This past weekend I participated in the Blue Ridge Relay which is a 208 mile race that starts at Grayson Highlands State Park in Virginia and ends in Asheville, North Carolina . A little over a year ago I would not have dreamed of doing something like this but here I am having run in my second race in as many years.
For this year's race I had 4 goals:
- Don't walk on any leg
- Beat my projections*
- Win the bet with the other team**
- Have fun
*A guy on our team (who bailed on us to go to Vegas -- to be in a wedding) is a numbers guy and projects the pace and finish time of each runner.
**We had 2 teams and some of us tried to bet the other team that the team who missed their projection by the most would have to buy the first round of beer at Mellow Mushroom
**We had 2 teams and some of us tried to bet the other team that the team who missed their projection by the most would have to buy the first round of beer at Mellow Mushroom
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| RUNNINGJUSTASFASTASWECAN 1 (blue) & 2 (gray) |
Our teams were called RUNNINGJUSTASFASTASWECAN 1 and 2 . We do run as fast as we can (some probably while singing the Tiffany song), however we don't compete to win the race. There are many other teams that are much too fast for us to worry about that.
Like everyone else on our teams I had 4 legs, however, since I am training for the Marine Corps Marathon (I'm running as part of Team Fisher House. Please donate if you can!) I was assigned the legs that totaled the most distance (30 miles). I was the 5th runner so my legs were 5, 14, 23 and 32.
First Leg (#5)
I ran this same leg last year and was determined to run better this year which I did. I ran almost 2 minutes faster. This leg started with a downhill that flattened out and then finished with a short but steep uphill. It went through the towns of Jefferson and West Jefferson. At one point on this run I saw a dump truck coming at me and heard a car coming from behind me so I felt it was safer to run in the ditch. Just as I hopped in the ditch I realized there was some kind of decomposing animal just ahead of me. I immediately hopped over it but couldn't avoid the smell. It was not pleasant.
The leg was listed at 5.2 miles but for the second year in a row my Garmin measured it at 4.8 miles. I finished the leg in 36:26 for a 7:39 pace. My projected pace was 7:45 so I was just under it.
Second Leg (#14)
My next leg was also the scariest for me. I don't like running up hills much less mountains. This leg was 10 miles up Grandfather Mountain. While the leg was very hard it was somewhat enjoyable for me. I didn't like the climbing but for just about every climb there was a small downhill that allowed me to recover before the next climb. It was already dark when this run started so I had to wear all the proper gear (headlamp, reflective vest and 3 blinky lights). What I liked most about this run was the cool breeze, the occasional sound of streams flowing and the peacefulness of nighttime. What I didn't like about this run was that I was passed by 5 runners who blew by me with what appeared little effort. I also didn't like that I missed my projected time. I finished the leg in 1:27:21 for an 8:48 pace well above my projected pace of 8:00.
Third Leg (#23)
Like my second leg, my third leg was also at night. It started at 3am. I was warned about this leg by my teammates who had previously run it. It was nicknamed the "Deliverance" leg. The run started on a paved road from a small school but quickly turned onto a narrow wooden bridge that looked like a private driveway and from there onto a very small and winding dirt road. In the past at this point it would be very foggy making it hard to see. Even more is that vans travelling the road would kick up a lot of dust. As recommended I brought an extra flashlight. It turns out I didn't need it because it was a clear night and there was virtually no dust due to recent rains that had hit the area.
I really enjoyed this run. Like the Grandfather Mountain leg it breezy and I could hear the stream flowing. For about 20 minutes of the run I could also hear a train moving in the valley. At one point as I rounded a curve I could see the mountains in the distance blanketed with a sheet of fog in the moonlight. I saw no runners on this run. I was running all alone and it was very enjoyable.
The run started with a big downhill for about 2 miles and finished with a steady uphill for the final 3 miles. The run by itself wasn't too bad but after climbing for 10 miles on the previous leg the 3 mile climb at the end was tough. After these 2 legs I'd done a half marathon of climbing.
My time for the leg was 49:02 for an 8:37 pace. My projected pace was 7:45 so I was way over it.
Fourth Leg (#32)
My fourth and final leg was supposed to be a very hard leg (at least that was what it was rated). I found it to be my "easiest" of the race. It was a 9 mile downhill bomb that descended over 2000 feet. Since I wear my Garmin I know where I am at and how much farther I have to go...when I know how far I am supposed to go. For this run I thought it was 9 miles even. It turns out that it was 9.4 miles. When I was around 8.5 miles I was trying to pick it up to finish strong. I reached mile 9 and saw no signs indicating the exchange zone was coming. Then I started to worry that I missed a turn. I kept going and eventually saw the signs and the finish.
My time for the leg was 1:07:11 for a 7:10 pace. My projected pace was 7:45 which I beat. Of my 4 legs I beat the projection twice and missed it twice. Not too shabby.
I was passed by 5 people on the Grandfather Mountain leg however I passed 6 people to make up for it on this leg.
My total distance for the race was 29.76 miles. There was no mention of sleep above because I didn't get any. I may have dozed for 20 minutes at some point but that was about it.
Like last year I met a lot of great people during this race and enjoyed participating with all of my teammates. In general running is an individual activity but for this race it is a team event. You are all packed in a van, moving from exchange to exchange and cheering each other (and other teams) on for the race. It is hard but having a team makes it much easier. It's definitely a rewarding experience for me. I look forward to doing it again (except for running up Grandfather Mountain).
Here are some miscellaneous pictures from the race:
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| Loading the van on Thursday for the drive to Boone |
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| Breakfast at the hotel before heading to the starting line |
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| Meghan and Carrie decorating the van |
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| RUNNINGJUSTASFASTASWECAN 2's van |
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| Mark hands off to Tristan on an early stage |
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| Finishing my first leg (#5) |
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| Both teams waiting for our runners to come by to cheer them on |
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| Angie on team 1 gets to run through a tunnel |
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| Hanging out at an exchange zone (Doug, Melissa, Angie, Meghan, Kelli and Kelsey) |
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| Kelli in her pre-run warm-ups |
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| Waiting at the Tanger Outlet exchange zone in Blowing Rock (Melissa, Matt, Driver Matt, Tristan, Devin and Ben) |
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| Tristan waiting to start his leg with Matt |
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| Driver Matt didn't do a lot of driving so we made him run...1 mile at 11% grade. |
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| Waiting at exchange zone 35 (Karen, Mark, Matt, Ryan, Driver Matt, Mike, Brian and Tristan) |
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| Finished! (Mark, Tristan, Ben, Ryan, Devin, Matt, Karen, Brian and Mike) |
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| Post-race beer and pizza at Mellow Mushroom (Tristan, Kelsey, Doug, Kelli, Jeff and Matt) |
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| Post-race beer and pizza at Mellow Mushroom (Driver Matt, Devin, Patience?, Ben) |
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| Post-race beer and pizza at Mellow Mushroom (Brian, Mark, Karen, Mike) |
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| Post-race beer and pizza at Mellow Mushroom (Ryan's empty seat, Carrie, Angie, Meghan, Dan, Melissa) |
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| Mike crossing of his final leg |
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| RUNNINGJUSTASFASTASWECAN 1 - All legs complete |
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| RUNNINGJUSTASFASTASWECAN 2 - All legs complete |
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| Post-race at the hotel (Matt, Driver Matt, Devin, Melissa, Dan, Jeff, Mark, Tristan, Angie and Meghan) |
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| Morning after breakfast at Cracker Barrel (Carrie, Kelsey, Kelli, Meghan, Dan, Melissa, Ryan, Angie, Mark, Tristan, Driver Matt, Matt, Jeff, Brian and Doug) |
Yeah, I won't soon forget that dead thing in the ditch.
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