Wasatch Back Relay (Read 692 times)

What a great experience! Just finished the Wasatch Back Relay Friday and Saturday. The Wasatch Back is a 12-person relay, 178 miles, from Logan, Utah to Park City, Utah. There are 36 total 'legs', and each team member on a 12-person team would run 3 legs (eg, runner #1 would run 1, 13, & 25; runner #2 would run 2, 14, & 26, etc). There were over 300 teams registered, and teams start all day long, based on their anticipated pace/finishing time. So, starting at 8am, about 20 teams began the race every 30 minutes. While we had an absolute blast, It would have been even better if we actually had 12 runners on our team, but as it happened, four of our group had to drop out the last week and we ran with eight—which meant that each of our remaining team members had to run 4 or 5 legs instead of three. Our team consisted of 8 people from our neighborhood—3 male, 5 female. Let me tell you, one of the men was a biker, not a runner, and, along with a few of the women, that had not been able to train much, rose to the occasion and ran some gutsy legs. Not one complaint the entire relay out of any of them. Anyhoo—I ran legs #1, #13, #25, and the infamous #34—known as Ragnar. No. 1 - http://www.ragnarrelay.com/wasatchback/coursemaps/leg1.php#legmaps Leg #1, of course, was the starting leg leaving from Merlin Olsen Park in Logan, Utah. We took off at 10:30am, and when I say we took off, I was amazed at how fast everyone started. Personally, I thought they were crazy. Yeah, it was only 5.1 miles, but come on, people, what were you thinking? We've got about 180 miles to cover. I hung near the back, and gradually gained on everyone, finishing about 4th-5th overall with an average pace of 7:03. It was already warm by the time I finished, so we knew it was going to be a hot day. So far, I was having a great time (So far. Yeah. It was only the first leg of the race... ) No. 13 - http://www.ragnarrelay.com/wasatchback/coursemaps/leg13.php#legmaps (You'll have to cut & paste to see the legs). Leg #13 was 7.8 miles, pretty much all downhill. It is classified as Hard, but I think that’s only because the downhill can take a toll on your quads if you haven’t trained for it. It was about 6:30pm when our handoff took place, and about 50 feet before our leg 12 runner entered the exchange chute, the course marshal (or whatever his title was) said that all runners from this time forward needed to wear their reflective vests and carry a light. I asked him what he was smoking, telling me this when the handoff is just about to take place. He was insistent that I wait until our team got me a vest and light; but then I noticed he let a couple of runners behind me go ahead and go without them. I was a little perturbed by the whole thing (well, not a whole lot, since I new our 8-person team wasn’t going to win anything anyway), but had to live with it. I took off, finishing the leg at a 6:50 pace and was still having fun. No. 25 - http://www.ragnarrelay.com/wasatchback/coursemaps/leg25.php#legmaps Leg #25 was 5.6 miles, classified as Hard. Yeah, it was a bit more challenging because it was after a night of about one-hour’s sleep, about 6:00 in the morning, surprisingly cold with a slight uphill nearly the entire way, with a breeze in my face. But, with the sun just starting to rise, it was a beautiful run. While waiting for the exchange with my teammate, I overheard one of the competitive teams saying they needed to make up 2 minutes on this upcoming leg (keep in mind they had started a few hours after we did). I was inspired. I told my teammates we only needed to make up two hours, and would be back in the race. Maybe. My overall pace on this leg was about 8:05. I was tired, and don’t really think I was considering how much fun I was or was not having. I just wanted to finish this leg. I did, and had a cold Dr. Pepper, which tasted really good. I didn’t care that it’s not necessarily the best thing to drink right after a run. I wanted one, and it was good. No 34 - http://www.ragnarrelay.com/wasatchback/coursemaps/leg34.php#legmaps Oh, yeah, baby. This leg is considered Very Hard. No argument from me, that’s for sure. It was a 4-mile run up a nearly 1,700 foot incline to 8,900 feet (7.9% average grade). I was suckin’ wind, no question about it. On the first three legs I ran, I wore my garmin. I wore it so I would know how far I had gone and about how much further to the next exchange point. In this leg, I left it off on purpose. I did not want to know how much further I had to go—I knew it would be a slow, hard run. I just put my head down, and chugged up the hill as best I could. Felt like 20-minute miles. Glad I really don’t know. I managed to pass about 5 runners ahead of me, and one passed me. When I was passed, my support vehicle said to catch him. I said he looked 30 years younger, and could have at it. When I finished, it was a great feeling, and I was still having fun. Overall, this was one of the funnest races I have ever done. When you are not running your leg, you are in a support vehicle for another runner. You get to know the people in your van pretty well, since you are with them for over 24 hours. One of our team rules was, "What's said on Wasatch stays on Wasatch". Some of the views, btw, particularly when you're up in SnowBasin in Utah, were fantastic. We’ve already started planning for next year, and learned a great deal from this one. If you ever get the chance, take it. You’ll never regret it. Now, I just have to figure out how to enter a relay race like this in RunningAhead. That might take me longer than the actual run...

WOW Sounds like an awesome time!! I'd love to do something like that! BTW my mother is from Logan

Get out! I own a home in Providence. We're practically next door neighbors.

What an awesome race! Eight team members sounds like plenty to me Lynn B