Red Rock Relay - RedRockHeads - Snow Van (#1) One of Stacia's (Larry's daughter) friends dropped off the team just before the relay and we couldn't find a replacement so Jeremy (Stacia's husband) moved to the Sun Van, leaving only 5 decrepit old men in the Snow Van: Larry Marshall - recovering from having a hole in his heart repaired earlier in the year.
Lyle Brereton - running well
Wayne Fairbanks - recovering from long-term Achilles trouble.
Paul Thomas - recovering from a sacral stress fracture.
Kevin Jessop - suffering from a very swollen left knee. Larry, Lyle, and Wayne are all about 55 or 56. I'm 51. Kevin is the youngest at 46. Despite being old and injured, and having to cover for a missing 6th runner, we survived pretty well. Leg #2 (The Diablo) - Hard (11:45am)
Larry continued past the first exchange and ran the first 0.8 miles of this leg. I took over just before the ascent up The Diablo. I climbed from about 9,900' to about 10,400' in about a mile or so then it mostly leveled off. My legs felt strong, but it was difficult to catch my breath at that elevation. Nevertheless, I very much enjoyed the run. I speed walked a little when my calves started to burn to catch my breath, but kept up a pretty steady pace. I averaged 11:39/mi, with the steep mile at 13:52/mi. It sounds slow, but I passed one strong female runner I chased for a while, and may have passed a couple more. I was not passed. Leg #5 (Mammoth Miles) - 3.9 miles - Medium (2:20pm)
This was my first official leg. It climbed from about 7,900' to about 8,400' then back down again. The first two uphill mile splits were 11:26 and 9:28, the downhill 7:07 then 7:06/mi for the last 0.9. Once again my legs felt strong but breathing was difficult due to the altitude. Again I speed walked some of the steeper stretches to catch my breath, but I still managed to pass about 5 runners I think, and was not passed. Leg #17 (Off Roadie) - 5 miles - Medium (11:55pm)
This leg goes uphill for about a mile then descends from about 6,400' to 5,900'. Running at night with nearly a full moon was great. Running on a dusty dirt road was not. Even when there were no vans around, the dust hung in the air. My headlamp reflected off it making it nearly impossible to see even the road in front of me. The first runner I passed shortly after we started said, "I admit it. I'm terrified." or something to that effect. I tried holding my headlamp down at my waist and that helped, but was very awkward. As I came upon some other runners they had turned their headlamps off. I gave it a try and found that it was far easier to run in the moonlight. I enjoyed it much more and passed a few more runners, and was not passed. I ran the uphill mile in 9:43, and the downhill miles in 7:58, 7:50, 7:33, and the last 0.77 miles at 7:43/mi. Again my legs felt strong. The elevation on these first three runs dropped from 10,400' to 8,400' to 6,400'. I live at 4,800', but my breathing was easier than the two previous legs. The bright light at this exchange was facing the runners that were coming in making it very difficult to see the last 3/4 of a mile or so.
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