Reach the Beach Relay
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Reach the Beach Relay - Run
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Comments: Relay team race in which you run from Bretton Woods, NH to Hampton beach, MA for a total of 212 miles. The goal is to run in a 12 member mixed team as fast as possible and go from the mountains in NH and reach the beach in MA. Our team was down a member as one member bailed out 1 day before the race. We divide our team in 2 vans and each member got assigned a specific number of legs which he or she had to cover as fast as possible. Usually in a complete 12 member team each member gets assigfned 3 legs for a avg of 17.6 miles and you run in order 1 to 12 and then start all over again until you complete all the mile. In our case as we were down one member we ran 1 to 11 and 8 member ran 3 legs and 3 ran 4 legs (I was one of them). Our 2nd van had 6 member and they were assigned 3 legs each for a total of 100 miles aprox. In my van we were 5 members, 3 with 4 legs and 2 with 3 legs for a total of 112 miles. The procedure of the race is pretty fun as the 1st member of your van start running and then you head up on the van to the following transition area point in which you stop and the next runner gets ready to continue the relay as a runner pass the “relay bracelet”. While you drive from one transition to the other you stop on the road to check on your runner, to cheer he/she up, provide fluids, food, etc. In the mean time van no. 2 heads to the transition area in which your last member will finish his/her leg so they can get the bracelet and go on to complete their legs. On this last leg for your last runner you meet van no. 2 in which you relax for a bit, check how the other van is doing, catch up on stories, etc. (though our vans were in constant communication to let them know when will meet them so they could be ready to continue the relay) The first runner in their van continues the relay and then they are off for running. Between this you have anywhere between 3 to 5 hours (depending how fast the other members run their legs) to rest, eat, clean your self up (which is a relative term) and regroup a bit. But then again since you have to drive 40+ miles to the next transition area in which you will meet the last racer of their van, so you spend 1 hour plus driving, and another hour eating therefore there isn’t a lot of time for sleeping/resting. Along the way you meet other teams, you cheer up for other runners, you fight, laugh, smell, etc. IT IS SUPER FUN! My Legs Leg No. 4 – 5.4 miles – Elevation gain: N/A: moderate Time: 36:36 min – pace: 6:46 This was my first leg and I was so happy to start this crazy adventure. I didn’t know what to think, expect, how hard to run the leg, etc. I just went off and tried to keep my HR on check. At first I was so excited because we were running on a main street and the different vans of different teams were passing driving by cheering us up, so I was running it to fast. As always my competitive nature got to me and I just wanted to pass as many people at possible (I passed like 8 people). The weather was sunny and a bit humid, hence hot but overall it was nice. I carried with me two 6 oz flask of Gatorade on my fuel belt. I felt awesome and when I got to the transition area I pass my bracelet and the next relay was off. I checked my watch and remember saying: “Holly Sh%t, that was fast!” :) Leg No. 15 – 7.5 miles – Elevation gain 250 ft: moderate Time: 53:03 min – pace 7:03 This was my 2nd leg and after been waiting for 4:30 hrs aprox. I was excited to go out running again. Unfortunately the weather turned ugly and I spend the whole leg running on the pouring rain. By then it was already dark (like 10:00pm) so by rule you had to wear a light vest, a head lamp to find your way on the pitch dark. But with the heavy rain I wasn’t able to see a thing, plus there was a lot of water on the road hence my sneakers were soaking wet! This was by far the coolest leg because it was such a new and bad ass experience. Imagine running in the middle of the night, in the middle of the mountains, completely dark and the only thing you could see were just lights blinking at the distance making the night seem like it was invade by running Christmas trees ;) Anyway, I was SO afraid about the poor visibility I trained to run easy to avoid the risk of injuries. Still after I got to the transition area and checked my time and I was extremely pleased! Leg No. 26 – 8.6 miles – elevation gain 420 ft: hard Time: 1:04:10 hrs – pace 7:27 This 3rd leg started at around 6:00am, so I didn’t need to wear a light vest or head lamp anymore. I was trying to get myself pumped because by now I only had 1.5 hrs of sleep and been riding in a van for 19 hrs. Since you are on the road all the time you can’t take showers or anything and the closest thing to a bathroom is a port-a-john wc so I was smelly, sweaty, dirty and just plain tired. I forgot my HR transmitter so I took the 1st mile easy until my van a crew checked on me and gave it to me. For some reason I suffered from a side stitch (which I haven’t experience in a LONG time) so I had to walk for a few seconds. I wasn’t feeling that great so I asked my van to check on me at mid point. I was just tired, sore and with stomach aches. At this points most teams were running their last members leg as most teams were running complete (12 people) so a lot of this f%^@ers were running all out, but since we were only 11 members I had to pace myself and keep in mind I had to run YET again. At around mile three I kept running and 2 guys flew passing by, and somehow this pissed me off very much! All of the sudden I felt I had a second wind and I decided I wasn’t going to be passed anymore. Finally I was able to get into a good pace and I start running faster and passing people. At this point the leg turned ugly as there was one big hill after the other. We just kept going up and down. By the time you were running down hill your legs were so tired from climbing that it was more painful to go down than up. I’d always been good on hills so I passed a TON of people in this segment (like 25+) which pumped me up further more. It was a tough leg Leg No 36 – 5 miles – elevation gain 0 ft: easy Time: 29:05 – pace 5:48 This was my 4th and last leg. I am not sure how to describe this but I was so pumped it was the last one, I felt fresh and as like it was my 1st run, though by now were over 27:00 hrs of continues running a traveling. Through the race you get to see different teams on the way and you kind of get a friendly rivalry and for us, there were these 2 teams we wanted to beat! I was waiting on the transition area and the runners of those 2 teams got in 1st and they went off! The 1st runner had and advantage of 2:30 min and the 2nd like 1:15 min, finally our runner came into transition and I went off as a mad dog chasing a car. My HR rose to LT so I had to calm down… I felt my legs heavy and tired but my will and spirit was fresh and ready to kick some a$$. Before my leg I asked my van to stop at mid point to give me water and tell me were the other teams were. 8 min into the run I catch the first team and I was feeling great. I kept running and 3 min later I saw the other team ahead. I just increased my pace and kept running hard! I catch that team and just ahead I saw my van cheering up for me and they told me I was crushing the leg. I drank some water, and convinced my legs to hold for another 2.5 miles. I was VERY tired but I was excited to reach the finish line. Through the race a friend kept telling me: “the faster you run, the faster you’ll finish…” well, duh, you don’t have to be a genius to figure that out, but when you are running exhausted and in pain you will be amazed what a good phrase that is! I just repeated it over and over and kept running fast. I finally got to the point were I hear people cheering so I started kicking faster and faster until I turned around and saw the fishing line. I heard my teammates cheering for me and the announcer saying my number. I put together my last effort and sprinted those last 100 yds like I was going to win :) I crossed the finish line and my team was there waiting with a BIG beer. We all hug and we celebrate our awesome accomplishment as we all 11 team members came together to run 212.9 miles and REACH THE BEACH! Total Miles 26.5, 4 legs, around 3:03 hrs, avg pace 6:59 mph, all in 27:39 hrs with 2 hrs of sleep :) Total Miles 26.5, 4 legs, around 3:03 hrs, avg pace 6:59 mph, all in 27:39 hrs with 2 hrs of sleep :) Post race
Warm down: coronas, pizza, coronas, more pizza, coronas a shower, OH and yes... more coronas! :) What limited your ability to perform faster: HAHAHA, many things, such as the lack of sleep, the tired muscles, the weather conditions, my personal smell, etc. Event comments: This experience was AWESOME! I know it sounds completely crazy to say this is fun and awesome while you spend 27 plus hours in a van with 5 other people eating, "sleeping", changing sweaty and smelly clothes, talking, fighting and laughing, of all this while every member is smelly, dirty, tired and of course running through the rain, night, heat, mountains and ocean... but believe me; IT WAS THE MOST FUN I'D HAVE IN A WHILE Last updated: 2005-09-18 12:00 AM
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2005-09-18 6:06 PM |
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2005-09-18 8:41 PM in reply to: #248807 |
2005-09-19 7:11 AM in reply to: #248807 |
2005-09-19 8:18 AM in reply to: #248807 |
2005-09-19 10:22 AM in reply to: #248807 |
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2005-09-19 2:56 PM in reply to: #248807 |
2005-09-21 8:19 AM in reply to: #248807 |
2005-09-25 8:07 AM in reply to: #248807 |
General Discussion-> Race Reports! |
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United States
Reach the Beach, 7 Donna Pass, Hopkinton, MA 01748
Overall Rank = 49/285
Age Group = 12 team mixed
Age Group Rank = 7/122
Our team spend the night in a place called the "bunk house" in which we had a few relaxing beers (for the carbo load, HA!) and discuss the race strategy: "WTF are we doing tomorrow?"