Another fun filled relay with my fun filled WUTBCR friends!This year our team consisted of some return relayers from last year, but also some local running friends of mine, so not truly a "WUTBCR" runner team, although we did all still meet the age criteria of 40 and over Team members: Me, Karl (Opie), Paul (pfriese), Lesie (fattozig) and Leslie's trail running friend, Heidi, and then my local runner friends: Barbara, Shannon, Terri, Teresa, Chris, Keven. Some may remember photos of last years relay of another team dressed as crazy clowns - that was Keven, Chris and Shannon .
The fun began on Thurs, when Leslie and Heidi arrived from No. Cal. and Paul and Karl drove down from Seattle, Had a team meeting at a local restaurant which was a good chance for everyone to meet others since I sort of had two separate groups of friends on the team this time.
Van 1: Me, Karl, Paul, Leslie, Heidi, BarbVan 2: Shannon, Terri, Teresa, Chris, Keven (they wanted to run extra miles and not get a sub when I had a dropped runner)This was my first year in Van 1 (have been in Van 2 twice). I got to run the first leg which was a great 6 mile run in perfect temps - overcast and 60. The race started at Applegate Lake. I apparently started out so fast that he couldn't focus on me. Actually, there were only 4 teams that started at our time of 6:20 and the other 3 left me in the dust. I guess that's one way of assuring I won't be roadkill on the first leg. just start out last. Here's our van, minus Paul who was out delivering Christmas presents (left to right: Barb, Me, Heidi, Karl and Leslie peeking up in the corner)
This Santa doesn't need a sleigh though - he runs wherever he goes!ok, time to get back to work. To Be Continued . . . (by anyone else on the team who wants to add to the story as we go along)
Tammy
The weather for the relay this year really could not have been more ideal. and the timing was perfect because the weekend prior it was very cold and rainy all weekend (very unusual!) and the day after the relay was over (yesterday) we shot up to the upper 90's and that's where we'll be all week. the start of the race was mid 50's or so and I think it only warmed up to maybe 80 if that. And then by Saturday you are coming down off the mountain and headed to the coast which is always much cooler - like mid 60's or so. here's some pics of Van 1 first 6 legs:
and Van 1 exchanged off to Van 2 at a large winery. Here's Paul and a member of our van 2 - - who also happens to be my sons teacher - - who is taking my son as well as other top competitors to Anaheim this Saturday for FBLA Nationals - - and they'll be gone for 10 days - - and i'm not worried about the safety of my son in the hands of a neanderthal . . nope, not at all.
supposed to be 100 here this weekend. Have I mentioned yet how glad I am that this coming weekend is not relay weekend??! wowzers! So, continuing with my story (if anyone is reading?) . . . Van 1 had 6 great legs in the cooler morning hours and then we were off duty for the afternoon and as luck would have it, Barbara, who I added to our van rather last minute when Dove had to drop due to an injury, lives about 1/2 mile from our next Van Exchange point, so we went to her house. Threw in some laundry, took showers, had a nice lunch, just lounged for the afternoon.
That arm and leg in the hottub is Barbara. not a dead body.
It was time to go back on duty by about late afternoon and this was the 2nd leg that Leslie didn't want to run due to coming back off her injury, so Karl and I split up her leg and we each got in some extra miles. This was a nice stretch along the Rogue River and Hellgate Canyon (couple movies that were filmed at this location were River Wild and Rooster Cogburn)
After we leave the Hellgate Canyon area, we start heading up forestry roads to an area called Agness Pass. This is alot of climbing and perhaps some of the most challenging legs of the relay. Heidi, because she's a running studette, got a brutal little 4.6 miles all incline leg. Like the road never even levels out flat to give you a break. She motored up it, getting 3 roadkills I believe, and did not take one walk break. She is not only physically a tough runner, but mentally that takes alot of self discipline to never let yourself take a walk break. She's amazing! This was one of her roadkills.
I ran the final leg of this shift which ended close to midnight, then we handed off the next group and drove a couple hrs to the next major exchange and tried to get a couple hrs sleep - - but if you've run relays, well, you know how well that goes . . .
Wait... showers and laundry after the first round? Is that allowed? Great pictures, and loving the story! That one of your son's teacher (Keven?) hugging Paul looks like he might break him! Sure is some gorgeous country, and glad the weather cooperated.
...What a TOTALLY Cool RR.........
be sure and tell opie Hi for me,
was hoping he was still running
(obviously he is)
..nothing takes the place of persistence.....
Chris is my sons teacher (actually first got to know him when our two sons were in elem school together and Chris coached little kids soccer teams), And Keven is the other neanderthal. He and I coach the middle school cross country team together. He's like the crazy fun coach and I'm like the taskmaster - or as he likes to call me "Mama Bear". Chris on left, Keven getting his makeup done.
Keven in the 2nd version of his costume when it got too hot for fur
Had a ton of fun at the relay! I felt bad dumping my middle leg off on others, but I'm trying really hard to NOT be stupid in this whole recovery thing.
As expected, Tammy was Captain Extraordinaire and everything was so well planned out, and except for a (eh hem) slight hiccup with the vehicle rentals, it all went off with out a hitch.
It was great to see Karl and Paul again, and to make a new friend in Barb. She's one funny lady when she's sleep deprived - i.e., you'd swear she was smoking something (ha! just kidding!). And as much as I fought it with my in-my-head voice, being able to shower halfway through was nice. Liz - I didn't go completely new clothes - just shirt and socks. The rest of my attire remained stinky and disgusting clear to the end.
This photo is a MUST. And yes, that's my big butt sticking our further than anyone else's.
Leslie Living and Running Behind the Redwood Curtain -------------
Trail Runner Nation
Sally McCrae-Choose Strong
Bare Performance
okay, since Leslie gave you a teaser on the chalky hands butt shot, I'll continue the story. When our van finished up our 3rd and final shift, we were in Gold Beach. Normally this is where we'd meet up with Van 2 to hand off to them, but this laid back relay does give vans the option of "leap frogging" so you can all be at the finish line within that Saturday afternoon window. Plus, we had a pretty rockin' post relay house that we all wanted to enjoy as well. So Van 2 was already out on the road running down the coastline by the time I got done. We drove on up to meet them where they were at and for the first time got to enjoy some 2 van camaraderie. Now, Keven is sort of like an overgrown 45 yr old teenager who loves to have fun and be silly. Chalky hand prints being one example. Here's a few others:Keven made some refreshing jello
Roadkill Tammy on the 101:
Barb tried to smuggle away some of that refreshing jello
someone sure was busy with their chalky hands!
and I have to post this one for sure! This is one of the most beautiful parts of this relay, starting our descent down the mountain in the wee morning hours
Our team finished the race with an overall time of 33:32. There were 4 submasters team.
1st place finished in 29:47 which is a great time on such a challenging course.
We finished 2nd
and 3rd and 4th place were not far behind at 34:01 and 34:03. Can you even imagine running that far for that long only to find out you were separate by your competition by only 2 seconds!!
Here's our whole team shot: (shoot. 3 of us got cut off - maybe if you click on it you can see the whole thing?)
Results were posted and as you can see, we were tucked about in the middle of a tight crowd, with a matter of only a few minutes or seconds separating us. It's always amazing to me that you can run for 30+ hrs and have placements within seconds of each other.
I'm just giving you a little visual of the teams that finished in the 33 hr time frame to show how close it all was. We are in 50th place. and it was actually a Masters team (50 and older) that took 2nd overall with a time of 27:42 and that comes out to an average pace of 7:34. Given the kind of terrain we have on his course, that is mindboggling to me!
You folks take running way too seriously.
Great pics. This looks like a fun time with a an excellent group.
Be safe. Be kind.
Looks like a good time was had by all. And they always say "a picture is worth a thousand words"
Thanks for sharing your race!
After the race was over and we hung around the finish line party area for a couple hrs (free beer, free food), we headed off to our post relay house we rented, which was the same one we rented last year. Only 7 people were staying at it this year, so a smaller group, but we had a lot of fun. We got a few pizzas and brought those to the house, set up the disco ball and played some pool. The next morning, Barb and I went for a 3.3 mile run, Paul got up early to take a walk along the beach and after we all enjoyed our amazing 4 course traditional Chinese breakfast, we walked the beach. Headed back to the real world around noon. And poof! just like that, another magical weekend with our RA friends was over. Lots of good memories to last a lifetime though.
Thanks TammyinGP (Tammy) for the summary & pictures from the WRR weekend. I've nothing more to add other than Tammy is the BEST team captain/organizer EVAH. Also, fatozzig (Leslie) & Opie (Karl) along with the new WRR team recruits were the best team-mates.
Paul
Paul's blog