Eat Run Date: Reach the Beach : MA

I took part
in what I can
now say
is an
amazingly
insanely
fun
experience

The Reach the Beach Relay: Massachusetts

I participated with
Zoom Multisport ,
a triathlon team

What is Reach the Beach, you ask?

It is a 24 27 hour
200 mile
relay race
with a team of 12

So basically...
living in a van
with 5 other people
that I ~~don't~~ didn't really know
running all through the night
from Wachusset Mountain
to Westport, MA

12 people on a team
6 people per van
36 legs
3 legs per person

Zoom had two teams
"competing" against each other
Some of the guys
were awesome enough
to match up pace times
to keep the teams equal
and estimated them to finish
around the same time
..more on that later

My legs were 3, 15 and 27
We kicked off at 1pm
and my first leg
was at 2:03pm

As we got close to me..
I got insanely nervous
Stomach turning
Eeek...

Well..here it goes
5.9 miles
2:03 pm

I started off a little fast
8:36 was my first mile
Shit
Now I'm scared I went out too fast
and I'm gonna be dead
for the next almost 5 more, hot miles
I slow down a bit
but felt good
so tried to stay under
a 9:30 pace
Mile 2: 9:26
..success
Still feeling great

It was around mile 3
where I saw my team
got some water
and they told me
Lisa
who I was
"competing against"
on the other team
is just ahead of me.
'GO!' I thought
I've never wanted
my legs
to move so fast before
I wanted to prove
to myself
to my team
and to all the RTBers
That I CAN
move "fast"

The next 3 miles
I maintained a 9:40-45 pace
and felt great

Then I turned a corner
and saw Lisa.
After about a mile of her in my sights,
I caught up to her
and we crossed our transition spot
about 3/4 mile later
about 10 seconds apart
Thanks for the kill, LB ;)

Finally... 3 runners later
it was dinner time
Well, that turned into
an adventure within itself
... ended up eating
our takeout food
outside of the restaurant
on the sidewalk
instead of inside
But we got our carbo loading
and were off again

We get to the transition spot
and finally decorate our van
Naming our van's penguin, Franklin
Who later got named to Franklin Peter
because I had a 'blonde moment'
and thought a message on Kibits
from Team 2
Saying
"Pete is gone"
meant
Pete the penguin
Who isn't Pete
but is Donkey
was gone
Pete, is our leg 12 runner!!

And so now
we are preparing
for our night runs
and I am
totally
and completely
freaking out
and tired
which means
I am jumping around
like a goddamn idiot

...and then all of a sudden
our van is off

The next few hours
are quite a blur
I was tired
and
I was freaking out

Well... leg #2
Here I come

Reflective vest
Blinky lights on front and back
Saber light/flashlight in hand
2 glowsticks on both wrists
and a headlamp

And still
can't see much

11:34pm....

First half mile
I run past a bar
I see people drinking
and there's loud music
..tempting
but I am here to RUN!

I continue
and I follow the course arrows
around a corner
and another
and another
(or at least it felt that way
..but my garmin tells me otherwise)
and then up a hill
and then...
I don't see arrows
for about 5 minutes
I keep going
and get scared
ok, scared shitless
'Did I miss an arrow?'
'Where is my van?'
'What if I'm not on course?'
Finally..
My van passes me
and I make a turn and am doing OK
I finish my 5.6 miles at a 10:06 pace
Most of it was OK
Not as scary as I anticipated
I mean...
I heard some animals
I saw one cross a road
I ran down a pitch black
no houses, no lights, no life road
for about half a mile
I just about ran into a mailbox
I didn't see a single runner
and somehow
half the streetlights
that I ran under
would turn off
and I ran by them
but besides all that
it wasn't bad!!

We continue into the night
and it's all a bit a blur
besides when
one of my teammates
came up to the van,
asking for wipes
telling us to continue
and he'll be back in a minute
then we see him running into the woods
That was quite a good laugh
for around 1am

and my reaction
to someone
asking for a knife
to open an orange....
It was a combination of
bitchy, WTF & confusion
at around 2am
..I am either really hyper
or really bitchy
when I'm overtired

We ended our vans legs
and made the drive
to the next transition spot
and passed
the fuck
out
..for like 3 hrs
..then it was time to
MOVE again

Around 6am
runner 1 started up
My leg
started at 7:44 am
2.6 miles
that's ALL
I had to do.
and I was determined
to make it an amazing leg

Well
my normally
slow runner self
finished with a 9:04 pace
I was incredibly proud
and ready for a beer!
Oh shit, it's only 8:30am!
...A few hours later, I got that beer :)
Once my vans legs were complete
and we followed a few
of the second vans legs

Then it was off to
breakfast? lunch?
Well.. first meal of the day!

We had some margaritas
and champagne to celebrate

Which led to a little bit of fun drunkenness

We got to the beach
and took a quick nap
before the rest of the team
showed up
and we waited for the last two runners

We knew that it was going to be close
between the two teams
and last two runners
but then
what do we see
but BOTH runners
coming around the corner
to the finish.
we all freaked
and ran across the finish.
all 24 of us
two teams...as one

It was a great moment
and 27 hours later
we all finished
what we started together

It is what runners do
We try to beat one another
but at the end of the day
cheer each other on
and are one big family

This weekend was just another reminder
of why I love running
and the running community

Thank you to my RTB family
and Zoom Multisport
for an amazing 27+ hours