On June 22nd, I met up with my friends Jason, Brooks and Tim to head up
to Smugglers Notch Resort. We wanted to
get on the road early so we could have some dinner up there and rest before our
next adventure race -- The Green Mountain Relay. We got on the road and made really good time
arriving at the resort in time to have a nice dinner and to get settled into
our condo to wait for the other 8 runners from The Howlin' Haulin' Huffin' Herd
to arrive. The team chose to stay up at
Smugglers Notch as it was very close to the starting line in Jeffersonville, VT
and allowed us to get a good night's sleep before the start of a potentially 36
hours race.
The rest of the team arrived around 10:30 pm or so. Jason, Brooks and I had been enjoying a nice
bottle of Argentinean Malbec. Everyone
was really pumped up for the race. So
they opened the second bottle and had some wine with us. We talked about the legs and what we could
expect to see on the course. We knew
that this relay was a small one with less than 30 teams participating. This meant we would be running on the road
without any other runners in sight most of the time. For those who had never run an adventure
race, I tried to calm any fears they had which seemed to help. We turned in after agreeing to be up at 6:00
am to head over to the starting line to turn in the final paperwork before our
7:30 am start time.
Surprisingly everyone was up on time and we loaded the vans with our
snacks, water, duffels, etc. Then we
decorated our vans with various sayings and our runners’ names. I put “Dude…Where’s My Runner?” on the back
window of my van thinking it would be funny.
We all got a good laugh out of it.
Unfortunately, it was prophetic. We
then jumped in the vans and headed up to Jeffersonville to the starting line
area.
We checked in with the race officials and were good to go. We all stood around stretching and nibbling
on some of the snack food while we waited for the official start. It turned out that there were only 26 teams
in the race. This meant the 7:30 am
start had a total of 3 teams starting.
Kent was our first runner and took off at the gun. My van was Van 1 so we had to head out to
meet him at the transition area.
Our first four runners were Kent, Jason, Vanessa and Brooks. They all
had great runs. We were at 3 hours and
48 minutes which was a 9:11 per mile pace.
This was starting to look like we were going to have a really good race. I was runner number 5 on the team and had the
three most difficult legs in the race.
Not sure why I signed up for runner 5.
Regardless, I had trained on hills to make sure I was ready for my three
legs. Unfortunately, no amount of hill
training would help me if I missed a turn.
Which is exactly what happened on my first leg.
Brooks came in and handed off to me.
I took off hoping to hold a 9:00 to 9:15 pace for this leg. It was 8.2 miles. The first 2 miles would have me going uphill
gaining 400 feet of elevation. Then a little over a mile of downhill before
heading back up hill gaining 500 feet over 1.5 miles. Then the last 3.7 miles were downhill losing
about 700 feet. I knew if I could push
over the hills, I could pick up time on the downhill section. I had a plan in place and thought I knew the
route.
The first turn was 0.7 of a mile and I was looking for the turn or street
sign that would tell me where to turn. I
was running along past 0.7 mile and noticed none of the street signs were the
right street. When I got to about 1.2
miles since heading out, I knew I had missed the turn. I stopped to look at the map I had and
couldn’t figure out where I went wrong.
Just then a car pulled over and the woman driving said, “Are you running
the relay?” I said yes and she told me I
was going the wrong way and to follow her.
I followed her car back to where the turn was and then noticed the sign. I was pretty mad at myself because I had just
added a mile to my run but more importantly added a good 9 minutes or so to my
time. I started to push my pace a little
harder than I should to try and make up some of the lost time. Despite the pressure I was putting on myself,
I was really enjoying the route. I got
to run over the Gold Brook Covered Bridge and then up the hill where my team
was waiting for me with some water and encouraging words. They got a laugh at my going the wrong way
since I am a trained real estate professional and should have a good sense of direction.
I kept going feeling pretty good.
When I reached the biggest hill, I shortened my stride and just kept
going. When I got to a turn before the
final ascent, I noticed Vanessa was standing at the turn. Apparently they were worried I would miss
it. She pointed out the horse that was
watching me and then gave me another sip of water. The rest of the team cheered me on and I
pushed on. What I didn’t know is that
Jason had Vanessa run behind me like a groupie and got this very funny
shot. I was totally oblivious to what
was happening as I was focused on the run.
As expected the downhill was a relief. I really pushed the pace the
entire way. I really wanted to make up
the time I lost. My quads were taking a
pounding. But, I kept the pace brisk and
at one point was averaging slightly less than 8 minutes per mile. As I looked at my Garmin, I knew I was not
going to be able to make up the time. I
pulled into the transition area to hand off to Jackie at 83 minutes and 10
seconds. I had averaged 9:02 per
mile. However, the official time sheet
would show my average pace was 10:14 because I had run an extra mile that did
not count.
Jackie finished her run strong.
We had completed the first 6 legs of the race in 5 hours 51 minutes. We
had completed 37 miles averaging 9:29 per mile.
We now would be able to rest as Van 2 would be running the next 6
legs. If they averaged 9 minutes per
mile, we had over 6 hours before we had to meet them at the transition area. We decided to have lunch in Waterbury and to
visit Ben & Jerry’s headquarters. We
figured we deserved it. Once we had our
fill of food and ice cream we headed down to Hancock to meet Van 2 and to start
our next 6 legs.
Well, Van 2 was right on time. They finished their last leg a little after
7:30 pm. They had run 41.5 miles in 6
hours and 5 minutes averaging a blistering 8:48 mile and bringing the team
average down to 9:10 per mile. This made
me happy as we were making up some of the lost time from my missing the
turn. Kent headed out and our runners
did their thing. And 2 hours and 12
minutes later it was time for my second run.
I would be running in the dark with my headlamp and reflective
vest. I love to run in the dark as it is
very peaceful and soothing.
My next leg (Leg 17) was a 6.6 mile uphill run gaining 753 feet of
elevation. There were no downhill
portions. I started running at about
9:40 pm. I was determined to do better
than my last leg. The good news was that
there was only one turn and it was easily found. My teammates stopped a couple of times along
the route to make sure I had not been eaten by a bear or run over by a
motorist. I felt great the entire
run. The sky was clear and there were at
least a million stars in view. I am
always amazed at the night sky when you are far away from civilization. It is awe inspiring.
I kept my pace very steady and made the turn onto US 4 East/Rte 100
South and headed to the exchange point.
I finished in 1 hour and 51 seconds averaging 9:12 per mile right on my
goal pace. Jackie ran the last leg and
we finished our 2nd set of 6 legs in 4 hours and 4 minutes. We had run 28.2 miles and averaged 8:39 per
mile. We were really doing well. The entire team was really getting pumped
up. Van 2 started their next 6 legs and
we headed down to the Weston Recreation Area to get some sleep while we waited
for Van 2 to finish. They had 34 miles
to run and would be done in about 5 hours.
We got to the recreation area where there was a large field by the
tennis courts where we could set up tents and sleep outside. I had brought a tarp to sleep on as the
temperature was only going to be in the mid-40s. Almost perfect sleeping weather. Kent, Brooks, Jason and I got into our
sleeping bags on the tarp and the girls slept in the van. We set our alarm for 5:00 am knowing that Van
2 would be coming in around that time. I
have to admit I slept pretty well before Jason woke us up to get ready for Van
2’s arrival.
They arrived right on schedule.
They had run their 34 miles in 5 hours and 8 minutes. This was a 9:03 pace. We had run almost 141 miles at this point and
were averaging 9 minute miles as a team.
I knew both vans had our toughest runs ahead. We did get rest and were well hydrated. But, getting out on the road for your 3rd
run in less than 24 hours is hard no matter how in shape you are and I knew it
would be a battle to the finish. Spirits
were high when Kent headed out and Van 2 headed off for some much needed rest.
Kent, Jason, Vanessa and Brooks all had really good runs. It was now time for my final run of 4.4
miles. The route would be fairly flat to
start before heading up hill. My run
would have me gaining 615 feet of elevation over the 4.4 miles. I was ready to tackle it. I headed off hoping to average 9:15 per mile
again. What I didn’t know is how much
the first 2 runs had taken out of my legs.
I was running alone until I heard the footsteps of another runner who
passed me like I was standing still.
Then another runner passed me and I felt like I was losing ground. I tried to pick up the pace but the hill was
steep and I didn’t have enough gas in the tank to go any faster.
I crested the final portion of the hill and saw my teammates cheering
me on. I pushed it a little harder and
with sweat dripping off me I handed off to Jackie. I had finished my last leg in 45 minutes 42
seconds and averaged 9:27 per mile. I
was actually pleased with my pace as I thought I had really lost it and slowed
down. My totals were 20.2 miles (I had
run that extra mile) in 186 minutes at an average pace of 9:12 per mile. My official per mile pace was 9:41. I knew I had done what I could with 3 tough
legs. We jumped back into the van to
meet Van 2 and cheer Jackie on.
We headed on to wait for Jackie at the top of her hill to see if she
needed any water. She said she was
struggling a bit. So, I told Jason that
I would run with her to the top of the hill and then down to the turn. He, Brooks and Vanessa would run the last
portion of the run with her to keep her motivated. I was tired but felt good enough to help
Jackie. We chatted trying to keep her
mind off of the run. We got to the
bottom of the hill and she took off with our teammates. Kent and I drove up to the transition area to
meet Van 2. I knew Jackie would make it
because she is tough.
Sure enough at about 8:15 am, I saw Jackie coming in to the transition
area to hand off to Tim. We were
done. We had covered 24.2 miles in 3
hours and 37 minutes which was an 8:58 per mile pace. Somehow we got faster in the final legs. We celebrated being done. All of us got out of our wet, sweaty clothes
so we could go to breakfast before heading to the finish line to run across
with our teammates. My van ran a total
of 89.4 miles (excluding my extra mile) in 13 hours and 32 minutes for an
average pace of 9:05 minutes per mile.
Not too bad!
We enjoyed a nice breakfast and chatted about the race and our
experiences. It seemed to be unanimous
that we would all like to do this race again.
We paid for our food and then drove down to the finish line area which
was at Mount Anthony Union Middle School in Bennington, VT. We got there and Jackie pulled out her big
blanket and we all stretched out in the sun.
It was an absolutely beautiful sunny day. We watched other teams come across and finish
while waiting for our last runner Alan to come in. Finally, Van 2 pulled into the parking area
and we knew it was almost over.
Alan finally came into view around 1:40 pm. He apparently also took a wrong turn and had
to double back. He came up the little
hill to the parking area where we met him and ran across the finish line as a
team. The Herd and made it with no
injuries and a lot of smiles on our faces.
We all high fived each other and talked excitedly about the experience
while munching on the pizza provided by the race. The best part was that the runners who ran in
the Mass Dash last summer felt like we had really run our best race. It is such a different and more enjoyable
experience when you have a full team.
After a while, we split up and headed back home with all those
endorphins swimming around in our bodies.
What an experience! I would love
to do it all again next year.
The Howlin' Haulin' Huffin' Herd was 19th overall. We had run 197.8 miles in 30 hours and 35
seconds. We averaged a 9:02 per mile
pace as a team. What is really
interesting is how close both vans were in average pace. This meant we had a well balanced team and
had divvied up the legs correctly. In
looking back on the race, my only regret is that wrong turn I took. Had I not missed the turn we could have come
in under 30 hours. Oh well, there is
always next year!
June 17 – 9.20 miles (1:19:28, 8:39 pace)
June 18 – 3.20 miles (28:59, 9:04 pace)
June 19 – 5.20 miles (46:00, 8:51 pace)
June 23 – 9.20 miles (1:23:10, 9:02 pace) – Green Mountain Relay Leg 1
June 23 – 6.60 miles (1:00:51, 9:12 pace) – Green Mountain Relay Leg 2
June 24 – 4.40 miles (45:42, 9:27 pace) – Green Mountain Relay Leg 3
July 5 – 4.20 miles (39:07, 9:19 pace)
July 7 – 6.00 miles (52:49, 8:48 pace)
Total Miles: 48.0 miles
2012 YTD Miles: 801.2 miles
