What an adventure!...
As usual with relays, the race experience is enhanced by the teamwork dimension. And it is a lot of fun!
I had not been able to find friends to form a full team for this relay, so I left my contact information on the race website and I was contacted by a team 2 to 3 weeks before the race. Of course I jumped on the opportunity to participate in this promising race, a 195 mile race in the incomparably scenic landscapes of southern Utah.
The course begins at Capitol Reef National park and ends at the top of Zion National Park. The majority of the course is along Utah’s only “All-American Road” which passes through Dixie National Forest, over Boulder Mountain, through Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Bryce Canyon National Park, Red Canyon, and by Anasazi state park, Ecalante Petrified State Park, and Kodachrome State Park.
I had not done a lot of running to prepare for this race but with my triathlon training I was more than in shape to join a novice running team.
My team mates were recreational runners that had had minimal preparation for the race.
The race took place of 2 days and one night of continuous running (6/28/13 to 6/29/13) with a team comprised of 12 runners and 2 support cars (we actually had 3 cars).
I was assigned to sub-team / car #1 with Dawnelle (a weight lifting 30ish year old woman), Nancy, 47, the most experienced runner of the team, Paxton 19 ( used to play sport but now a smoker with asthma and hardly any running background), Nina 16 and Denis 14 both of which had been running for a few months).
The second sub-team was a bit older in age (almost all in their 30ies but not much more experienced in running. Gordon, 52 was the most experienced runner of this group).
The fact that I was the most "hard core" and probably the fastest runner in the team put less pressure on me but I really wanted to perform well to help as much as I could.
I got the chance to kick off the race at 5am on 6/28/30. My leg assignment was tough but not the toughest of all. I was runner#1 and the most difficult assignment was for runner #2 (Denis). Since we had some uncertain and slightly injured runners in the group I had proposed my friend Florian, a very fast runner to join the team. I was supposed to be runner #2, however, at the last minute he cancelled and we maintained the assignments.
My leg assignments were
#1 - 9.4 miles rated Super hard with a 1262 ft gain
#13 - 7.0 miles rated Very hard with 758 ft gain
#25 - 3.3 miles rated Easy with 299 gain
We ended shuffling the assignments a bit and I helped a few runners in the team that were either too tired or too much in pain to run.
I ended up running the following:
-Leg 1,
-leg 13,
-end of Nina's leg 15 (2 miles) (she was in so much pain because her shoes were to small,
-leg 18 with Dawnelle (3.6 miles) (she was a bit scared to run alone at night so I ran with her),
-leg 30 (5.8 miles with 805 ft climb, rated very hard. Gosh that hill was tough at the end!...),
-beginning of leg 32 (about 0.5 miles - Meredith's leg : she was not ready at the start of the leg)
-end of Gordon's leg 36 and last leg of race, about 2 miles. It was so hot that afternoon (107F when I started this leg) that we decided to help Gordon out. 3 different runners helped run that leg.
The team allowed me to finish the race for them which was so nice of them and such an honor.
The whole race was a joy. I ran about 32 miles total, felt great, no sign of injury or fatigue the next day and I met a great bunch a people. AWESOME!
I took a few picture during the second day of the race but unfortunately, I missed the first day (no batteries)...
As usual with relays, the race experience is enhanced by the teamwork dimension. And it is a lot of fun!
I had not been able to find friends to form a full team for this relay, so I left my contact information on the race website and I was contacted by a team 2 to 3 weeks before the race. Of course I jumped on the opportunity to participate in this promising race, a 195 mile race in the incomparably scenic landscapes of southern Utah.
The course begins at Capitol Reef National park and ends at the top of Zion National Park. The majority of the course is along Utah’s only “All-American Road” which passes through Dixie National Forest, over Boulder Mountain, through Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Bryce Canyon National Park, Red Canyon, and by Anasazi state park, Ecalante Petrified State Park, and Kodachrome State Park.
I had not done a lot of running to prepare for this race but with my triathlon training I was more than in shape to join a novice running team.
My team mates were recreational runners that had had minimal preparation for the race.
The race took place of 2 days and one night of continuous running (6/28/13 to 6/29/13) with a team comprised of 12 runners and 2 support cars (we actually had 3 cars).
I was assigned to sub-team / car #1 with Dawnelle (a weight lifting 30ish year old woman), Nancy, 47, the most experienced runner of the team, Paxton 19 ( used to play sport but now a smoker with asthma and hardly any running background), Nina 16 and Denis 14 both of which had been running for a few months).
The second sub-team was a bit older in age (almost all in their 30ies but not much more experienced in running. Gordon, 52 was the most experienced runner of this group).
The fact that I was the most "hard core" and probably the fastest runner in the team put less pressure on me but I really wanted to perform well to help as much as I could.
I got the chance to kick off the race at 5am on 6/28/30. My leg assignment was tough but not the toughest of all. I was runner#1 and the most difficult assignment was for runner #2 (Denis). Since we had some uncertain and slightly injured runners in the group I had proposed my friend Florian, a very fast runner to join the team. I was supposed to be runner #2, however, at the last minute he cancelled and we maintained the assignments.
My leg assignments were
#1 - 9.4 miles rated Super hard with a 1262 ft gain
#13 - 7.0 miles rated Very hard with 758 ft gain
#25 - 3.3 miles rated Easy with 299 gain
We ended shuffling the assignments a bit and I helped a few runners in the team that were either too tired or too much in pain to run.
I ended up running the following:
-Leg 1,
-leg 13,
-end of Nina's leg 15 (2 miles) (she was in so much pain because her shoes were to small,
-leg 18 with Dawnelle (3.6 miles) (she was a bit scared to run alone at night so I ran with her),
-leg 30 (5.8 miles with 805 ft climb, rated very hard. Gosh that hill was tough at the end!...),
-beginning of leg 32 (about 0.5 miles - Meredith's leg : she was not ready at the start of the leg)
-end of Gordon's leg 36 and last leg of race, about 2 miles. It was so hot that afternoon (107F when I started this leg) that we decided to help Gordon out. 3 different runners helped run that leg.
The team allowed me to finish the race for them which was so nice of them and such an honor.
The whole race was a joy. I ran about 32 miles total, felt great, no sign of injury or fatigue the next day and I met a great bunch a people. AWESOME!
I took a few picture during the second day of the race but unfortunately, I missed the first day (no batteries)...
Dawnelle. Car 1
Nancy and Dawnelle
Denis trying to catch a few minutes of sleep
Paxton waiting to start his leg and Dawnelle cheering
Car number 2 of team "Vikings"
Gordon waiting to support our runner
Bonnie and her husband Brett (team captain)
Derek supporting Meredith
Meredith getting sprayed
Meredith
Meredith and Derek
Gordon, Derek and Meredith
Derek cooling Brett on his run.
Me, enjoying the landscape
Derek feeding the horses.
Ben at the wheel
That afternoon temperature reached 107F
Ben McAdams (Salt Lake County Mayor), a celebrity in our team!
Bonnie passing another team in a tough climb
Debrief after the race...
