Each Day Is a Gift

What a gorgeous sunrise.  No running until 5:30 this afternoon when Temp is projected to be in the 80's.  THANKS to Metcalf's list; I know what to pack this morning. 

My teams name is Runaholics Unanimous #195.

Van 1 starts at 1pm.  Van 2 starts at 5:30pm.

GOOD LUCK to y'all running WBR and to Davy Crockett running the Bighorn100!!! 

HAVE FUN everyone and a GREAT weekend!!!

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The haul:

Woke up just before 3:00 am and could not go back to sleep.  Got an email from Lowell to bring my fuel belt, something about let your light so shine!  Thought I packed too much until I saw what the others in my team packed...my goodness, we looked like a bunch of refugees.  

We met Lowell in a grocery store parking lot.  I think he brought everything but the kitchen sink.  That amazing man had already put in a day's work, drove 3 hrs from Idaho, shopped and brought enough food and gear to outfit us and another team.  I noticed he had this very serious camera with him.  Are we on a vacation trip or to a race?

Exchange #6: 

We took a short cut and got to Liberty with over 2 hrs. to spare before my first leg.  I was shocked to see all the elaborately decorated vehicles and the masses of costumed "runners".  When Kelli said WBR is not really a race,  she's not kidding.  It's really a circus.   We milled around the park waiting to hear from van 1.  I was getting nervous when my expected starting time of 5:30 pm came and gone w/o hearing a word from van 1.  The temp was 87 and sunny. 

Finally I was told to line up at the chute and listen for our team # and watch for a tall guy wearing our bib # comes in.  I stood nervously wondering if I could run, if this tall guy's gonna make it.  That's when I saw Kimmie, Kathie, MrsFit, Huans32, Shimelle; and we all watched Cal came flying in.  I found out from Shimelle that their team has the same start time as mine.  O boy, I am so not in their league.

A boy from van 1 rushed over to give me my bib and within couple min. my tall guy came flying in, slapped the sweaty thing on my wrist and I was instantly transformed to racing mode...no stretching, no warm up (did I mention it was hot & sunny?) and chase after the girls ahead.

The kill:

Phil's words kept echoing in my head:  "We're not putting a stop watch to anyone.  We do keep track of road kills and we expect to finish in 25 hours."  What does that mean?  I concentrated on picking off road kills.  That's so against my nature to "kill" someone especially in a "non-race".  I bagged one within the first 0.5 mile. 

My van drove by and asked me what my pace and mileage was.  First mile split:  7:56.   Holy cow, I can't sustain that pace.  I started watching the passing vehicles and read the windows...some are pretty clever, funny, some are downright naughty.  I got a drink around mile 1.5, did I mention it was very hot and I hadn't had dinner?  I bagged another girl on the incline.  Second mile split:  8:37.   A side stitch showed up about the time the FLDS car showed up...what a sight!  Bagged another girl here and took another drink.  Third mile split:  9:05.  Hmm, I sweared I was running as fast as the first mile.  I just wanted it to be over with.  What a relief to see Brayden, a 15 yr old running his very first race of his life, all gunned up and ready to go.  I slapped that sweaty wrist thing on him and he was gone in a flash.  Last mile came in at 7:20.  I proudly reported my road kill of 5 to Phil. 

The relay began:

Brayden was blazing fast.  Lowell barely had enough time to change from his levis to racing shorts.  He was busy snapping pictures.  I was the water girl for Lowell's leg.   He was so fast that exchange #9 came up before we made it to the parking.  We dumped Heather off.  She had no time to use the p-o-p or set her Garmin.  We totally missed capturing their hand off.  Heather is a strong runner, a 39 yr old young mother, a Boston finisher herself.  It was fun watching her pass all these runners.  She handed off to Phil who ran thru some beautiful valleys, lakes and hills.  I had no idea where we were.  It was just gorgeous.   Our last runner #12, Paul who's Phil's 17 yr old, finished his leg before sun set.   At exchange 11, we finally met the rest of the teammates from van 1.  The tall guy's name is Jason Howe.  He too is a Boston finisher.  I started to wonder why in the world, Phil invited me to join their team.

The bed-down:

It took forever to drive thru all that traffic jam in the dark to reach East Canyon State Park where we would try to get some shut-eyes before I start running again.  There were thousands of people there, cars coming and leaving.  Four of us found a patch of grass to put down our sleeping bags next to this RV with a giant flat screen TV (hubby would be so proud) and generator going on.  It was a cool, damp, starlit night, a sleepless 2 hrs wait when we got the call to get ready to run.

******************  To Be Continued on Tomorrow's blog ***************