Forums >General Running>RTB New Hampshire 2013...
Latent Runner
Hey Gang,
Last week I got an E-Mail from a co-worker I'd never met or talked with (it was addressed to pretty much everyone in the company known to run more than a few steps) attempting to recruit a last minute replacement for his son's relay team. The language and message were ambiguous at best, but it seems to be saying that the relay team needed a sixth runner for a 36 mile relay. Hey, I can still run 6 miles so I volunteered that if they didn't mind a (not quite so) fat (as I used to be) old man who couldn't promise anything faster than a nine minute pace, I'd be happy to join.
Thursday morning the co-worker showed up at my desk and asked me to call his son immediately as the race was scheduled to start "tomorrow afternoon." That should have signaled all kinds of warning bells in my head, but as I was over the top busy getting a new release of a major system pushed out for testing, I didn't read too much into what he had said.
I finally called his son and found out that I had misinterpreted the original request, the relay team in question was a six person "Ultra" team for the purpose of running this year's installment of the 200+ mile New Hampshire Reach The Beach Relay, and he needed a sixth. No, I wrote that wrong, he was D-E-S-P-E-R-A-T-E for a sixth. I explained to him that the last time I'd run further than 16 miles in a 24 hour period was 1979, and while I might have enough miles under my belt to be able to survive running ~33 miles in roughly a day, I certainly didn't have my brain wrapped around running that far.
In the end, his desperation won the day and I agreed to join the team.
The relay itself was wonderful, well organized, scenic, very hilly, and very demanding. As one of my teammates said, "you run, stretch, eat, drive, run, stretch, eat, sleep, run, stretch, eat, repeat, and then party on the beach." If you're a runner with some good mileage under your belt and want to try something a little different, I cannot recommend the RTB series enough, I had a blast! Better still I managed to run my full series of legs totaling 32.8 miles at just under a nine minute pace.
Fat old man PRs:
I agree, the two RTBs I've done were some of the most fun things I've done running related.
Congrats Shipo!
I got several of those requests as well, from every running related group I'm affiliated with. I read all of the "we're desperate, we don't care about time" pleadings. But no way am I prepared to do 50K+ in 24 hours, so I had to turn them all down. Maybe next year...
Congrats Shipo! I got several of those requests as well, from every running related group I'm affiliated with. I read all of the "we're desperate, we don't care about time" pleadings. But no way am I prepared to do 50K+ in 24 hours, so I had to turn them all down. Maybe next year...
Thanks much!
Were the requests for you to join a normal 12 person teams (which run ~16 miles over 3 legs) or a 6 person Ultra team (which run ~33 miles over 6 legs)? I ask because I'm betting you could fairly easily run with a 12 person team.
Funny thing, if you had asked me two weeks ago if I would have been willing to do the RTB (regardless of team size), the answer would have been an unqualified "No!" Now that I've done the relay, in Ultra format no less, I honestly cannot wait to do it again.
Just did 4th RTB:NH in a row (all 12-person teams). RTB:NH rocks. It's a blast. I was supposed to do Ultra, but got hurt. I hadn't really run for 5 weeks but still wouldn't miss RTB for anything...
I'm impressed, no running for five weeks and then you complete the RTB on a twelve person team; nicely done!
I'm already looking forward to next year; wondering if my young "thirty-something" team will invite me back or if I should start nosing around for an ultra team with a bunch of old farts, errr, ummm, "Masters".
All three of the ones I got notices about were ultra teams. I was seriously considering asking how desperate they were, until I went to the RTB website and read that they expected teams to average 10 minute miles. I know some runners can be slower than average, but they can only make up so much time, and I'm sure by my 20th mile I'd be over 15 minutes.
Maybe next year we can get together an RA team. Have to remember to start a thread sometime next spring...
All three of the ones I got notices about were ultra teams. I was seriously considering asking how desperate they were, until I went to the RTB website and read that they expected teams to average 10 minute miles. I know some runners can be slower than average, but they can only make up so much time, and I'm sure by my 20th mile I'd be over 15 minutes. Maybe next year we can get together an RA team. Have to remember to start a thread sometime next spring...
When I got recruited I was quite sure that running an 11 minute pace for that distance would have been all I would have been able to manage (which I of course shared with the team leader); how wrong I was. I'm glad to say I wasn't the slowest on the team; the one thirty-something (31 I think) guy on our team that bonked turned in a 15 minute pace on his 3rd leg, and closer to a 20 minute pace on his 4th.
The thing about us old farts is that the longer we go, the faster we get; I started with an 8:30 pace on my first leg (8 miles, almost all of it on a gentle down slope), worked it up into the high 8s on my second (primarily flat) leg; suffered through three consecutive legs with LOTS of climbing (nearly 2,200' combined) in the low to mid 9s, and ended it all with a smoking hot flat 2.45 miler in the high 7s; hell, I didn't even know I could run that fast, much less after having already logged 30 miles in the previous 26 hours.
Congrats to all who ran it!! I have been approached before but have never run on less than 12 hours rest. Obviously it varies by total runners # on team, but what is a typical rest in between legs, and how was work on Monday?
I ran on an "ultra" 6-person team, and we typically had between 3.5 and 5 hours of rest between runs; figure double that rest time for a "normal" 12-person team. As for work on Monday, given that the relay ends Saturday evening, not too bad, that said, I last July I signed up for a 5K on Sunday, and since there was a free beer at the end for all (legal age) finishers, I had to go and run.
I'm guessing your next question will be, "...and how was that race on Sunday?" Uhhh, yeah, about that. I lined up with the 10:00-12:00 pace folks, and when the gun went off I started "running"; it only took me 35 seconds to make it the entire 20 yards to the start line (I think I was obstructing the walkers).
I also did RTB NH for the first time this year (though as part of a 12-person team). It was indeed a blast. The team format took a little getting used to, as I usually run by myself or once a week with a friend and don't race all that much. It got more fun as it went on -- possibly due to fatigue and eventually sleep deprivation? My legs started at about 1 PM (4 miles), 10:45 PM (5 miles), and 11:30 AM (8.5 miles), to give an idea of timing. The van 2 people had weirder times of course. I look forward to doing it again, either with the same team if there's space, or as a substitute for another. The weather stank for the first few hours -- pouring rain -- but then became perfect running weather. I wasn't good for much on Sunday due to brain fog, but by work on Monday was almost back to normal.
Yeah, the whole rain thing got a lot of folks kind of down; I guess I'm a bit strange as I like running in the rain, go figure. The only uncomfortable part about the rain is that I had the 8 mile lead-off leg from the base of Cannon Mountain (where there was plenty of mud) which of course meant once I got onto the roads, my shoes were very wet and had some mud and grit in them. Fortunately I brought three pairs of shoes including a two year old pair of trail shoes, which got employed for my first leg.
It always rains at RTB. That's part of the package.
Actually, I generally do like running in the rain, but somehow it was pretty annoying to have it happening right at the beginning. I think it was cheering other people on in the rain that was the bummer! (you want me to get out of this dry van every two miles? are you kidding me?!) Also, having your shoes already soaking wet at the beginning of the run wasn't so great.
Next time I'll be more diligent about getting out of wet clothes immediately, which should help a lot. I did have a second pair of shoes but will have three next time, just in case. Also, in the chaos of loading everyone into the van, the healthier groceries got shuffled under other things, not to unearthed again until van clean-out, so I was feeling a bit icky by the end! My fault entirely, that last.
Actually, I generally do like running in the rain, but somehow it was pretty annoying to have it happening right at the beginning. I think it was cheering other people on in the rain that was the bummer! (you want me to get out of this dry van every two miles? are you kidding me?!) Also, having your shoes already soaking wet at the beginning of the run wasn't so great. Next time I'll be more diligent about getting out of wet clothes immediately, which should help a lot. I did have a second pair of shoes but will have three next time, just in case. Also, in the chaos of loading everyone into the van, the healthier groceries got shuffled under other things, not to unearthed again until van clean-out, so I was feeling a bit icky by the end! My fault entirely, that last.
As I had virtually zero time to prepare for RTB (I got recruited as a replacement two days before) due to an insane work schedule last week, I had been "told" the weather would be wonderful (and I was dumb enough to believe it). On the way out the door I saw my two-year old pair of trail shoes sitting out in the hay loft and thought, "Meh, why not?" I am so glad I brought them along as a third pair even though I only ran in them for my first leg off of Cannon, but they were thoroughly trashed after the first half of a mile.