Wow, so I wrote a really detailed race account, but it freaking disappeared
when I clicked submit...arrgghh! I will try again, but shorter version:
I ran the relay with the following guys. I encourage you to read their
blogs for more details:
Cody Draper (http://cody.fastrunningblog.com)
David Nelson (http://nelson.fastrunningblog.com)
Dale Marchard (http://dale.fastrunningblog.com)
Craig Green (http://craig.fastrunningblog.com)
Andy Browning (http://andyb.fastrunningblog.com)
Matt Rowley (http://mattrow.fastrunningblog.com)
Aaron Shakow (http://aaron.fastrunningblog.com)
Tim Sturm (needs to join the blog)
I met up with Andy and Craig at the SEATAC airport late Friday morning.
We rented the van, bought way too much food and drove up to the first major
exchange. We would be picking up our fourth van member at Leg 12 (David)
when he arrived after work. The relay is generally a 12 person race, but
we were going with 9. Van 2 (my van) only had four members, so we would
all run an additional leg (total of 4) then two lucky souls would run a 5th
leg. The first exchange went smoothly, but Dale informed us an
off-roading incident (see his blog), but we remained on track. Van 1 was
actually several minutes ahead of schedule and put the pressure on us to keep
it up.
My first leg (#9) was a rural road run next to Lake Samish. The area
was heavily wooded, so my Garmin had tracking issues. The course began
with a nice downhill before flattening out with small rollers. On
Wednesday night, I dropped a recycling bin on my large left toe. It had
major bruising and a nasty blister under the toe. My wife recommended I
go and get it "drilled" but I didn't have the courage. I
decided to "ignore it." I was worried about the race, but there
was no way a toe injury was going to stop me from running the relay. I did
not put on shoes until minutes before my leg began. I wrapped and taped
it hoping my nail would stay on and off I went. The first 1.5 miles was
painful, but the toe went numb and my gait felt better. I ran the 5.9
miles in 35:11 at a 5:58 pace.
My next leg was a combo (#21 & #22). The course was a trail along
the water in Anacortes, then turning uphill into town before traveling down Hwy
20 toward Alexander Beach. I received the exchange about 1:45 AM and felt
pretty good. The toe went numb again before the first major climb at mile
2. The climb dropped off after another 1.5 miles before beginning a more
gradual climb down the major highway. These two legs are where I ran into
the most runners/teams. I passed about 20-25 runners on this
stretch. I ran the 7.0 miles in 46:03 at a 6:36 pace.
My last leg was #33. It was a small downhill followed by two major
climbs. The run was on Smugglers Cove Road next to Admiralty Inlet.
I will be happy if I never see this road again! My body began to shut-down
on this run. I went into marathon survival mode. There were 7 teams
in front of us at this point, so I still had some visible motivation.
Once again, the toe went numb after mile 2. I was able to run down three
more teams during this leg. I ran the 4.9 miles in 32:43 at a 6:45 pace.
Our team finished in 20:31:02. Almost 30 minutes ahead of
schedule. We hung around to see if we would be the overall winners.
There was a 6-man ultra team that started 1.5 hours after us. This gave
them the advantage of knowing our finish time. They stepped up their pace
and beat us by 6 minutes. We had a great team that ran with a lot of
heart. Everyone was a positive and strong runner. I would love to
run another race with these guys, but only if we have 12 people! Props to
the Ragnar staff and volunteers. This was an incredible course. I
strongly encourage everyone to run this race for the scenery alone!
| 