Palmetto Relay 4/14/2012
The Palmetto Relay Race was this past weekend and our TrySports Running Team was smack dab in the middle of it. But before diving into the details of the relay, let me back up a bit. Several months ago, Justin was posted on facebook about possibility of doing the Palmetto Relay race. Before evening think it though, I jumped on board to say that I was do it and even volunteered to be captain of the team. With the heads nodding for me to take on this role, I accepted but from the beginning I was suddenly having some doubts. I had never been captain of a relay team and that was aside from the fact that I had never ran a relay race before. Yes, as surprising as it may sound. Through 30 years of running, I had never run a relay race before. But having the team and running the relay was something I thought I was finally ready to do. To marginalize my lack of experience, I asked question of others that I did relays and basically gather as much advice as possible. I made some mistakes along the way and learned plenty with each new challenge that came at me.
But low and behold, we arrived on race day with 12 people ready to run 36 legs so this is where my adventure now begins.
We packed up two vans at TrySports and headed south to the relay starting at Historic Columbia Speedway.
Glenn was our lead off runner and took off running hard to give us a real solid start. We followed for a few legs before skipping ahead to our starting point. Jinnie would lead off our van, followed by Ben, Meghan, Megan, Stan, and then me.
Watching 11 of my teammates produce such great efforts; I was anxiously awaiting my turn. Finally, around 8ish in the evening my turn came. My leg was 7.5 miles and had just one turn in to a state park. I left the exchange with headlamp and blinking lights in hand and hadn't run more than ½ mile when I was crossing an intersection and nearly got run down. Maybe I should have waited on the light to change. As I made my way out of town, I could see these blinking lights which I knew to be a relay runner in front of me. Mentally, I knew I had 2 more legs to run at the time, but the allure of that blinking light beckon me to run ever harder.
On the long legs, we would stop the van in the middle and cheer the runner of that leg on. This really helped because I head Ben say that I had it down to 40 seconds. 40 seconds and just under 4 miles to run, I can catch him. That's all the motivation that I needed. I chased and chased hard.
I pulled right in behind him as we made the turn into the park. We exchanged a few words of encouragement as I passed him. I tried my best to continue to push the pace, but catching him took a lot out of my legs. By the time I reached the exchange zone, I had managed to gain a small gap. Then it was time for me to pass the baton off to Glenn and Van #1. Those 7.5 miles had been covered in just over 43 minutes.
Walking around the exchange area, I was in much need of restroom. That run had been so hard that it left my stomach in knots.
Honestly, time kind of got twisted around for me. I was trying to recover for my next leg, rest, and sleep because of what I thought lay ahead. We learned that Kent could not go so Jason had filled in for him on this 2.5 mile leg. Also Ben had volunteered to cover Kent's 3rd leg.
So some here around 3:30 AM, I rolled out of the back seat of our van and tried to warm up for my second (2.5) mile leg. Dancing round at the exchange, my body wanted to go to sleep and my brain was wondering why I was doing out of bed and having trouble staying warm. I had gloves on but my hands were still cold. When Stan arrived, I took the baton and just ran. There were blinking lights in the distance and I intended on catching as many as possible. First one light was passed. Then a 2nd light was passed, then there was a 3rd light and a bike rider that I passed. Finally, a forth one passed in the last half mile to the exchange where I handed things off to Glenn again. 2.5 miles completed in 14 minutes and 3 seconds.
After maybe 5 minutes of walking I climbed back into the van and ate some food assuming I would need to run again for 7 hours. I tried to get some sleep as Stan navigated the back roads of South Carolina to our exchange zone 29. This was Kent final leg.
Sleep is a valuable thing during a relay and I wasn't getting much of it. The conversation in our van turned serious. Ben had run two really hard long legs and turned his stomach inside out. Our conversation turned then to who would do Kent's leg. Megan volunteered and she could easily have handled the miles but reality was that it didn't make sense for her to do since you had to run again a short time later. As much as I my legs didn't want to run 1 more leg let alone two more legs, I was logical choice and said that I would do it. We all have moments that define who we are. This was one for me.
I hadn't told anyone but during the 7.5 mile run I had put a huge blister on my right foot. My foot didn't want to go back into that shoe again. I gritted my teeth, shoved my foot into my racing flat, and left the van to warm up. This was about 6:10 AM.
Someone yelled that Mo was coming. I started yelling for Mo to come to me. One might not realize this but 10 guys standing around the dark with headlamp shining in your face, they all pretty much look the same. Thus, it is very important to have the person coming in yell out the number so they can connect with the proper person to pass the baton. More than once I saw runners arrive only to find their teammate was still in the van. Communication was one thing that we at least did really well. We knew when our teammates were getting close to the exchange zones.
Back to my adventure, so I got Mo's attention. She passed me the baton and I took off for a 5 mile run. Realizing that I still had a 6.66 mile leg to run, I probably should have tempered my effort, but those darn blinking were like a moth to flame for me. I could not help but chase after them. During this segment I passed either 4 or 5 runners and closed out the segment with a time of 29:11 for 5 miles.
But I was hurting pretty bad.
I caught a ride to the next relay point with van #1 because van #2 had skipped head so Jinnie would be ready for her final leg.
The guys from Van #1 drop me at exchange zone 30, and I went to back and opened my blister for the 3rd time. Liquid spurted out. I mentioned it to Stan and he asked if I was going to be able to run my final leg. My reply was "Yes". I would run.
Side note here, there were food stops at 18 and 30, but both were so close to our relay points, I didn't darn take on any food. However, those pancakes at exchange zone 30 looked awesome.
After 194 miles, there was nothing that was going to stop me from running this last leg.
I took the handoff from Stan and headed out for the final 6.66 miles of the relay. This was perhaps my most difficult leg. There were more turns than any of my previous legs. I crossed several major intersections and had to stop on 3 different occasions to wait on the light to change. Then there were the intersections that let's just say I crossed with extreme expedience to sound of a few horns.
Several times I slowed to look around when crossing side streets. I was trying to make doubly sure that I didn't run off course. Probably my happiest moment was when I made the turn into the park. From there I knew to just follow the signs. At 6.5 miles I heard Ben ahead motioning for me to follow. Making the final turn on the grass, I could finally see the finish line insight. Everyone on the team joined in with me as I ran the last few yards to the finish.
Crossing the finish line, I turned and motioned for everyone to make circle. I thanked them for their effort and told them how proud that I was of them. They were the soul reason that I was able to reach leg 36. Then, we all said "Go TrySports".
We took a team picture and they gave us our Race Relay medals.
I then walked over to Raleigh TrySports team which was the one that Thomas was a member and congratulated them on their effort and victory. Thomas and I had chatted several times during the night and I had watched how hard they had run. They were a team of 9 guys – maybe 8 by the finish but they ran faster and deserve the "open" win.
We didn't go away empty handed either. We were the first "mixed" team to finish. I have been saying this for a while. Charlotte area has some of the fastest women in the state –maybe the country and they reason we finished where we did. My hat is off for the gigantic effort they made.
Reflecting back on the relay there are many memories that are so resonating. I want to share them with everyone:
Meghan – running her first relay with us, starting out 5 min pace during her first mile, and brushing her teeth in Wendy's in the middle of the night.
Mo – passing some guy along the course and having him say "Good Job, dude" – not realizing that he was getting "chicked"
Stan – for driving a ton of miles, keeping us laughing along the way, taking the challenge of running the Cooper River Bridge during his final leg, and for sprinting out his final leg harder than I have ever seen him run.
Jinnie – for making our course books with maps of very leg (We would have been lost without them) and having the best leg with a view while running into the Isles of Palms. Also she showed us that indeed one can sleep on the floor of a van while it is moving.
Ben – for doing on those flying leg taps – yes, I have a picture of it and for running 3 legs so hard that his stomach is in knots.
Jason – pulled one of the toughest legs along a dirt road. With the van passing, I don't know how he could see much less breathe. He looked like he had a inch of dirt on his face when he finished. Also for stepping up and running an extra leg when a teammate went down.
Kent –
Chris – He ran his legs so hard that his knees were wobbly after he crossed the transition line and fell to the ground. That's about leaving it on the line for his team.
Michelle – ran some of the toughest and hardest legs on the entire team and the energy was easy to see bubbling through her calm quiet exterior.
Glenn – may have had the toughest job of all. He lead off the relay for us and set the bar high so that each of his teammates had something to reach for.
Megan – while running her 10.6 mile leg, she ask us when we pass her on the road if anyone is catching her. Girl, you are running 6:10 miles. There's no one going to catch you but you are closing on those in front of you.
There was the exchange zone porta potty search. Each exchange zone had a couple of porta potties but it took a game of "hide and seek" to find them.
Then, there were the phone calls and txt messages that we exchange throughout the night and day so we could keep track of each van.
There also is all of the people to thank – from the race directories who put in so many hours, to the volunteers along the course who hung out all night to man the exchange zones for us, to Dan for supplying us with Nunn, Chris for getting everyone socks and Gels, to the eleven members of our team - I am very appreciative and proud of the effort given by all eleven of my teammates. For without them, I could never had been a team captain, run a relay for the first time, or have gotten to run leg 36. They are simply the best there is no doubt in my mind about it, and finally to TrySports for their contributions.
Btw – Our time for the Palmetto Relay was 21:12:19 which is 6:18 pace for 202.1 miles.
Sharing one thought at time,
The Cool Down Runner
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