57 miles down, 142 miles to go

So it took me a bit longer to get back to blog... I just finished two great legs (7 and 8) and was quickly followed by Kevin. Hard to believe it's already been 4 hours since I started my run.

Last time at Ragnar, I got stuck with the ungodly hill up Rt 40... this time, it was Greg who got the hill. Technically, he had more of a vertical climb than I did, but mine was over a shorter distance!

The weather has not only held, it has gotten very warm... I debated with running with or without a belt and ultimately ended up running with it (which ultimately was a very good decision). I felt great for the first mile of leg 7 or so (chasing a guy from another team) but then quickly hit a wall as the heat and a steep uphill got to me. After the third mile I was feeling in the zone and having liquids made a big difference - I started picking other teams off. At one point I was running around a sub 7 minute mile, but had to slow myself down as I reminded myself that I had 33 miles or so to go... Leg 8 also went pretty well - after a long slow uphill climb the last 3.5 miles was all downhill - steep downhill. I took advantage of the downhill and flew into the checkpoint to hand off to Kevin for legs 9 and 10.

Kevin's legs also went well - except he had literally run through several miles of farm fields that had been freshly manured. At one point he almost felt like he had to throw up due to the heat and the smell...

Kevin finished up his 10.6 strong and handed the bracelet off to new team member Matt for legs 11 and 12. Matt wanted say hi to his girls Madison and Peyton - and they should know the van is not stinky... yet! More coming soon on Matt's progress.

Also wanted to give a shout out to Tony, who ran Ragnar with us but unfortunately couldn't run this time due to injury. Wish you here brother!

4 down, 32 to go...

Well, the weather seems to be holding up. In fact, the wind has died down and the runners are starting to feel the sun on the course. Our second runner has finished up a tough 16.6 miles through some very hilly country. We ended up at Libery Mountain ski resort, which was kind enough to let the runners use their facilities (another plus over Ragnar!). This is true Pennsylvania farm country, complete with lots of cows and covered bridges.

Greg is now tackling legs 5 and 6. I'm up next, so I'll probably be offline for a few hours as I start to get ready. The transition after 5 was at a restaurant called Ventura's in Fairfield, PA. While most of the teams (the weak 12 person types) are stopping for lunch, I don't think our compressed schedule will allow us to stop just yet.

Greg's legs: 4 and 5

Pictures will come at the next break.

Weather update

So the weather forecast this morning called for sunny skies, high of 70... Which would have been great for us, considering the monsoon we experienced (or rather, I experienced) during the Ragnar. However, in the last hour, the wind has picked up, and we are seeing a lot of clouds starting to roll in...

Onto leg 3

So, despite the fact that Jay ran a 50 mile race 6 days ago, he ran our first 2 legs (9.4 miles) in a respectable 1:15. Our second runner is off and we'll meet up with him at the Covered Bridge, which is supposed to be the highlight of the entire relay. He has 2 back to back 8.3 mile legs, for a total of 16.6.

The first exchange (at least for the ultra teams) was at Boyd's Bear Country store...

D's legs: 3 and 4

And they're off...

So after a relatively quiet evening at the Wyndham Hotel, we met up for breakfast and loaded the van. You may remember last time at the Ragnar we crammed 6 guys, all our gear, food, and water into a very small Toyota Mini-van. This time we had the foresight to rent a 12 person van - which means everyone in the back gets their own row.



We had an early start this time (as opposed to starting last during the Ragnar) and the weather is absolutely beautiful. The route (starting in historic Gettysburg) is definitely much more scenic than the Ragnar route (although I could be jaded by the massive downpours we experienced last time).

Jay's started off on his first leg (9.4 miles). We'll keep you updated.

Jay's legs: 1 and 2

The American Odyssey Relay

Back in my first post, I went into great detail about how 6 of us decided to embark on the Ragnar Relay - a 183 mile, 28 hour relay run from Cumberland, MD to Washington, DC. Having run 7 marathons, it was something different and despite the cold weather, heavy rain, and cramped conditions I had a good time (although running 28.5 miles over 3 legs was certainly challenging). I am also fairly certain that I said back then that I wasn't planning on doing another relay anytime soon.

Which is funny now, because I find myself in a hotel lobby getting ready for yet another relay. This time it's the American Odyssey Relay from Gettysburg, PA and again finishing up in DC. 4 of the original 6 from our Ragnar team have returned, and I think we have frightened the 2 new guys with all the crazy stories from our last race. Although, I am hoping we don't get have another "Charlie" type encounter (see original post).

This time I have my laptop and air card with me, so I am planning to provide live updates from the van. For now, it's time to get some sleep. Talk at you in the morning!

Registration Day (double whammy)

In what I can only characterize as a break down in inter service communications, the Army and Marines apparently have decided to have registration open for both the Army Ten Miler and Marine Corps Marathon on the same day (today, April 1). In addition to certainly overloading the networks around noon, as my friend Greg mentioned when you have two runners in the family it will be close to $300 in fees...