June 12, 2010
62 miles total
my legs: 4.45 and 6.1 miles
Pace: 8:24 (4.45miles) and 8:09 (6.1miles)
Sean, my running buddy from Boise, emailed me about two weeks ago and asked me if I could fill a spot on his relay team since a runner dropped. Oh yeah Sean! Not a problem! I've run with this team twice before, once when I lived in Boise and another time when Whit and I road tripped up two years ago. The Sawtooth Relay is great and I've run it three times before - first year was with my own team. I love the race and the scenery so much that it was a no-brainer to say yes again this year despite the 10.5 hour drive from Steamboat Springs.
The Sawtooth Relay is 62 miles long and stretches from Stanley, Idaho and the Sawtooth mountains to Ketchum, Idaho - or Sun Valley for those ritzy types. You have 6 team members who run two legs each. The first set of legs are gradually uphill except for leg 6 which tackles the 1300' gain in elevation up Galena Pass - this is Sean's leg and despite all the grumbling and mumbling, he loves it. From there, the legs are gradual downhills except for leg 7 (Mary's second leg) that is the screaming down the pass section. Each runner runs about 10 miles except for the 6/12 runner - after 5.35 miles up Galena Pass, he is rewarded with only 2.63 for his last leg.
The drive from Steamboat Springs, CO through Wyoming to Idaho is absolutely beautiful and I make it into Stanley, Idaho and the starting parking lot a little after 10pm Frid
ay night. Originally, I planned to continue past Stanley to Lohman and the O'Connor compound; however, since it is already so late, I elect to unroll the sleeping bag, blow up the air pad, and sleep in my car. This works great and I am not the only one doing this as there are already half a dozen other cars parked here until their start time. Our team start is 5am so I snuggle in the bag and sleep until 4:10 am when my alarm tells me not-so-gently it is time to get up.Saturday morning and it is 35 degrees at 4:30 am. Whew! I am glad I packed for every weather condition I could think of for this race. After changing into my running shorts and pants, shirt, arm warmers, long-sleeve, fleece jacket, gloves, headlamp and stocking cap, I finally brave the cold for porta-pottie and coffee! Contrary to the Dirty Thirty last weekend, this race always has coffee at the start and this year, they've opened the school for check-in where it is warm!
Once in the school, Sean picks me out and I'm introduced to the rest of the team. Doug, the captain, and Sean are the only two that I have raced with before; Sue, Mary and Dave round out the team and we quickly shake hands, introduce ourselves and head out to the starting area. Sean reminds me that I have run with Dave around the streets of Boise but that was a while ago! Sue's husband, Ron, is our volunteer and also providing his big truck for us to use as the team vehicle.
Mary is our first runner and she's off like a flash when our wave sets off down the hill toward Stanley and her 5.96 mile 1st leg. I am running legs 4 and 10 and bundle into the team vehicle with the other four runners and head down the road. One of the first questions Sean asks me is if I brought my cowbells with me. No! I forgot them and besides, two years ago, I tell them they stole one of the clappers from my cowbells. It actually fell out somewhere; but I like my version better. Sean's a real Navy dude and all this "cheer leading stuff" is not really his cup o' Joe.
After Mary, Dave jumps out and runs leg 2 (5.83 miles) with Sue getting ready for leg 3 (5.03 miles). I am relaxed and joking with Sue and catching up with Sean and Doug un
til Sue heads out for her leg then it's my turn to prep for my leg. When Dave jumps back in, I ask about his attire, he has shorts on and he said it was perfect. Great. I know I can shed a couple of layers and I settle on shorts, short-sleeve shirt, arm warmers and my knee high socks that Jess gave me for my birthday with skulls and crossbones on them! I am so excited - I now have more skull earrings (birthday gifts) another pair of short armwarmers and socks with skulls and crossbones for my B.A. racing!We can see Sue down the road so I jump into the exchange point and yell, "Run to the Cowbell!" Since we've forgot the actual cowbells, we have resorted to yelling "Cowbell!" at our runners and are having a blast with this tactic. Sue runs strong into the exchange and I take off for my first leg - leg 4. This leg has only 190' elevation gain and is relatively short. I try to be smart on the first mile and then build; however, I'm also concerned since I ran that hard 50K a week before.
As I continue in my leg, I am very happy that the legs do not feel like lead and I continue to push myself. I look at my garmin when I think I've gone 1.5 miles and realize I've actually gone 2.5miles and only have around 2 miles left! I am running the shortest first le
g and don't want to disappoint the team so I try to concentrate on running and forget the view; however, that is almost impossible! The weather is absolutely perfect and I am enjoying the stunning view as I run. The Sawtooth Mountains are off the to the right of you and are very difficult to ignore their snowcapped beauty this morning.37:22 minutes after I took off, I pass off the "baton" to Doug who has legs 5 & 11 and he takes off up the road for his 5.83 miles. I feel great and even though I've pushed myself, I don't feel the effects of the altitude as my teammates are since I run at this altitude every day. I'm happy with the 8:24 min/mile pace that I averaged and how well I feel at the end of this leg.
Sean is psyching himself up for the most difficult leg of the whole relay, the 5.35 mile slog up Galena Pass' winding road and 1331' elevation gain. Doug comes in to the exchange running hard and strong and gives Sean the slap wristband (baton) and Sean begins his "Little Engine That Could," mile-eating, head down, focused run up the pass. All along the relay, those of us in the team vehicle shout encouragements out the window as we pass our runners and then stop along each leg to cheer and offer aid as our runner passes by. This relay is well set-up for this tactic; contrary to the173 mile Colorado Relay where it is difficult to do this frequently, or at all.
As Sean passes us, he looks strong, in control of the run, and therefore, we move up to the summit for Mary to begin her second leg (#7) and her 6.02 miles downhill with a 1,411' elevation loss. The views from the summit are stunning and we are all happy that the weather has cooperated and provided a gorgeous day. Tales from last year's relay, which I didn't run, abound with snow, sleet, rain, wind all buffeting the runners.
Sean finally appears around the bend and Mary jumps into the exchange and takes off with the hand-off! Sean is happy with how he felt going up the hill and we are all doing well as a team. Mary powers down the hill and hits a pace I can only dream about! She is doing so well as she passes us on one our stops during her leg. As she runs into the exchange and the end of her racing day, Dave takes off for his final leg (leg #8 - 5.09 miles) and continues the blistering pace! Sue and I are feeling the heat to put it all on the line with the fast times Mary and Dave are turning in!
As Dave finishes, Sue heads out on her last leg (leg #9 -4.64 miles) and now I'm getting into prerace mode for the second time today. Sue's leg is short and I know I have about a half an hour before I head out on my last leg. As Sue runs, I once again check with Dave about weather and running garb and I get a good comm check as what to wear.
As we continue to leap-frog our runners in the team vehicle, Doug and Sean have decided we also need to do the "Wave" as our runners pass by us and Dave and Sue get the benefits of our uncoordinated "waving." Our shouts of Cowbell are also becoming famous down the course and a team that actually has cowbells begin to give us a jingle as our team vehicle passes by.
At the exchange point, Sue comes into view and I wave my arms and let her know by my shout of "Cowbell!" that I'm in the exchange for her to run to. She picks up the pace for a sprint into the exchange and I take off with the "baton" on my final leg (#10 - 6.13 miles).
My leg starts off with a lazy uphill turn to the left and then begins the loss of elevation. That first mile can offer a challenge when you are expecting all downhill; however, the hills in Fox Run are paying off now and I take it all in stride. As I come over the top of the hill and begin the downhill, the tailwind that was present in the previous legs has shifted and now hits me head on. Sue later told me it hit her about half way into her leg. This is not what I wanted. This headwind threw me right into thoughts of running down the Santa Fe trail and I tell myself, "Don't sweat it, you are used to this."
With my personal pep talk done and digested, I get back into the swing of things and just enjoy the run as I push myself continuously down the road. At about the 4 mile point, I really get into the groove and turn in a couple of sub 8 miles during this leg for a strong finish in 49:43 minutes and an 8:09 min/mile pace overall. During this leg, I am happy I pass about 8 people and have not been passed by anyone. In the first leg, I passed about 5 and was not passed by anyone either. The finish here is within site for about a quarter of a mile and I push to a sprint finish and give Doug the "baton" as I hit the exchange. I am breathing pretty hard after this run; however, no pain anywhere else and know that I am a much stronger - not faster! - runner than last year.
Doug has 4.97 miles and once again, we motor on! He's pushing hard - as the team captain, he has all the numbers from the previous years and knows where he wants us to be for an overall time. With only one stop to cheer him on, we get Sean to the start of his final 2.64 mile leg and wait for Doug to come in.
While waiting, a team who actually has a cowbell graciously allows me to borrow it and I wildly ring it for each runner we see coming in until Doug powers through the exchange and Sean takes off! We have less than 20 minutes to collect Doug, get out of the exchange point and drive to the finish before Sean comes in. We hustle and find a parking space near the finish and quickly walk to the finish line to wait for Sean.
Before we know it, Sean comes into view and he's hoofing it for all he's worth and we scramble to run in and keep up with him as our team crosses the finish line together! Sean has run this leg in a little over 18 minutes! Team Curro Ergo Sum IV (I run therefore I am) finishes the Sawtooth Relay in 8 hours, 24 minutes!
At the finish, we gather for a team photo (hope I get one of those) and then relax in Atkinson Park in Ketchum with bratwurst, trout, strawberry shortcake and beer! A quick recon mission by Dave and Sean reveal that thus far, there is only one team close to our time at 8:35! (As of Monday, it still looks like we won Master's Co-Ed for the 4th year in a row!)
As we continue to leap-frog our runners in the team vehicle, Doug and Sean have decided we also need to do the "Wave" as our runners pass by us and Dave and Sue get the benefits of our uncoordinated "waving." Our shouts of Cowbell are also becoming famous down the course and a team that actually has cowbells begin to give us a jingle as our team vehicle passes by.
At the exchange point, Sue comes into view and I wave my arms and let her know by my shout of "Cowbell!" that I'm in the exchange for her to run to. She picks up the pace for a sprint into the exchange and I take off with the "baton" on my final leg (#10 - 6.13 miles).
My leg starts off with a lazy uphill turn to the left and then begins the loss of elevation. That first mile can offer a challenge when you are expecting all downhill; however, the hills in Fox Run are paying off now and I take it all in stride. As I come over the top of the hill and begin the downhill, the tailwind that was present in the previous legs has shifted and now hits me head on. Sue later told me it hit her about half way into her leg. This is not what I wanted. This headwind threw me right into thoughts of running down the Santa Fe trail and I tell myself, "Don't sweat it, you are used to this."
With my personal pep talk done and digested, I get back into the swing of things and just enjoy the run as I push myself continuously down the road. At about the 4 mile point, I really get into the groove and turn in a couple of sub 8 miles during this leg for a strong finish in 49:43 minutes and an 8:09 min/mile pace overall. During this leg, I am happy I pass about 8 people and have not been passed by anyone. In the first leg, I passed about 5 and was not passed by anyone either. The finish here is within site for about a quarter of a mile and I push to a sprint finish and give Doug the "baton" as I hit the exchange. I am breathing pretty hard after this run; however, no pain anywhere else and know that I am a much stronger - not faster! - runner than last year.
Doug has 4.97 miles and once again, we motor on! He's pushing hard - as the team captain, he has all the numbers from the previous years and knows where he wants us to be for an overall time. With only one stop to cheer him on, we get Sean to the start of his final 2.64 mile leg and wait for Doug to come in.
While waiting, a team who actually has a cowbell graciously allows me to borrow it and I wildly ring it for each runner we see coming in until Doug powers through the exchange and Sean takes off! We have less than 20 minutes to collect Doug, get out of the exchange point and drive to the finish before Sean comes in. We hustle and find a parking space near the finish and quickly walk to the finish line to wait for Sean.
Before we know it, Sean comes into view and he's hoofing it for all he's worth and we scramble to run in and keep up with him as our team crosses the finish line together! Sean has run this leg in a little over 18 minutes! Team Curro Ergo Sum IV (I run therefore I am) finishes the Sawtooth Relay in 8 hours, 24 minutes!
At the finish, we gather for a team photo (hope I get one of those) and then relax in Atkinson Park in Ketchum with bratwurst, trout, strawberry shortcake and beer! A quick recon mission by Dave and Sean reveal that thus far, there is only one team close to our time at 8:35! (As of Monday, it still looks like we won Master's Co-Ed for the 4th year in a row!)
After carb-loading and stretching, we say goodbye to Mary who is driving back to Boise via Sun Valley and Doug and Beth who are staying in Sun Valley. Dave, Sean, his brother, and I pile back into Sue and Ron's truck and make the trek back to Stanley and our vehicles there. It is amazing; however, there are still runners on the course... we've finished, ate and are now making our way back to the start.
Once in Stanley, I say goodbye to all and thank them once again for inviting me to run with them! What a great time and a great team! I head back down hwy 75 and the lovely ride along the Salmon River toward the Wyoming border. I camp outside of Idaho Falls before the WY border for the night and wake up to a great view and another gorgeous drive for Sunday.
Once in Stanley, I say goodbye to all and thank them once again for inviting me to run with them! What a great time and a great team! I head back down hwy 75 and the lovely ride along the Salmon River toward the Wyoming border. I camp outside of Idaho Falls before the WY border for the night and wake up to a great view and another gorgeous drive for Sunday.
My trip back will take me past the Tetons, into to Casper, Wyoming along the Sand Creek Massacre trail, and then onto Cheyenne, Denver and finally home. I cannot adequately state how much fun I had on this trip and how much I enjoyed all aspects of it!
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