River to River, April 19, 2008 (Read 685 times)

Saturday April 19, 2008 was the annual River to River 80 mile 8 person relay race. It’s way down in Southern Illinois and is about as rural as you can get. It starts in the middle of nowhere and ends in the tiny town of Golconda. The race is named as is because you run from the Mississippi river to the Ohio River. Each runner runs 3 legs that average a little more than 5k in length. Some are a little shorter, some are a little longer. The course is very, very hilly, but winds through some very pretty portions of Southern Illinois. This area of the state is not what you would imagine as there are no farms. Southern Illinois looks like Eastern Texas or Oklahoma and Northern Kentucky, not Iowa, Kansas, or Nebraska. Jake, who is a manager for Fleet Feet Sports in St. Louis and posts in the swamp, was the person responsible for ‘recruiting’ me. Actually Jake was in desperate need to complete his team, was scraping the very bottom of the barrel, and came up with me. I didn’t commit to doing the race until Thursday morning. I flew down to St. Louis on Friday morning. I have had one experience with a relay race. My very first road race of any kind was the Oahu perimeter relay in 1991. It’s a 113 mile 7 person team relay. In 1991 I knew zero about racing but had a lot of fun doing it. What I didn’t know was that the team I was joining consisted of 7 current or ex-collegiate runners. One runner just ran a 2:24 marathon while winning the St. Louis marathon two weeks ago. Another guy ran a 2:46 marathon at the same race (9th Overall). One guy ran <15:00 5k’s="" in="" college="" for="" a="" big="" 10="" school.="" one="" guy="" is="" currently="" in="" college="" and="" runs=""></15:00><15:30 5k’s.="" jake="" hasn’t="" run="" seriously="" in="" 6="" weeks,="" is="" injured,="" and="" still="" can="" run="" ~5:30="" miles.="" no="" one="" on="" my="" team="" was="" over="" 30.="" there="" was="" a="" thread="" in="" the="" last="" two="" weeks="" started="" by="" someone="" running="" a="" relay="" race="" that="" wanted="" advice="" on="" various="" things="" such="" as="" pace,="" nutrition,="" etc.="" i="" noticed="" a="" strong="" trend="" of="" people="" that="" wrote="" they="" didn’t="" run="" full="" out="" during="" all="" of="" their="" legs.="" interesting="" i="" suppose="" if="" winning="" or="" placing="" isn’t="" your="" goal.="" that="" was="" not="" the="" case="" for="" my="" team.="" i="" could="" tell="" this="" wasn’t="" going="" to="" be="" some="" ‘fun’="" race="" (although="" it="" was="" fun),="" but="" was="" going="" to="" be="" a="" highly="" competitive="" balls="" to="" the="" wall="" nut="" fest.="" each="" runner="" is="" assigned="" a="" number="" 1="" through="" 8="" and="" you="" have="" to="" run="" in="" that="" order="" for="" the="" entire="" race.="" jake="" back-loaded="" our="" team="" so="" our="" three="" studs="" ran="" last.="" it="" worked="" well.="" for="" this="" race="" the="" first="" leg="" was="" cancelled="" due="" to="" storm="" damage,="" so="" runner="" 2="" (me)="" started="" the="" race.="" as="" a="" result="" runner="" 1="" only="" had="" to="" run="" 2="" legs.="" our="" start="" was="" at="" 7:30="" and="" it="" was="" in="" the="" middle="" of="" nowhere.="" it="" was="" perfect="" running="" weather="" almost="" the="" whole="" day.="" it="" was="" high="" 50’s="" and="" overcast="" with="" some="" scattered="" rain="" the="" whole="" day.="" my="" first="" leg="" was="" 3.6="" pretty="" flat="" miles.="" mile="" 1:="" 6:00="" mile="" 2:="" 6:01="" mile="" 3:="" 6:10="" mile="" 3.6:="" 3:33="" (5:54="" pace)="" total:="" 21:45="" (3.6="" miles)=""></15:30> My second leg started at 10:10 or ~2.5 hours later. It was 2.87 miles and started slightly downhill. The middle of the leg was rolling hills and it ended with a ~ ½ mile very steep uphill. Mile 1: 5:40 Mile 2: 6:19 Mile 2.87: 5:31 (6:21 pace) Total: 17:31 (2.87 miles) My HR topped off a 201. WTF??? You could say my “check engine” light came on. No way I am supposed to run that fast and didn’t for long. Third leg started at 12:39, again ~2.5 hours later. This was my toughest leg of the race. 3.8 miles that rolls through the first two miles and goes straight up for the last 1.8, and it’s steep as hell. I have had no hill training this year and that fact bit me in the ass on this leg. Mile 1: 6:12 Mile 2: 6:12 Mile 3: 7:00 Mile 3.8: 5:27 (6:43 pace) Total: 24:54 (3.84 miles) Every person on our team ran full out 5k pace or faster for all three of his legs. Every runner had to deal with major hills too. Most of us got out and ran quick 400's between legs as we were dropping off our next man. It certainly helped keep my legs loose. We all took in some enery between legs. I was big on protein powder and GU. Some people ate Clif and Power bars or animal crackers. I don't think any of us drank sports drinks between legs but preferred water instead. We finished in about 7:21, 4th overall out of ~200 teams. It was a lot of fun. I met some really cool and talented runners which humbled me completely.

Sounds like fun, but where are the pictures? Jilly PS Way to go, Marcus, stepping up to answer Jake's call. That's cool.

Pics here: http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm318/ffrivertoriver/

Well done Marcus (and Jake). That race sounds like fun. We have the Wasatch Back Relay. 178 Miles but with teams of six or twelve. I would like to try it sometime. I see you've got the old Gremlin working quite well for you. Great report, nice charts and a strong race. Kenny

I love that race! I ran it last year and had planned to run on the same team this year until I got injured and then had the flu for 6 weeks this spring. My former team placed second in Master's women this year. (Last year we were third.) Glad you had a good time. Maybe I'll see you there next year! Teresa

Pics here: http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm318/ffrivertoriver/

Thanks for sharing! Looks great! Jilly

Way to go, Marcus! It looks like you held your own with the other guys. Interesting singlet for a Beautiful Person!

Yes, I wore the gayest singlet seen anywhere on Saturday. The rest of the guys snatched up the less visually offensive ones.

Musta been pretty sweet to be running with some hella fast people. Q

Thanks Q. I shared my hotel room with the St. Louis marathon winner the night before the race. We turned out to be similar in a lot of ways, (other than speed of course) so we got along very well. We didn't talk too much about running training, but more about weightlifting (he's a personal trainer and extremely muscular in the upper body for a fast distance runner). We discussed the best exercises for various body parts and our methodologies for resistance training. Standing next to each other with no shirts on (in a non-gay way) we looked almost identical from the hips up (same height too). It was very weird. But I have 20 more pounds of leg on me than he does. Damn cycling. Damn genetics. We did talk about which Zeppelin and Floyd albums were our favorites and why. And of course we kept reciting lines from the movie Snatch back and forth for a couple of hours until we fell asleep.

What are the black things on Jake's legs?

Basically they are sock-like things to support the calves (I think). Jake swears by them, but I have never tried them.