Password Penguin is Running the 2018 Blue Ridge Relay

It is finally confirmed.  My relay team Password Penguin will be running the 2018 Blue Ridge Relay on September 7 and 8.  The Blue Ridge Relay (BRR), which is one of the longest running relay races in the United States.  The race takes place in the Blue Ridge and Black Mountains of Virginia and North Carolina.  BRR starts in Grayson Highlands State Park, VA at an elevation of 4920′, near the base of Mount Rogers (5729′) which is the highest peak in Virginia.

What we are most excited about is that the course follows scenic country roads the entire race.  We will be running through North Carolina’s High Country all the way to the finish in Asheville, NC.  When we looked at the course we saw that we will have the chance to see some really spectacular scenery.  According to the race description some of the highlights will include the balds of Grayson Highlands State Park, the New River, the Blue Ridge Parkway, Grandfather Mountain (5964′) and the Toe and Cane Rivers.  What more could you ask for in a 208 mile race.

We were looking for a fall relay since we had such a beautiful race in Michigan last year in the fall.  We felt that the BRR would give us the opportunity to run a very scenic race and on some roads less travelled.  What we didn't realize at the time was how difficult this course will be for us.  All of my team are recreational runners now that we are all mostly in our 40s+.  Our fastest days are mostly behind us.   Some of us even ran in college.  Many of us have run multiple marathons.  We will need all of that mental and physical training to conquer this course.  It is definitely not going to be one for the faint of heart.

The race course crosses back and forth across the spine of the Blue Ridge Mountains with a cumulative elevation gain of 27,000 vertical feet.  Some relay veterans say that this is the toughest relay road race in the nation.  27,000 vertical feet is almost like climbing Mount Everest.  But Mount Everest climbers actually start at 17,000 feet on their way to the summit at 29,029 feet.  Luckily no one runner has to take on the entire vertical climb.  But in looking at the course map, there is not one runner who will not be conquering some serious hills. So no one will be able to complain that their legs are any harder than the rest of the team.

I have not actually run this race so I am having to look at the legs only on maps to see what I am in for.  What I have determined is that the course runs between 1500’ and 4000’ vertical feet every three or four legs.  Like all of the other relays we have participated in the legs are easy, moderate, hard and very hard.  But this race has rating I have never seen before mountain goat hard (MGH).  It looks like there is a reason for this rating as the MGH legs have climbs exceeding 6% along the way and one of them even peaks out at 13%. 

I am planning to be runner #3.  This means that I will be running 24.8 miles in total which is the most miles of all of the runners on my team. My first leg will be Leg 3 which will cover 5.2 miles and is rated moderate.  There is 400 feet of climb and 479 feet of descent on this leg.  My second leg will be Leg 15 which will be 10.5 miles and is rated very hard.  There will be 1,222 feet of climb and only 493 feet of descent.  The one consolation is that I will be running along the base of Grandfather Mountain which is supposed to be beautiful.  They rate it a tough leg because of the distance and most of it is a climb.  My last leg will be Leg 27 which covers 9.1 miles and is rated hard.  There is only 371 feet of elevation gain with 474 feet of descent.  Sounds like a fun challenge that I am totally up for.

Like all of the adventure relays I have participated in over the years, the Blue Ridge Relay will be more about the non-running times than the runs themselves.  Every relay has been a great experience for me.  I look forward to finding out what is different about this relay than any of the others I have run.  The best part of going to relays all over the country is that we never know exactly what to expect.  We go into the race with some trepidation as to what will happen and how each of us will do.   But we always find that when we gather to run across the finish line together we agree that we have had a grand adventure together.

Apr 2 – 4.50 miles (51:19, 11:24 pace) – Hill Repeats
Apr 3 – 6.40 miles (54:41, 8:33 pace) – Speed work
Apr 5 – 8.30 miles (1:13:12, 8:49 pace) – Tempo Run
Apr 6 – 4.10 miles (38:10, 9:19 pace)
Apr 7 – 2.10 miles (18:48, 8:57 pace)
Apr 8 – 7.10 miles (1:06:10, 9:19 pace)
Apr 9 – 4.60 miles (51:13, 11:09 pace) – Hill Repeats
Apr 10 – 6.30 miles (53:33, 8:30 pace) – Speed work
Apr 12 – 3.10 miles (26:19, 8:29 pace) – Tempo Run
Apr 13 – 4.20 miles (37:20, 8:53 pace)
Apr 14 – 8.20 miles (1:11:55, 8:46 pace)
Apr 15 – 8.30 miles (1:16:17, 9:11 pace)

Total Miles:  67.2 miles
2018 Total Miles:  449.3 miles

The Youth Shall Lead Us

I had the pleasure of attending the Peter Yarrow and Noel Paul Stookey concert last weekend.  If you don't recognize the names, they are the Peter and Paul of the Peter, Paul and Mary folk trio.  It was nice to see that 50 years later they both still support the counter culture movement of the 1960s.  The values the movement championed are becoming more important each day in the Me Too movement and the March for Our Lives.  Bringing forward the ideals from the counter culture will truly  allow us to build a better America.  I still believe in those values of anti-materialism, environmentalism, and non-violence.  It looks to me like these are also valuable and appealing to a broad range of my fellow Americans and especially the youth of our country.

Peter and Paul both spoke passionately about the March for Our Lives and the need for us to listen to the youth leading this movement.  It made me think back to a song that Debbie Freidman wrote and recorded about children.  The first time I heard it was at my son's pre-school graduation.  It is such a beautiful song and is even more relevant today than when it was first written.  It should be the anthem for the youth movement that are fighting for much needed gun control in this country. 

Here are the lyrics:

And The Youth Shall See Visionsby Debbie Friedman

Childhood was for fantasies, for nursery rhymes and toys.
The world was much too busy to understand small girls and boys.
As I grew up, I came to learn that life was not a game,
That heroes were just people that we called another name.
And the old shall dream dreams, and the youth shall see visions,
And our hopes shall rise up to the sky.
We must live for today; we must build for tomorrow.
Give us time, give us strength, give us life.
Now I’m grown, the years have passed, I’ve come to understand:
There are choices to be made and my life’s at my command.
I cannot have a future ’til I embrace my past.
I promise to pursue the challenge, time is going fast.
And the old shall dream dreams, and the youth shall see visions,
And our hopes shall rise up to the sky.
We must live for today; we must build for tomorrow.
Give us time, give us strength, give us life.
Today’s the day I take my stand, the future’s mine to hold.
Commitments that I make today are dreams from days of old.
I have to make the way for generations come and go.
I have to teach them what I’ve learned so they will come to know.
And the old shall dream dreams, and the youth shall see visions,
And our hopes shall rise up to the sky.
We must live for today; we must build for tomorrow.
Give us time, give us strength, give us life.
Give us time, give us strength, give us life.

Debbie was right.  Our nation's youth is taking a stand against guns and gun violence.  They are protesting the fact that our country continues to basically have unchecked access to guns of all kinds.  Since our elected leaders are beholden to the gun lobby, it will take the youth to fix this problem through their rallies and keeping the pressure on the government.  Whether you want to believe it or not, something has to change and now.  I am not advocating taking away guns entirely.  But 150,000 primary or secondary school students have witnessed a shooting incident at their school since the Columbine shooting in 1999.  And they have had enough.  When I watch these incredibly passionate and well spoken youth, I am both heartbroken for and proud of them for stepping in where the adults are unwilling to go.   All they are asking for is commonsense gun safety reforms. 

As Debbie sang...they are taking the stand today to allow them to live not only for today but to build for tomorrow.  I join them in their discussions of solutions and glad to see them organizing, stepping up and demanding accountability of our spineless elected leaders.  It's time that we elect legislators that are not in the pockets of various lobbyists.  We want to be led by people who listen to what we the citizens want in this country.  If that can ever happen, I believe we will finally pass commonsense laws that will allow this country to thrive and allow our children to be able to go to school without fear of being injured or killed. 

Mar 20 – 6.30 miles (54:13, 8:36 pace) – Speed work
Mar 21 – 4.20 miles (40:00, 9:31 pace)
Mar 22 – 8.30 miles (1:14:08, 8:56 pace) – Tempo Run
Mar 23 – 4.10 miles (37:21, 9:06 pace)
Mar 24 – 10.10 miles (1:31:41, 9:05 pace)
Mar 25 – 7.50 miles (01:09:40, 9:17 pace)
Mar 26 – 4.50 miles (48:35, 10:48 pace) – Hill Repeats
Mar 27 – 6.30 miles (54:37, 8:40 pace) – Speed work
Mar 29 – 5.10 miles (42:36, 8:21 pace) – Tempo Run
Mar 30 – 8.10 miles (1:16:05, 9:23 pace)
Mar 31 – 12.40 miles (1:53:08, 9:07 pace)
Apr 1 – 5.50 miles (50:16, 9:09 pace)

Total Miles:  82.4 miles
2018 Total Miles:  382.1 miles