The weekend before Hawaii I ran in a relay: Reno-Tahoe Odyssey. The full RTO is 178 miles, has 12 team members who run 3 legs, and takes 2 days. Our team did the half RTO which is 50 something miles, has 6 team members who run 2 legs, and takes 1 day. So basically we did 2/3 of the full thing. It was great fun. There was lots of training and a week before the run 2 of us decided to run the route. Courtney had a long 6 mile leg which was mostly down hill on this dirt road which wasn't exactly graded for cars, but Brooke took us down in her mini-van. Hilarious:
Katie R. was our team captain. She is a runner extraordinaire. She and her husband are always running marathons, half marathons, and Ragnars. She really is an incredible runner. Her bones are hollow and her body fat is non-existant. She hauls! Anyway, as per Katie's tradition, we met the night before the race for a picnic dinner, painting of the toenails, and decoration of the van. The kids were all very pleased to participate:
The race (for us) started in Carson City. Brooke kicked it off with a 3 mile leg which she ran at the pace of a gazelle. I was the second runner with a 5 mile leg. I was quite pleased with my time. I'd run the leg with a friend the week before and it took us an hour. I think I came in at 49 minutes. Court was next and she didn't do half bad herself. We were all impressed because she had the disadvantage of not training at altitude, but she rocked it anyway. Wendy had the next leg, a touch up hill run, but she also killed it. Johanna took it from there and seemed to fly through her long up hill leg (she too is a serious runner, and a last minute replacement for a team member who moved/found out she was pregnant):
Then it was back to Katie who had a gnarly, gnarly, up up uphill leg. She ran it so fast that I barely had time to use the potty before the transition in Virginia City. This girl was born to run:
Before the transition we thought we had time for a quick photo (me, Court, Wendy, and Brooke):
I dashed over to the finish/start line and Katie was there:
My next leg was a 3 miler, but all up. Steepish up. And I was getting passed like crazy. Kind of discouraging. (I was told this is because teams put strong runners on the uphill runs, but I'm not sure I am buying that) And I kept wanting to walk but the team would be up ahead and I didn't want them to see me walk so I kept running. And at the very end of my leg you have to run down and then back up into a parking lot. That last tiny uphill was BRUTAL, but I made it and I was super happy with my time. I can't remember what it was now, but it was fast for me. Under a 9 minute mile. UPHILL!:
Brooke took off next and she too had a big uphill climb, but she was speedy and made good time and handed off to Courtney who had the brutal downhill leg:
While we waited at the bottom of the big hill for Courtney there were some photo ops with some of the more colorful (off color) teams. Johanna had to pose with this guy who was even offering feels. Gross:
From here Wendy, then Johanna, and finally Katie finished the race off. I think these last three legs were the worst because it was HOT and it was through the city, which isn't as fun. But we did awesome. SECOND in womens in the half. Sweet. I can see how races and relays are addicting. Sign me up for next year!
