Leg 24 - Moderate climb into Oakley | 6.30 Miles (6.4 on watch) | Hard
Once again Matthew came in early and fast. This time I was ready. It was a little after 3am. It was cold enough that I started with a jacket, headband, and knit gloves. The elevation climbed from a little over 6000' to a little over 6400'. I quickly got into a good pace and just kept motoring. I gradually passed 10 runners, and was quickly passed by 1. I like to greet runners I go by (who are generally pretty friendly) or who go by me (who are sometimes more focused and less friendly). I believe it was the second woman I passed who cheerfully said "Good morning!" It was so pleasant I had to turn and thank her for being the first to wish me a good morning. I then greeted the remaining runners with a cheerful "Good morning." I managed to average 9:18/mi for these moderately uphill miles and really enjoyed the run. I pushed hard to the exchange only to discover that our other van had not yet arrived. They were stuck in traffic and arrived about 15 minutes later. I walked back and forth for a while cooling down, then chatted with a female runner who was also waiting for her van. It was very pleasant. Eventually there were 4 or 5 of us waiting for our handoff runners. By the time I left the chute I was completely recovered from the run. As my teammate Greg says often, "It's all good."
Leg 36 - Climb the PC hill near Park City High School | 2.80 Miles (3.6 on watch) | Hard
Matthew (a soccer player for BYU-Hawaii, not a runner) finally ran out of juice. We expected him early, then his projected arrival time passed, then we waited quite a while for him to finish his 9.8 mile very hard run. All this time my teammates and many other runners were celebrating being done, including Kevin eating a Red Robin cheeseburger right in front of me. I was relieved to finally take the handoff and start the long climb up the PC mountain. My goal was to keep my legs moving up the hill and not walk. I had to take a step or two walking twice as I passed runners on steep turns, but give myself full credit for meeting my goal. I very much enjoyed the downhill on the single track trail. On the uphill into the paved neighborhood streets I passed a couple of more runners, then caught a few more as we approached the school and the finish line. I think I passed 10 or so in total, and was passed by one fast female runner near the beginning. As I approached my teammates at the finish I tried to slow down as planned. It is so hard when you are coming in hot. Kerry grabbed the back of my shirt to slow me down, but when I saw his and Kerry's daughters take off (to race me to the finish I supposed) I pulled his hand off and sprinted to catch them, which I believe I did. It felt so good to run strong and fast again. I only averaged 10:18/mi for the run, but with all that steep uphill, I felt very good about it.
I really enjoyed this relay. The weather was great, as were my vanmates. I knew Greg and Kevin were great vanmates, but Devin, Brian, and Matthew...complete strangers before the race...were also great. We had a really good time together, and everyone ran well.
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