Who wants to run from Winona Minnesota all the way up to Minneapolis? In two days? In costumes? (I was on board right up until someone wanted me in costume, by the way.) No, actually, I did wear a costume. Our theme was "Ragnar 911", obviously.
We certainly weren't the only team in costumes. This team is the W.H.O.R.s team. (Women High on Running) and we stayed up with them most of the way. I think we arrested their team a few times. They were really fun.
Turns out, we arrested almost everyone at least once.
Some of our team even had special band-o-liters. I'll let you imagine what's in the test tubes.
Friday morning I woke up at the crack of dawn (actually, slightly before the crack of dawn), and met my teammates to drive down to Winona for the start of the race. There were 12 of us in two vans of six and I was in the second van. (I already know which van I want to be in next year, btw.) I was the 11th of 12 runners, which meant the race started at 11am and I wasn't running 'till sunset. It also meant I didn't have to run again 'till sun rise.
Very few of the legs of the relay are on running paths or sidewalks. Mostly, it's just running up the side of a road. This is definitely my favorite way to see Wisconsin.
Did you know, they had to make a special rule for if runners encounter dangerous live stock? It's one of the only ways a runner can re-enter the team van during their leg without being disqualified.
First lesson I learned for next year: Hill Training.
Good job to Kate who actually had to run UP this thing in the middle of the heat. She was the only one we saw who actually ran the whole way.
My first leg was a nice 4 mile run in the evening. I was the second to last person to go and I was ready to run by the time it was my turn. I felt like I went much faster than my normal pace (that's still pretty slow) so I felt good about that one. After my run and runner number 12's short 3 mile run, we headed off to sleep for a few hours.
The first runner of our van had to start running about 4am. I started running at 6:30am. I had some issues hydrating and keeping food in my body after the first run. The first mile or so of the second run I felt like I was going to die. And then my team passed me some Powerade which I have renamed Go-juice, because once I had that, I felt like I really could run the next four miles up hill.
The hydrating and keeping food down issues persisted the rest of the trip.
Another lesson for next year: I feel like any idiot could run, go to sleep, and get up and run again. It's really the 3rd run in 30 hours which is challenging. And the third run was exactly that for me.
Hee hee. It's funny because it looks like I'm running away from jail and the police officers.
Who here in the cities knows hidden falls drive? Now, who here has ever tried to run UP it? Big ol' Thank You to the cheering section at the top by the way.
Once I got into Minneapolis, I had to contend with the running path on the West River Parkway being basically not there. It was a pretty run, but a hot and challenging one as well and I was super happy when it was over. I had spent most of the day being jealous of everyone in van 1 who were all done running by about noon.
We had one more runner after me. While I was grabbing some water after my last run, we met a guy biking on the parkway. He started in Portland (Oregon) and is going to bike all the way to New York City. Wow. He thought the relay sounded really cool. I thought his trip sounded cool too. He asked us to take a picture with that Nalgene water bottle which is making it's way across the country with him.
At some point, I really stopped noticing Kate's mustache. But it freaked a lot of other runners out.
At the finish line, the criminals (that's right, I dressed up as a jail bird instead of a police officer) held the crime scene tape as we and the rest of our team ran through. Then, there was much drinking and rejoicing. And the medals double as bottle openers.
We certainly weren't the only team in costumes. This team is the W.H.O.R.s team. (Women High on Running) and we stayed up with them most of the way. I think we arrested their team a few times. They were really fun.
Turns out, we arrested almost everyone at least once.
Some of our team even had special band-o-liters. I'll let you imagine what's in the test tubes.
Friday morning I woke up at the crack of dawn (actually, slightly before the crack of dawn), and met my teammates to drive down to Winona for the start of the race. There were 12 of us in two vans of six and I was in the second van. (I already know which van I want to be in next year, btw.) I was the 11th of 12 runners, which meant the race started at 11am and I wasn't running 'till sunset. It also meant I didn't have to run again 'till sun rise.
Very few of the legs of the relay are on running paths or sidewalks. Mostly, it's just running up the side of a road. This is definitely my favorite way to see Wisconsin.
Did you know, they had to make a special rule for if runners encounter dangerous live stock? It's one of the only ways a runner can re-enter the team van during their leg without being disqualified.
First lesson I learned for next year: Hill Training.
Good job to Kate who actually had to run UP this thing in the middle of the heat. She was the only one we saw who actually ran the whole way.
My first leg was a nice 4 mile run in the evening. I was the second to last person to go and I was ready to run by the time it was my turn. I felt like I went much faster than my normal pace (that's still pretty slow) so I felt good about that one. After my run and runner number 12's short 3 mile run, we headed off to sleep for a few hours.
The first runner of our van had to start running about 4am. I started running at 6:30am. I had some issues hydrating and keeping food in my body after the first run. The first mile or so of the second run I felt like I was going to die. And then my team passed me some Powerade which I have renamed Go-juice, because once I had that, I felt like I really could run the next four miles up hill.
The hydrating and keeping food down issues persisted the rest of the trip.
Another lesson for next year: I feel like any idiot could run, go to sleep, and get up and run again. It's really the 3rd run in 30 hours which is challenging. And the third run was exactly that for me.
Hee hee. It's funny because it looks like I'm running away from jail and the police officers.
Who here in the cities knows hidden falls drive? Now, who here has ever tried to run UP it? Big ol' Thank You to the cheering section at the top by the way.
Once I got into Minneapolis, I had to contend with the running path on the West River Parkway being basically not there. It was a pretty run, but a hot and challenging one as well and I was super happy when it was over. I had spent most of the day being jealous of everyone in van 1 who were all done running by about noon.
We had one more runner after me. While I was grabbing some water after my last run, we met a guy biking on the parkway. He started in Portland (Oregon) and is going to bike all the way to New York City. Wow. He thought the relay sounded really cool. I thought his trip sounded cool too. He asked us to take a picture with that Nalgene water bottle which is making it's way across the country with him.
At some point, I really stopped noticing Kate's mustache. But it freaked a lot of other runners out.
At the finish line, the criminals (that's right, I dressed up as a jail bird instead of a police officer) held the crime scene tape as we and the rest of our team ran through. Then, there was much drinking and rejoicing. And the medals double as bottle openers.
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Your uniforms are great. I'm pretty sure I could not have run it in those tight 911-shorts.
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