It was 2 1/2 months in the planning. I was the captain of the team, having recruited 2 friends and 2 friends of friends with my idea of "let's run a marathon relay - it'll be fun!" Our team consisted of 4 women, 50- and 60-somethings, and one man - the 60-something friend of one of the women. We named ourselves "Team Are we there yet?" Three of us live in the same town, the other two live in another state. Our team planning consisted of emailing each other exactly twice - not a whole lot of team time together, but in the end, it really didn't matter. We're all runners and knew what we had to do to prepare.
The day before the relay, I thought it would be useful to drive the relay route, so 3 of us on the team set off to get a lay of the land and see the various exchanges. We recruited my lovely spouse to be our "escort" (although she preferred the title of "driver" - we thought "escort" sounded sexier:D) and off we went to Falmouth for a little Saturday afternoon adventure. We figured we'd see if we could buy team tee shirts, then hit the race expo & pick up our numbers & some goodies, drive the race route, have lunch, and be home by afternoon. Not quite.
The maps provided by the race coordinators were difficult to read (I'm being kind here) and there were actually 2 routes - the route the runners were to take, and the route the support vehicles were to drive on; then there was the issue of support vehicle parking. So we had to drive 2 routes - that's 52 miles, find 5 exchange spots and 5 parking areas. We met up with our other 2 team members later that evening when they arrived at their hotel, had a drink or 2 at a local Irish pub and got home 'way too late. Not exactly the best race prep....
But race day was a typical Cape Cod autumn day. The fall foliage was at peak, the weather was cool, crisp, sunny, breezy - a cloudless perfect day for running. The relay start was in Falmouth village center; approximately 2200 runners participated, including 194 relay teams. Kathy ran the first leg - 3.0 miles. She made it to the first exchange in 32 minutes. I ran the second leg - 6 miles. Checking my watch as I passed the 3.1 mile marker, I noted 39 minutes - a big PR for me. I was cruising. My route was flat, much of it run along Vineyard Sound - an easy leg compared to the rest of it. But as usually happens, I went out too fast, and paid for it later, finishing my leg in 82 minutes. Jan, my daily running partner, ran next - 6.2 miles; hers was an extremely difficult course, hilly and rather desolate past an industrial park and along a state highway; it was made even more difficult because of my time. By the time I handed her the baton, Jan had to ran alone for most of her leg, for which of course I felt awful; she finished in 71 minutes. Gerry took over for Jan; he's a seasoned runner, having been running for 35+ years. His sons were running the marathon, his fiance was on our team, so it was family affair for him. Gerry flew through his 6.25 leg in record time (I don't recall his time), and handed the baton off to Elaine for the last 5.3 miles. Elaine finished in 58 minutes. We were all there at the finish line to cheer her in.
We decided to meet up at the aforementioned Irish Pub after the race, but it was mobbed and there was a one hour wait for a table. I was starved, I don't care for beer, so Pat & I came home, just in time to watch the second half of the Patriots game from London.
My overall time for my leg of the relay was a 13:30 mile, although I ran the first 3.1 miles in 39 minutes, a 12:30 mile. That's the best I've done since the Central Park 4 Miler in Sept. in which I ran a 13:15 mile, finishing in 00:53:09.
Considering I ran a 00:45:31 5K in June, I suppose I'm making progress. I doubt if I'll get much faster. Although our team didn't come in last, we finished "back of the pack". No one on the team seemed to care, so as long as I'm not the last one in, I'll be back for more.
Running has captured me.
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