Several weeks ago I got a seven of my closest running friends together and we ran a 50 mile relay from Topeka to Lawrence! Crazy, I know!
The Bison 50 relay is designed to be a solo runner, ultra team (2-5 people), or regular team (6-10 people). It started at Gary Gribbles in Topeka and ended at the Mass Street Pub in Lawrence. I was super pumped because I felt like we had a good chance of placing as an all female team and we would get a medal!
Yes, I know the medal should not be the only reason I run but right now it is. I'm okay with it. :)
Sidenote: We didn't get a finishers medal because they changed the finishers prize to be a pint glass! Boo!!
There were ten legs of the race each ranging from 3.5 miles to 6.5 miles. Three of us ran two legs.
My first leg was leg 3 (4.4 miles) and to say I wasn't ready for it, is an understatement! I was actually in line for the porta potty when my relay partner, Cindy, came running up! Shit!!!! I saw her and just left the line ( I was next of course!) and took off running. She came running up and we made the exchange of the time chip and off I went. I didn't have time to set my Garmin and it was my first time running in full leggings.
The leggings kept falling down and making me feel like I had a baggy crotch. I don't think they looked that bad in person but that's how I felt. I kept hiking them up and scrunching them around my legs. About two miles in I decided I really had to go to the bathroom and I couldn't wait. I saw a small Mexican bakery and decided to go in and see if they had a restroom I could use.
I ran in and asked in my best Spanish, "Puedo ir al bano, por favor?" and she pointed to the back for me to go to. I was so thankful that she let me and if I had more time or money I would have been more than happy to buy a delicious looking pastry for me to eat while running.
As I continued my run I realized that I'm really running in the ghetto of Topeka. At one point I was running and looked down to see a gun clip laying on the sidewalk! Yes, a gun clip! Then I looked at the street sign and saw I was in Little Russia. Yikes!
I made my way to the exchange point and completely blew past my relay partner. I just wasn't paying attention ran right past her.
The rest of the race continued on as planned and we had a blast driving to each exchange point and cheering on our relay runners. There was such a sense of community and everyone cheering for each other, especially the solo runners. About half-way through the race we "adopted" a solo runner who seemed to not have any support system at the race for him. Each leg we saw him and cheered him and were in amazement that he was doing such a good job. He ran 50 miles by himself!
My next leg was leg 9 and it was 4.6 miles. By this time it had warmed up and I was able to run in a t-shirt and not long sleeves. The only thing was, this leg was on gravel roads and then Highway 24. The gravel roads were not like the gravel roads I ran at home. This gravel was huge and there was no line of demarcation where cars traveled more and had worn the gravel down. The whole time I had to stare at the road in fear of twisting my ankle if I didn't land right. My body was not ready for this jarring. My legs were killing me and my pace was terrible. I felt like I was letting the whole team down. I walked way more than I wanted to and was feeling sorry for myself. :(
The best part of the race was the end when we all met up and got to finish with our last runner. It was an awesome feeling and to know that it wouldn't have been possible without all of us, it was amazing!
We already have plans for next year and we can't wait to get two teams running!
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| Cindy, Joyce, Me, Andrea, Amber, Sherri |
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| Finishers Shirt! |
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