Really. Try explaining this to non-running folks. Oh yes, I'm going on vacation and first I'm heading to New Hampshire and running this race through the state. it's 12 people with 6 people in each van and everyone takes a turn running and then you do it again and then one more time. yes. you run at night on dark deserted roads in NH. You are tired and stinky and hungry and uncomfortable and don't think that you'll be able to run that last leg. but then you do it and your face hurts from smiling so much and things get very silly at 2:00 am in the middle of New Hampshire.
On the flight from Chicago to Manchester, I generally spent the whole time knitting and reading a magazine. Towards the end, I took out the Reach the Beach handbook for this year to peruse the changes and got all emotionally sappy reading about the support that the local communities give to this race. A portion of the race fees are donated to the local groups as well as the NH state parks. A young guy in the seat across the aisle asked if I was running in the race as he was too. He was heading in from NH from Phoenix and was just as excited as I was to be returning to such a great event.
I got picked up at the airport by my vanmates of Team WIMP (Weird Internet Marathon People) and we headed up towards the start of the race. It had been quite pleasant in Manchester but as we headed north it got rainy. Dang. I so didn't want to be running in a lot of rain. After a delicious dinner with the team (they have half plates at the restaurant!) we went back to the hotel and I could not believe how hard it started raining. I had originally planned on a short run to shake off the travel blahs but never mind.
The next morning was pretty nice fortunately. We loaded up the vans after presenting Alison with her team gift and had our picture taken by the german new balance team. Nice group. We bought yet more food and went up to the start at Cannon Mountain. The ground was a soggy mess after all the rain we'd had but I still managed to do some RTB gear shopping and was thankful the rain was done. Another team where we know all of the vanmates showed up and all was good.
Race on!
As a van two-er that meant we got to go to lunch and relax. Lunch was pretty good and made better by other Van 2 joining us. It was great to chat but soon enough we headed off to the Attitash Ski area where I'd be the first of van 2 to run. The weather had cleared and it was gorgeous.
Leg 1
I was runner #7 last year and this leg was the same. After dealing with a cranky hip early in the summer, I have not had a lot of longer runs but recently felt like I was getting stronger and faster. I'd originally expected to run around 8:30 pace but knew I'd be faster. Last year I ran this in 8 flat. Could I do it again? SK (runner #6) got into a dead sprint with a guy at the end of his leg :awesome: and while I waited in fear for my life as two guys were hauling ass directly at me, I took off like a shot but then immediately reigned it in. It's a rolling course with a pretty good hill midway through but net downhill. The roads were immediately so canted that my bad hip was complaining. I ignored it and as the road leveled felt better and was happily maintaining a good pace which felt comfortable. I did get passed by quite a few people including 3 women which was a bit demoralizing. I did pass a few people back and kept my focus. Surprisingly I remembered basically nothing about this leg from last year so finally as I hit close to 7 miles, I could see the transition area ahead and started to hear my name being called.
7.3 miles - (gain 208, loss 325) - 58:25 - 8:00 pace. Woohoo! This really surprises me as 7 miles hard like this is about my limit based on my mileage of late. I'm delighted! Roadkill 3, killed by 7.
Interlude: I managed to NOT lose my wallet this year at transition 9. The same volunteers were there at the transition and I thanked them profusely. We finished in good time and zoomed to the next van transition area where all I could think of was lying down somewhere. I didn't want to go into the college as it was too loud and the floor was just too hard. I'd brought something waterproof, put on all my warm clothing and grabbed my blanket and just went to lie down in the grass. I didn't expect to sleep but it sure was relaxing. Just when I was getting cold and really needed a bathroom, I rolled over and saw a shooting star.
Leg 2 (#19) - This was the same leg as last year. Same pitch black and some hills with a screaming downhill. I'd run this very well last year and didn't really expect to hit that same pace. I just knew I wanted to be solidly under 8. After the first half mile of cursing my legs, I got in a groove and felt pretty good. Not real speedy but solidly and evenly paced even up the hill which made me happy.
4.4 miles - gain 181/loss 268 - 34:30 - 7:49 pace - Roadkill 11/killed 3
Interlude: Sunrise was gorgeous. There were some tough legs in this set for the van and I was very glad mine had not been one of them. Ha! We had a fair bit of time hanging out at some of the transition areas once the sun was up. I managed to find a van which had a foam roller and put that to good use. I'm not ashamed to beg. Soon enough AR (runner 12) came in and we were done. All of us were desperate to get to the next van transition area but got stuck in the worst traffic ever. It was agonizing since I'd needed a bathroom before we got in the van. At least the new van transition area was nice and there was a lot of space to find a quiet area. Just about as soon as I was drifting off, I got a text not from Captain A (who would let me know when we had about an hour out), but from my husband who was traveling to DC that day. His flight had a mechanical and was delayed and he'd forgotten to program the DC friends' numbers into his phone. He asked me to send the phone numbers. My brain was so fried that I could not even remember the first 3 numbers of a telephone number long enough to type it! he eventually got on an airplane though as the texting stopped. That was good 'cause I wanted to doze but ended up just chatting with everyone. It was sunny and gorgeous out and everyone was in a good mood.
Leg 3 (#33) - This was a new leg this year and much, much shorter. Before the race I had really been looking forward to ripping through this run but as the run approached I knew my hamstrings were not gonna be capable of a 5k pace. I honestly wasn't sure I'd be able to do much more than a jog at first but as I warmed up, I felt a bit better. SK came in looking delighted that he was DONE and I was off. After more than half a mile, I finally felt warmed up. I got passed by three guys almost immediately but they really never pulled away and I managed to stay in sight contact. It did mean that I sped up which was nice to see.
2.43 - gain 13/loss 33 - 18:34 - 7:38 - Roadkilled 8?/killed 3
I was so glad to be done and enjoyed watching everyone else finish their last legs. The traffic as we approach the beach was so bad that we knew there was a good chance our runner would beat us. Even though we left as soon as our last runner started, we missed her finish and it was very disappointing. I realized that I never got into the water this year but I did have some very tasty food they had set up at the end. We went back to our hotel, i had the best shower ever and we went out for more food. WE all got to compare running and other stories and it was great to hear how well everyone had run. Van 1 had even had a flat tire during one of their set of legs but had managed to get the tire changed and back to the transition area in time! Back to the hotel and i think I slept 9 hours uninterrupted and woke confused as to where I was.
Once again, I feel so lucky that I can do these types of events and got to hang out with some amazing people. I'm not planning on running this event again next year as it is just too far and rather at an inconvenient time. I'll not forget the friendly communities, the gorgeous scenery and most of all those crazy fun with a bunch of like-minded people. Ragnar anyone?
Photos
1 comment:
Fun! Thanks for sharing.
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