9:22 for the final .32 miles - and these paces included my one-minute walk breaks. This was my personal highlight of the weekend. I can also tell you, that I couldn't have held that pace one moment longer - I gave it everything I had, my heart rate monitor was beeping at me the entire way (don't worry though it was holding right around 161 and my imposed limit is 160).

We drove to the finish where Eric, Jenny, Steve and I went out to the beach to meet Rick and run the last few blocks in with him. Apparently, as the last runner, he got the "pep-talk" too - only Rob told him he had to get it done in 45 minutes - a slight untruth. Rick turned in a great time too. When we saw him coming down the beach, Eric ran out to meet him, then the rest of us joined him at the turn. I have to tell you, I couldn't keep up. I was really glad when Steve and Jenny slowed to a walk and I caught up and walked in with them. I had nothing left from my own leg.

I can't remember our final finish time - 23 hours and something. I am thrilled with the times I pulled in, and especially that they kept improving through the relay - on only two hours of sleep (and on 4.5 hours the night before!)

We had a little snafu at the end and Van 1 missed the finish. We met up at breakfast, got to catch up for a few minutes, then of the 12 of us, seven headed for Rob's family beach house, while the rest headed for home. We had a relaxing time at the house, including a three mile run on the beach this morning, and made it home at about 4:00 this afternoon. It was a great weekend - check with Emily, Rob, Jenny and Eric for their stories, and check the comments for Steve's remarks. Hey, maybe Rick will even throw one in!

I've given you the highlights of the weekend, not the whole story - remember, what happens in the van stays in the van! And to finish, a picture of Jenny and Steve whining on the beach...