Kevin is apparently having a midlife crisis which has resulted in him doing as many endurance races as he can find. His latest great idea was a 200 mile relay run from Fresno to Pismo Beach. The regular team was 12 people but he decided that would not be challenging enough and signed up for an ultra team of six people. I was totally against the idea at first, but Russell said he would do it if I did and convinced me. Then he (and Brian) got hurt leaving us down two people. Luckily we found two more gluttons for punishment, one of whom we did not know and the race director found for us at the last minute. Going into the race I wasn't sure what to expect, we had a team of six - two of whom I had never met, I knew nobody had really trained, I had no idea what to eat or bring, I had run a half marathon at full speed five days before. Turns out I had no idea what it would be like, but it was a great experience full of camaraderie, support, and lots of laughter!
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| 5 Dudes and One Ringer (spoiler alert, Emmett was the ringer) |
We started Friday (Veteran's Day) at 11:30 AM. On the way there I realized my shoe had a rip in the side. I bought a new pair of shoes at the start but they didn't have anything close to the minimalist shoes I normally wear so I hoped I would not have to use them. Laurie and Russell brought the kids to see us off and Ryan started the first leg. We drove to the first aviation community in the U.S. (I didn't even know that was a thing) where we marveled at the wide streets and giant garages with planes parked inside. We decorated the car and waited for Ryan. Conrad had the next leg which took us to the middle of Fresno. Gabe then headed out of Fresno. We stopped at Target so Kevin could buy a 10 disc Garth Brooks CD, got some lunch (my last real meal until 8:00 PM the next day), and headed to Kearney Park. I had my first leg and it was hot and a mile longer than the documents indicated...not good for morale when you hit 5.8 miles and can't see anyone. I thought maybe I had missed a turn. My leg finally ended at a Police training station where we got to watch police cars driving through obstacle courses complete with lots of squealing tires. Phil ran his first leg that started and ended in the middle of nowhere. Kevin started his first leg and could be seen for miles in his bright orange shirt. We stopped to cheer him on along the way and threw some melons at him to make him run faster! He ended in Caruthers where the guys grabbed sandwiches.
Ryan started his second leg and narrowly escaped being mauled by pitbulls. It was a long run through the middle of nowhere and he was feeling it. He ended in Riverdale which was a surprisingly quaint little town. Conrad headed out of town down 198 which was a busy road with a small shoulder. Not so fun in the dark. Gabe took the next leg which continued down 198 and was pretty boring. I also took off down 198 and immediately hated it. Running in the dark was eerie. I did not like the cars and shortly into the run crossed the street when a car was coming. Karma got me for running on the wrong side of the street and I fell into a giant hole that I couldn't see. I cut my knees up and had blood streaming down my leg. My shoe ripped some more and I was worried that I had ripped it in two. Luckily it was still intact but I had to take it off to get the rocks out. I felt pretty stupid but kept on going. I handed off to Phil 8.3 miles later and cleaned up while he continued down the dark road. At this point there were two teams behind us who had started 10 and 20 minutes behind us and were trying to catch us. The other teams were 12 person teams and their vans kept whizzing by so it wasn't quite as boring. Brian found an awesome old exercise bike on the side of the road and took it for a spin! The next few legs were pretty uneventful and we continued to run through the night.
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| Catholic church in Riverdale |
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| Brian found a gem on the side of the road |
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| First blood drawn |
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| Dental hygiene is always important |
Conrad crossed over the 5 Freeway and we caught a glimpse of civilization and stopped at a gas station for water, food, and Ryan was able to get some medicine for his blister. Gabe started out the hills leading into Coalinga and I finished them. They were nice and rolling and although the road was pretty busy, there was a nice shoulder. It perfectly happened that Kevin started his second leg at exactly midnight which was his birthday! He passed our first competitor and took us down a tiny road in the middle of nowhere. He ended in Coalinga and we ran by a domestic disturbance complete with a pregnant lady screaming and cussing.
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| Last civilization for a long time |
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| Safety first! |
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| We glow! |
We drove from Coalinga to Parkside because the road was too dangerous to run on. We headed out into the wilderness on a back road with no signs of civilization. Poor Ryan started out leg four with a six mile nearly all uphill run. It was definitely the most difficult leg and it killed him. I managed to fall asleep at some point and missed the two teams behind us pass us. We passed a couple other teams including our old neighbor who killed the hill with a smile on his face! Conrad continued a couple of miles up the hill to some welcomed downhill. At this point we were pretty much following right behind the runner because it was pitch black and there was nothing around. I knew that a mountain lion or a coyote was going to eat us, but nobody else seemed that worried. My third leg consisted of five miles of gradual uphill followed by two miles of straight uphill. It was 4:00 AM and I couldn't hang and had to walk a lot of the straight uphill. I was pretty unhappy but couldn't muster the strength. I got two miles of downhill to make up some of my walking time and managed to not get eaten by any animals so I called it a win! Phil continued through the night on flat ground and Kevin brought in the morning and beautiful scenery. We happened to run by his cousin's ranch.
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| Ready to pass someone! |
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| Dead pig along Kev's run |
Leg five took us into San Miguel where we got to see Laurie, Russell, Meghan, and the kids. Meghan just happened to live a few blocks from the exchange point so it was perfect. At this point we were all pretty tired and Brian was having a hard time staying awake. We decided to have Russell take over driving. Unfortunately, Ryan also got hurt this leg and when we caught up to him a couple of miles down the road he said he couldn't run anymore. Brian finished his leg for him and Gabe volunteered to run the next leg in addition to his own leg. He was a trooper! Katie picked Brian up so he could get some rest and I continued on. It was hot by this point and I was so exhausted that every little hill seemed like a mountain and it took all my will power not to walk. I hadn't eaten a real meal in nearly 24 hours and due to the heat and running felt quite nauseous any time I tried to eat. So I lived on bananas, gel chews, and chips...super healthy! I think everyone was feeling it (except maybe Kevin and Phil who have done other extreme races like Ironman and half Ironmans and didn't seem too phased.) Robert and Erika randomly decided to drive out to watch us and showed up to cheer us on around this time. I think we needed all the cheering we could get!
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| My happy little guy |
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| Best part of the run |
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| Bald eagle kicking it in the vines |
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| Our new driver |
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| Dying |
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| Pickle juice |
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| Our awesome spectators |
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| Conrad and Robert |
We drove to San Luis Obispo where Conrad started off the last leg! He ran through Cal Poly which turned out to be a disaster because it was not well marked and he ended up lost. We lost at least a half hour there, maybe more. Other teams said they had similar problems. Gabe took off for his extra leg and narrowly missed an anti-trump protest going through downtown SLO. We passed a block away from it. My last leg consisted of a few small hills and a dark path. Thankfully the sun went down right before I started and the temperature started dropping. I realized that I am not cut out for running in the heat and I felt a million times better once it cooled off. Finishing my last leg was amazing! We just had Kevin and Phil left, each with about four miles! Too bad their routes were full of turns that were not well marked. We drove to each turn to wait for them so they wouldn't miss them. It was chaotic and we felt like we were in an episode of The Amazing Race! We managed to make it to the beach right before Kevin and we all hobbled across the finish line together. Laurie, Robert, Erika, and the kids were waiting for us and it was such a great feeling knowing we were done. Otherwise it was quite anticlimactic. The race directors were there to snap a picture and give us medals and there were a few spectators, but otherwise it was dark and empty. Laurie said they had just gotten a light right before we arrived and the teams right before us had to finish in the dark. We finished in an overall time of 31:02:51. We were first out of the ultra teams and sixth overall so we were pretty happy with that!
Overall it was a great experience. It was one of the most challenging things I have ever done and there were times that I felt like giving up, but we had a great team cheering us on which helped a lot! It was also super nice having drivers. We hadn't originally planned on it, but when Brian got hurt he offered to drive instead of run. It allowed us to at least get some rest. Everyone was already talking about next year and how we should do it again. If we do, I will definitely train more including doing multiple runs a day and eating while I run. It was quite an accomplishment and I'm glad Kevin convinced us all to do this crazy race!
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