Blue Ridge Relay 2011

By: Jack Shannon

The Blue Ridge Relay (BRR) is a 208 mile relay race that is broken down into 36 legs. I promise you I am not going to recap each leg. Rather, I’d like to give my perspective of running on a 6 person team vs. the 12 person teams I ran with the last two years.

A little history is in order here. My first BRR was in 2009 on a 12 person team and it was awesome. The logistics of coordinating the two vans over 208 miles with a fair amount of sleep deprivation makes it a challenge, but I think what makes it really special is how it turns an individual sport into a team sport. If you think about it, runners train for “my” race, we talk about “personal” records, we talk about “my” training plan, “my” run…you get the picture. The BRR changes all that. “My” is turned into “our”, “I” is transformed into “us”. You are all, pretty literally, in the same boat (van), so you pull together and support one another. By the end of the race, I was fortunate enough to be with friends that became better friends. The shared experiences run deep.

The positive experience in 2009 led to my running it in 2010, again with a 12 person team. In 2009 I ran in van #1, in 2010 I ran in van #2; just to have a different experience. I’m here to tell you, it doesn’t matter what van you are in. 2010 was as much fun as 2009. I’m glad I mixed it up.

So how do I mix it up for 2011? Let’s try an ultra team! What a great idea! It will be fun! (There may have been some wine that also influenced our decision.) Anyway, we signed up and our fate was sealed. As the race got closer, I started questioning my decision making ability. The night before the race, I thought I was crazy. Not crazy as in crazy fun, more like crazy stupid. The race was challenging the last two years, now I’m facing twice the miles with less sleep.

The first six legs felt the same as when I was in van #1 in 2009. The big difference was when our runner #6 came in, she handed off to someone in the same van. By the end of my second leg, I realized I’ve been involved in this race since the start. When you are on a 12 person team and your van is done with it’s round of legs, you kind of “check out” of the race, do your own thing (eat and sleep), then get to the race again before the other van is done. With the ultra team, you never “check out”, you are always involved. That was kind of cool, and it wasn’t just me that thought that. We were all new to being on a BRR ultra team, and all except one had BRR experience. Everyone with experience felt the same way. We actually felt bad for the12 person teams for having to wait for the other van to pass the race back to them. In addition, since there was less time between the legs we ran, there was less time to stiffen up. All good stuff.

Of course we did run more; and that did have an effect on our energy level. We were all pretty spent at the end of the race. When I ran with the 12 person teams, we ran pretty steady paces for all three legs. In the ultra team, our pace started slowing as the legs started piling up. By the last leg, we were ready to be done.

Having said that, I’m planning on being on an ultra team again next year.

It will be fun!

* * *

By: Troy Eisenberger

It’s not a word I would have used at any point during the Blue Ridge Relay. I wouldn’t have used it when I hit my first hill, and all of the upcoming bigger hills were instantly put into perspective. I wouldn’t have used it when I fought hard for 45 minutes of sleep in the back of the van, only to get up for another run. I absolutely wouldn’t have laid claim to that word at any point when my hips decided they were done working part of the way on the mountain goat leg. Yet, it is the one word I am finding now to summarize the 2011 Blue Ridge Relay.

Restful.

My BRR experience started in Caribou, listening to Hazel sing the praises of the event. I was intrigued, but was thinking it was ridiculous to spend $175 (if only it was that little…) to run 15-20 miles. Months later I got a text from Hazel asking if I wanted a vacant spot, and I thought it would be ridiculous not to seize the chance to run with my friends. As a race, it still doesn’t make all that much sense to me, but as a truly unique experience where strangers become friends, existing friendships become deeper, and Darryl still remains kinda creepy….it is something I am beyond grateful to have been a part of.

So…onto the relay…..I loved it.

I loved the start watching Diane take off down the hill. I loved seeing van #1/ultra van members as if they were long lost friends from high school. It was definitely a curious occurrence that for people I might typically see every 2-3 weeks @ Caribou, I was having the reaction of “Oh….that’s Scott McCully….I haven’t seen him in 8 hours”. Also when seeing the Ultra Van the first two times, and receiving a “She’s running” response to my “where’s Hazel?” question, she might as well have been lost at sea. No offense to those who were actually lost….in the night….and ran over 3 extra miles¹.

I loved what others have remarked on, the kind of chain-reaction-inspiration that occurred in our van. Others have claimed to be inspired by my plod up the mountain goat leg (some people must inspire easily), but even so, that leg was inspired by knowing that Rusty stormed up a giant hill…..on gravel…..in the night…..while wearing overalls (it was dark, I’m taking his word for it….). There was a rich source of motivation for anyone who opened their eyes. John, who is kinda strong and inspired me to do 20 pushups before 2012, powered past runner after runner. Laura took one of the first “uh-oh…that’s steep” hills and cruised up it. Stacey, who like myself, had that “you still have the mtn goat leg” voice in her head that never really lets you feel comfortable, and then ran up the hill we thought she would be walking, then kept running up the hill that looked impossible to walk up.

Like with Stacey, the first two legs definitely felt like mere preludes to the third. While my second leg did have the challenge of holding down the sweet potato fries I ate 4 hours ago, I didn’t feel the need to add any drama to my 2^nd leg as others might have². I was eventually standing on the side of the road, with Rusty who did a great job keeping me calm, hoping Landon got there quickly to get this all over with.

Running the 31^st, and mountain goat leg, I was thinking about The Mountain Goats. Not the people running up the hill, and not the animals that greeted us at some point along the trip up, but John Darnelle’s band³. It wasn’t a song by the band, but the interview he did before covering Jawbreaker’s classic punk-rock scene take “Boxcar”⁴.

http://origin.avclub.com/articles/the-mountain-goats-cover-jawbreaker,57069/

So while running, my thoughts turned to an interview, by a band I love, covering a different song I really love. I feel if I go one more level deeper, the braaaaaahm sound from Inception will start. When asked if he feels a connection to the song or rather punk-rock in general, Darnelle replies:

“Everyone feels beleaguered at some point…..You are going to feel, in whatever role you are living, like everyone is against you at some point”

After finishing the climb, passing the bracelet to Rusty, and getting some more water, Laura told me that this experience would help put future challenges and tough times in perspective, and my first reaction was almost a laugh, followed with “future?….I’m pretty sure they are here now”. And they were. The weeks leading into BRR were filled with so many things in my life that had left me emotionally exhausted, physically damaged, and ultimately beleaguered. It wasn’t that feeling that way wasn’t very tempting for me during the race, it was just that during the relay it just wasn’t possible.⁵ There wasn’t time to be anxious, because a BRR veteran like Dave Harris was walking me through my questions, there wasn’t time to let self-doubt last, because my vanmates were telling me how great I was doing. Finally, there wasn’t time to try to hide behind self-reliance. I forgot my Garmin (thanks Diane), forgot a warm jacket for the night (thanks Laura), forgot gels/food that wasn’t pop-tarts (thanks Rusty), and remembered my shoes that for some reason everyone else thought I forgot. For an independent person who loves to run on the track and/or greenway, I perhaps should have been more apprehensive about being in a van with people I didn’t know at all or all that well headed for elevation change you only get locally at Charlotte-Douglass. In the end, it was nothing less than absolute hilarity⁶, it was nothing less than sweet therapy, and  it was nothing less than….yes, I really do mean this…..restful.

Footnotes:

¹ – I promise no more references to Stacey getting lost.

² – I lied.

³ – John Darnelle once remarked that even when he played a solo show, it was still “The Mountain Goats”. He added, “even if it’s just me and your grandma banging on trash can lids, it will still be The Mountain Goats”.

⁴ – Link to the original song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37dBq_4TsZI

⁵ – The trip up the hill (and moreover all of the challenges on the BRR) really to me is summed up in the lyrics to this Mountain Goats song. I left this out of the report for integrity since I didn’t really think about it until after. Although it’s likely for the best that I didn’t hear “and a rabbit gives up somewhere, and a dozen hawks descend” on the hill, but could have certainly thought that “and I am coming home to you, if it’s the last thing I do” would have been the song we were all singing to Asheville.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQnciEDYoo0

⁶ – Almost finished without mentioning the space goat….

* * *

By: Rusty Starnes

Friday morning I woke up at 3:30am afraid I was going to over sleep. It was probably more of just being really nervous and excited. I’m talking REALLY excited! Like it was prom night, excited! You see, I was a BRR virgin. Not that there is anything wrong with that (talking about running). It’s not a bad thing to wait for the right time (still talking about running). But I had no experiences in which to prepare me for this (talking about running, people; focus, focus…). I mean sure, I can go out and run long distances, short distances, throw in a few hills. Wait, hills? Really? How could I possibly simulate the hills that one would encounter running the BRR? Well, if you live in the Charlotte area, you can’t. Not without driving to the NC mountains. Luckily for me my in laws have a house on Lake Lure near Chimney Rock. And I was fortunate enough to have this at my disposal when I was training for the SCREAM downhill half marathon in July. OK, so let’s back up a bit.

Back in July after running the SCREAM with several UCRR folks (another great experience), Hazel suggested to me that I get on the standby list for the BRR in case anyone had to drop out. Nonsense, I thought. That was crazy talk to attempt something like that, let alone actually do it; and even more so to talk my wife into agreeing with it. And surely there are better runners in the group to bring along as I would be among the slowest of the bunch. Well lo and behold after a couple of months and a couple of members had to drop out (thank you Elizabeth and Brian) and several hours of begging and pleading with my wife (thank you Susan), and lots of beer to be dumb my brain enough to say I wanted to run it, I was in. What I failed to realize is that I was taking Brian Sammons’ legs. No, not his actual legs; his legs of the relay. So anyway, flash forward to Friday morning Sept. 9^th. It’s 5:00am and I’m sitting in the cul-de-sac on Jack’s street as the other team members of Designated Drinkers started trickling in. Within a few minutes it’s a full blown block party! It all started with the laughter and confusion of “Where the hell is van #2?”, which was painted on our van, which, indeed was van #2. And carried though like a ripple on a cool calm morning, from doing a cannonball into the lake; off the top of the in-laws boathouse from 20 feet up. Yes, it was that big of a ripple. From the moment we climbed into the van at 5:31am everything seemed to blur together.

And we’re off. “Woohoo”… blur, blur, blur…”Hey Rusty isn’t that the exit you live off of?” (while riding up I-77). “Too bad we couldn’t have just picked you up there”…blur, blur, blur…Laura:” I don’t think I could waterboard someone”. Troy:” Not with that attitude!”…blur, blur, blur…random voice from the back of the van, ”Are we there yet?”…blur, blur, blur. The birth of “Space Goat!” laugh, laugh, laugh, blur, blur, blur, thinking about Space Goat, laugh, laugh, laugh…And we’re here. Yessssss!

We get checked in; get our shirts, redecorate van 2 to add the Space Goat, take a team picture and Diane is off. Well, I’m definitely committed now. There’s now getting out of this one. It was at this moment when I realized the enormity of what I have agreed to that I really started to get nervous. Oh my, this is going to be insane! I need a drink! That’s when I knew I was with the right team. Designated Drinkers.We pile back into the van, drive by Diane and cheer her on. We even stopped to get a couple of pics and hoot and holler some more, then make our way to the first transition area.

Once we got there I couldn’t believe the number of support vans and SUVs in the church parking lot. Yes, this is a pretty big event. “Hey look, there’s Jack!” Seeing Jack out there was awesome. He had this amazing glow about him like he had just completed his first marathon. Yet, this was only the beginning legs of the BRR. But it gave me a sense of comfort and calmness to see how relaxed he was. It’s so great, as a first timer, to be around veterans because they know what to expect and don’t get nervous. It’s easy to feed off of that. So with time to kill, we spread out some blankets and bask in the fresh mountain air and sun. It was entertaining to eaves drop on some of the conversations and meet with a few of the runners from different teams. A team of all ladies walked by and smiled. “How you doin’?” I thought to myself with a smile. A few minutes later another group of lady runners walk by and smile. “How you doin’?” Darryl says with a devilish grin. Yep. That was Darryl. Saying what the other guys were thinking. Upon seeing someone running away from our van because they tagged us with their cupcake team logo, I notice Troy standing by the side view mirror; shaving. Shaving? Yes, shaving. And thus began the Faces of Troy. Troy came to the BRR with a full beard. And at each transition, and sometimes exchanges, he would shave a part of it. First it started with just the chin. Throughout the course he went from Civil War soldier, to Grenadiers, to Ambrose Burnsides, to…not really sure what that one was, to Lil’ Wolverine. “Troy! Landon’s coming!” And he’s off. “Where’s John?” John comes running up to us laughing as he says “Dude, I just drew a Space Goat on that van over there”. And thus the term Space Goating was born.

The next exchange zone was when I could really feel the anxiety setting in. I’d gone to the port-a-potty like 6 times in the last half hour. I had no fluids left in me. I spent a few minutes running back and forth, around in circles then down to the exchange cones to wait on Troy. I was anxious and nervous and couldn’t wait to be on my way. Approximately 10 hours after waking up, I’m finally starting my first leg. Again, thanks Brian for giving me the second hardest leg. Oh come on! I’m talking about the relay leg. I’m standing with one of the runners from Team Awesome and we’re wishing each other good luck. I kindly ask him not to pass me as not to bruise my ego. He just laughs. Off in the distance I hear Darryl yell “Rusty! Get ready!”, or something to that nature. By then I was so tuned out to everything else, I searched off into the distance and all I could see was Animal from the Muppets storming towards me like I had just kicked over his drums. No, wait. It’s Troy! I will always remember the look on his face as he handed me the bracelet. It was like he had just smelled the first Christmas tree of the season. He looked so happy and content; relaxed. I knew then I made the right choice in running this event. And with the bracelet around my wrist, I was gone.

As runner #8 the first of my legs was an “Easy” 4.6 mile stretch with only one road change. Some nice ups and downs with a 492 ft elevation loss and a 292 elevation gain. My splits went like this: Mile 1-7:32 (downhill), Mile 2- 8:33 (uphill), Mile 3-7:53 (downhill), the Team Awesome dude passes me. Dangit! Mile 4- 8:32 (uphill) and 9:17 for the last .6 miles (I forgot to stop my Garmin). My pace for this leg was an 8:12. I was peeved that I didn’t stop my watch because I knew I had a little quicker pace than that. But mostly I was peeved because in the last 2 miles Team Awesome rode by and the driver had a Sam Adams hanging out of the window teasing me. That bastard! (He’s actually a pretty cool dude) It was definite motivation for me to finish in hopes of snagging one from him. I mean, after all, we are the Designated Drinkers, aren’t we? I know, Mark. I know. No alcohol on the course. When I got to the end and handed off the Stacey, I heard that driver call my name and tell me to “go down to the creek and cool off then grab a Sammy”. I thought he meant he had beers down there. Nope. No beers by the creek. I walk back up and he’s already gone. Dangit! We jump into the van to get to the next exchange zone so we can get Laura ready. It was good to be done with the first leg. I toweled off, showered with a baby wipe and changed into some dry clothes.

It was going to be another long wait before I ran again. Stacey… Laura… John… then Darryl. By then it was getting dark. The next transition area was at the Tanger Outlets. OK, so this isn’t too bad. Shopping for the girls; food and beer for everyone. Soon Darryl came screaming into the parking lot like someone had just yelled “last call”. After noticing several runners get confused as to which way to the handoff zone I got Darryl’s attention to make sure he knew to do a U turn around the curb. And Diane was off again. Leg 2 was underway. Rounds of water and beers (Mark, we’re not on the course), fried pickles and food for van 2. For how hungry I was, the fair at the Cheeseburger Grill was like a 5 Star restaurant. And I was appreciative to Darryl for offering to split a quesadilla. I wanted a big ol’ greasy cheeseburger but thought the better of it because I knew how full I would be and wanted no part of it coming back around during my next run. And I’m sure that waitress was just appreciative of her generous tip. I love my van-mates. It’s the little things we do to bring a smile to someone. After much more laughing and hysterics it was off to the next transition area.

It was dark by now. The air was cool and the moon was playing pee-a-boo through the fog that blanketed the ground. My mind was deliriously fighting between trying to sleep and how was it going to be running at night in the fog. Running in the fog won out because suddenly Elizabeth was whispering to me to get up. “Already?”, I thought. I haven’t even dosed off yet. I tossed the blanket back and instantly bathed in the cold dew that had settled all around me on my pillow, air mattress and blanket. Yep. I’m definitely awake now. We met up with van 1 (always wonderful to see them), got Troy ready just in time to see Landon coming up the street. Oh yeah, and Troy had a new beard-do. We get up to the next exchange area, and after passing Troy and cheering him on, I got ready for my second leg (BRR leg 20). This is the one I’d been dreading. Night time (I’d never run at night before), dark, 7.5 miles Very Hard and lots of uphills. Steep uphills. 6 and 7% grade from mile 5 through mile 6. Ok, so it wasn’t a mountain goat or Space Goat, which someone made the comment to give me chuckle, but still. It wasn’t going to be an easy run. The one saving grace I had was all of my legs were easy to navigate. Legs 1 and 2 had one right hand turn. Leg 3 was down one road and one turn left at the end. Navigating at night, I’m sure, is no easy task. My fear was that I would miss a turn because I’d be too paranoid about some dog, wild animal, hill-billy or Troy and his beard running out of the words after me. I was only partly right. Troy came running towards me but it wasn’t out of the woods. He was cruising up the street. His form was so tight that his headlamp looked like a motorcycle headlight. No bouncing movement at all; just a straight beam. And with the bracelet in hand, off I went.

It took a few minutes to calm myself. Running for the first time at night can be a harrowing experience. Especially if you’re all alone; in the mountains; at midnight. Off in the distance I heard a few dogs barking. “Please don’t come out here” I thought. On the occasion I would come across a residence. The soft glow of an inside light; a silhouette drift by the window. “I wonder if they have a dungeon where they keep people they capture out in the streets at midnight? Or do they stuff out back in the shed?” I thought. Yes, I was really thinking these things. Every noise I heard; every smell; every light. It drew my attention. It’s amazing how your senses intensify in these situations. I started thinking about scary movies I’d seen, haunted houses I’d been to, and to make things worse I would make up scenes I would use in a horror movie. I was scaring the bejesus out of myself. After a couple of miles and a few other team vans creeping by, van 2 rode by and gave shouts of encouragement. How is it that my fellow Space Goats still have so much energy? Now all is quiet. After a while a runner slowly trudges past me. Of course his presence behind me makes me nearly soil my shorts. I don’t think he appreciated the flashlight in his eyes. “How’s it going?” I ask. “Uuuuh” he responds. “Right on. Looking strong man” and he disappeared over a hill and into the night. Slowly I began to calm down and just focus on getting through this leg. I stopped looking at my Garmin every few minutes and reminding myself how far I still have to go. I started breathing in the cool mountain air, turned off the flashlight, finally, and let the moonlight rain down on me. I watched my breath rise in front of me illuminated by my head lamp. I started thinking about my van-mates and the conversations we’d had. I thought about the bond that we were all developing. The laughs; the serious discussions; the friendly banter; the Faces of Troy; water boarding; Space Goats. I couldn’t help but smile and reflect on how we pushed each other to overcome each leg. How we encouraged each other to not give up. My legs tired and tightening, I began to walk up hills when I couldn’t run. I thought about a quote from Dean Karnazes (do I really need to tell you who he is?) that he was told from his father. Run if you can, walk if must, crawl if you have to, just don’t stop. Out of nowhere; “Oh F**K!” I yelled. What was that noise? So much for letting the mind flow; and just like that, I was running again. Thank you Darryl for the flashlight. My splits: 1-8:35; 2-9:08; 3-9:17; 4-10:22 (hammys and calves getting tight; yes, I walked); 5-9:47; 6-11:57 (steepest portion. I thought I was going to have to crawl); 7-8:37 (this was after the “Oh F**K!”); I saw light ahead and then the exchange zone sign. “Drinkers!” I shouted. Apparently someone thought I said “Sneakers”. I don’t see Stacey. “Stacey!!!” I shouted. “Oh F**k!” Stacey thinks because she wasn’t expecting me just yet (and they never are). The last .5 miles was an 8:21 pace.

21 minutes had gone by since Stacey started her 2.4 easy miles through the town. “Something’s not right” Elizabeth said. After a few more minutes, panic started to set in. Stacey should’ve been here many minutes ago. Laura and I stayed at the exchange zone while Elizabeth and the other van-mates drove back out to look for her. Laura kept thinking about Stacey running in her cute skirt and top and some bubba coming home from a bar trying to add another one to his collection. Laura and I quickly went from the mindset of finishing the BRR in a set time to just finishing with us all together. Alive! The sucky thing was there was nothing we could do. As Elizabeth later stated to Stacey “You were scared? You knew were OK. I didn’t!” We couldn’t have said it any better, Elizabeth. And in all fairness though, Stacey’s leg had 5 turns. And trying to make those turns at night when you’re tired and some of the signs aren’t well marked (though we made sure to correct that by adding blinky lights) can’t be an easy task. I’m not sure what van one’s excuse was (just kidding…kind of). But she made it back (Thank you Darryl, John and Troy for going back out again). Stacey hands off to Laura and off she goes.

By the time we got through Laura, John and Darryl it was nearing 4:00ish (perhaps later). We knew we could get a few hours of sleep before the sun came up. I couldn’t help but envy Diane a bit because she would soon be done with this crazy journey. But then again, she had two night legs. I didn’t envy that. For me this had to be the hardest journey in the van. Fighting to keep my eyes open and giving Elizabeth directions to the transition area was at times more challenging than running the hills on my second leg. Elizabeth, Elizabeth, Elizabeth. What can’t be said about her? She was the ultimate teammate, team mother, team driver, team search and rescue, team photographer, team cheerleader. Notice the TEAM theme? We runners had the luxury of laying back and closing our eyes for a while, whether we slept or not, we still got some form of rest. Elizabeth? Not so much. It’s kind of hard to close your eyes for a few seconds when you’re driving the Space Goat Boat, which I thank her for not attempting. And she never complained once nor ever asked for someone else to drive, which any of us would’ve jump in to relieve her without question. She is truly Super Woman. No way does this team achieve what we did without her. Elizabeth? On behalf of ALL of van 2, we love you! And we thank you!

Yessss….we finally arrive at the transition area. The church is already hopping with patrons devouring pancakes. Reluctantly I chose food over sleep; at least for a little while. Troy, John and I dive into a plate of pancakes, sausage, juice and water. Elizabeth finds an empty pew in the church and crashes. Laura never leaves the van. Darryl and Stacey climb into the large covered area beside the church and sleep. I quickly eat and go grab my stuff so I can find a place to sleep when it occurs to me…there’s an empty seat in the middle of the van. Down I go. A few minutes later I hear Troy open the door and mumble something. By then I was so incoherent I wasn’t sure if I responded with anything. I was hoping I hadn’t agreed to a snuggle party. And as quickly as I closed my eyes again I was awake. Did I sleep? I’m not really sure but the tiredness and sleep deprivation felt like I was in a drunken stupor. I sit up and look behind me. Laura was asleep in the back seat. I look in front of me. Troy is asleep in the first seat. Whew. Luckily I didn’t agree to a snuggle fest. As I was climbing out of the van and trying to shake the foggy mindedness, I thought of the ultra team. How are they functioning through all of this? I have no right to complain and feel sorry for myself when I’ve gotten way more rest than those guys. “Hey look, there’s Jack!” And dangit he still looks as refreshed as he did when I saw him 12 hours ago. How does he do it? Is it his boyish good looks? Is it the haircut? Share your secrets Jack, please? Soon everyone was up. Coffee, water, food, laughter, restrooms, more laughter, more coffee, more restrooms… I’m looking around the transition area quietly taking it all in and there is John in his stealthy-ness. He had taken Space Goating to whole new level at this point. I think I lost count after 12 vans that got tagged. The classic moment was when he tagged a van as it was driving off!!! I laugh and look over towards our van of course there was Troy, reshaping the beard; getting ready for his last leg. A bit later van 1 appeared, as did Jamaar. “Hey dude. Great to finally meet you”.

Troy and I talked a bit about the hills he was about to confront. We talked about the BRR experience and this being the defining moment of our relay. There seemed to be this renewed spirit, a new energy, if you will, developing. It was exciting. There was a cool fall feel in the air, crisp and cool. The morning sun was glowing off of the trees. Everyone had a spring in their step. It felt a lot like the beginning of the BRR. I offered Troy some Guu in case he needed a boost while attacking the mountain goat (head out of the gutter please, thank you). I offered him compression sleeves to help his calves with the strain they were about to endure. First I gave him some blue ones to contrast his black attire. But they were too big. Then I offered my black ones because they were smaller and, well, he looked really bad ass with the beard and the black tight tank and black compression shorts. Ok, well maybe not the black tight compression shorts but that’s a personal preference because I can’t pull it off. But Troy just had this look about him. Like… like he had…like he had the eye of the goat! If you look good, you feel good. If you feel good, you run good. (It’s an expression, don’t judge the grammar) Moments later we were hanging out at the exchange zone waiting for Landon. It’s interesting how you can hardly know someone but feel like you know them so well. You can say nothing and have the best conversation ever. The only way to describe standing there was, comfortable. There wasn’t this awkward silence. There was just…silence; restful, relaxed, peaceful silence. We looked at each other and I think we were thinking the same thing…it was time to rock! Soon Landon came into view gliding along with this huge smile and this graceful stride. It was like watching a child run on the playground; so carefree and happy. And with the exchange, van 2’s third and final leg was underway.

We passed Troy and shouted words of encouragement, offered water and a wet towel. He was possessed and on a mission. We drove up the mountain goat a ways and stopped off the side of the road to hang out with another van that was waiting for their runner. Several runners made their way up, attempting to conquer the mountain goat and without thinking, like we had done the entire relay, we offered support, encouragement, extra water and wet towels to those who might need it. One runner accepted, a couple of others didn’t but were appreciative. One runner was making his way up, he had a huge smile on his face and commented “I thought this was supposed to be hard?” as he was going by. “Really?” I thought to myself with my inside voice. I’m looking around; nobody is taking this one? Really? Ok readers, all at once “THAT’S WHAT SHE SAID!!!” I shouted. How was it that I was the only one to swing at that one? I thought as Darryl laughed and gave me a fist bump. Too easy, I guess. (TWSS). A few minutes later Darryl and I spot Troy making his way up. He’s looking good; pissed off but strong. He gets up to us and Darryl gives him some water and a towel. He’s clearly not happy but he’s not giving up either. After more words of encouragement, some mumbling words from Troy, we pile into the van and move up further to cheer him on more. Soon we’re at the exchange zone and it’s time for my last and final leg. This is it; my defining moment; my chance to really kick it up and kick arse.

My last leg is a 9.4 Very Hard downhill run. Earlier I had talked with my van-mates about my experience with running down hill and why I was looking forward to this one the most. I spent some time in Chimney Rock running hills to train for the SCREAM. What I learned? Take shorter strides with a quicker turn over. Lean slightly forward from the ankles and keep my feet under my hips. This gives me better control and stability while letting gravity do all of the work without blowing out my quads and knees. Soon Troy popped up over the hill. He seemed so full of energy. More than anyone should after having to run the mountain goat. I took his energy and spirit with the bracelet, my American flag headband on to honor those affected by 9/11, my water belt, and off I went. Unfortunately I didn’t set the GPS on my Garmin in time because Troy finished a lot quicker than I expected (I know, I know, ”that’s what she said”) so it would be a bit before I knew at what pace I was going. No worries though. It was going to be whatever it was going to be. I thought about how frustrated Stacey was the night before because she took a wrong turn. I felt for her because she seemed to beat herself up when she really shouldn’t have. I knew that I had a great opportunity to erase some of the deficit so she wouldn’t have to push herself too hard to make up for lost time. I thought about how Troy had taken on the mountain goat and tackled it with such gusto. I thought about all of the laughter and experiences my van-mates had shared with each other. I thought about how this was the last leg and I was going to leave it all out on the course. Then I thought about Space Goats. Yes, I really did. “Beep Beep”. My Garmin synced with GPS. Finally! I was probably about a .5 mile by my guess. Holy Crap! Am I really running a 5:56? I’ve only dreamt of that kind of speed. I knew it was way too early and I needed to settle in for a long run so I started to back off a bit. Then suddenly I saw a head bob up a ways. “A runner” I said to myself. I’ve yet to get a kill on this relay and was -2 on the count. It added more fuel to the fire. I had another goal. Get my first kill. I backed down to just over a 7:00 pace and was able to still slowly started reel her in. Eventually I pulled up beside her and offered words of encouragement. She thanked me and said “Last one. Finish strong!” and on I went. Just as I looked up I saw another head disappear around the bend. Could this really be? Could I get another kill so soon and break even? I tried to maintain my 7:00+ pace but was too giddy about my new prey. Soon I found myself in the mid 6:30s. Man, if only I could run this pace on a flat course I could qualify for Bahstan! (Do I really need to explain that one?). A few minutes later I was within striking distance and knew I could overtake him at any moment. Just then I heard van 2 approaching behind me on my right with a hootin and hollerin pouring out of the windows. I was maybe 20 feet from my victim and couldn’t help but have fun and enjoy the moment. With my right hand I would cast out and imaginary rod; set the hook and reel him in as the Space Goat Boat drove by. (Yes, Elizabeth officially coined the van as the Space Goat Boat) Soon I made my move. The runner seemed to want to stay completely on the left side of the road (as according to the course rules), which made it easier, as we dipped into a low right hand turn. I dropped down inside and slipped by without enough time to even say hello. I felt bad that I was taunting him without him knowing and I didn’t even have the chance to give him some encouragement. Ok, so maybe I didn’t feel bad about the quiet taunting, but I was proud how our team would encourage others. We had all found that not many other teams returned the gesture. As I came out of the gravel and onto the pavement I couldn’t believe my eyes. Another prey! I knew I still had a long way to go and needed to conserve some energy for the finishing kick at the end. But this was an all downhill run and surely I could keep the momentum. Couldn’t I? Overly excited and overly zealous I was coming up on mile 6 according to my Garmin, which I started late and had to consider the inaccuracy given the mountains and trees, I figured was closer to mile 7. I made my move and cruised by him. Man this was fun. This was going to be my easiest leg! I told him he was looking strong and to keep it up. He looked at me like I was an idiot for running at that pace. His expression was that of knowing what lay ahead. “That’s odd”, I thought to myself. “Why is he looking at me with that smirk?” A few minutes later I noticed something wasn’t quite right. The ground was leveling out and the road was getting straight. “What the…” I thought. “This isn’t right”. It’s supposed to be all downhill. I later learned that I dropped over 1700 feet in 6 miles, then about 100 feet per mile from then on. Yikes! I had to slow it down or else I wouldn’t make it at my current pace (7:25ish). I tried to settle in and take in the scenery. It was beautiful! The hills, trees, barns…Then it suddenly got hot. And I started to sweat for the first time in this leg, it seemed. I struggled to find shade and there was no breeze. “Uh oh”, I said to myself as I felt my left hamstring tighten up a bit. I glanced behind and the last guy I passed was starting to gain on me. “Oh hell no!” I stepped up my pace a bit; sipped some water; rubbed my hamstring as best as I could while running. “WHERE IN THE HELL IS VAN NUMBER TWO?!?!?!” I screamed. It was then that I got the significance of the ultra team’s name. “Oh, now I get it” I thought. Why didn’t they wait on me to give me water and a wet towel? I didn’t need it at the beginning of my leg, though I took the wet towel anyway. Surely they will be just up the road. But I can see straight ahead for like another 3 miles. “DAMNIT!” I yelled. Now both hamstrings are cramping up as well as my left calve. I took some more water from my belt, took in some Guu, and gave a quick glance back only to see that guy closing in even more. The next half mile was spent screaming profanities to anyone and everyone willing to listen. Dogs started barking, birds flew away, cows stampeded, trees dropped their leaves, mountain goats raced to the tops of the hills. It’s my thought that the guy behind me heard me screaming and backed off because he was too afraid to pass me. Up ahead I see a fire station and a tent. “Sweet!” I thought to myself, “That’s got to be the exchange zone” because I saw people walking around. So I again, stepped up my pace. I was going for broke and burning everything I had in the tank. Now both hamstrings were locking up as well as both calves. I look like Frankenstein running down the road “ARGH ARGH”, OK so that’s more like a pirate, but you get my point. “Wait, where’s the…” “Where’s the exchange zone sign?” “I don’t see an exchange zone sign”. “MUTHER GOATER!!!!!!” Yes, I actually yelled that as I was running by the fire station. Apparently they were setting up for some kind of yard sell or something. How dare they mislead me that way? Didn’t they know what I was going through? Suddenly up ahead just past the fire station I saw it. A yellow sign up on the right. A yellow sign of accomplishment. A yellow sign of this leg is almost over. A yellow sign of… Weichart Realty? “ARE YOU FRIKIN’ KIDDING ME???” Suddenly I look to the left and see the exchange zone sign. It was at that moment that I felt a tear roll down my cheek. I’m not sure if it was from the pain in my body, the sense of accomplishment from competing and completing the BRR, the thought that this bonding experience would soon be over, or the bug that flew into my eye. I just knew that at that moment, when I saw Stacey standing there waiting for me, I felt like I was part of something bigger than just me. When I run alone, I run for me and the only person affected is me. But this, this was much bigger. I had people that depended on me. I was accountable to them. I got to Stacey and told her “I’ve got a good lead for you. Don’t pressure yourself with the hills. Walk if you have to, just finish”. I was spent. I left everything I had on that course. Emotions, thoughts, prayers, curse words, laughter, and tears. I had nothing left to give. It was now up to the rest of the team to take us home. Little did I know that the energy and spirit that Troy passed on to me carried over to Stacey.  My splits: 1-7:00; 2-7:02; 3-6:59; 4-7:22; 5-6:54; 6-7:35; 7-7:56; 8-8:15; 9-8:16. Again, I forgot to stop my Garmin. It showed my overall pace to be 7:31.

As we drove by Stacey shouting cheers and words of encouragement I noticed a different Stacey than earlier. She looked as fresh and when she was running her first leg. With a huge smile, she carried a great stride and was running strong. We parked a ways up the hill, and noticed a guy had already passed her, so we knew (at least we thought, well I did anyway) it was going to be a struggle to get up the mountain goat. Boy, were we wrong. She was crushing that hill and seemed to make some ground on the dude who passed her. We gave her some water and cold wet towel. I told her to walk if she needed to and not to feel like she had to run the hill. She looked at me like “Yeah, whatever. I’ve got this!”.  We piled into the van and drove on ahead to the next exchange zone. I climbed out of the van to stretch, dry off, put on some dry clothes and mingle with some of the other teams. Suddenly I heard a commotion. Stacey was running full throttle to hand off to Laura. “How did she get here so quickly?” I ran over to meet her with the other team members when I noticed the dude that passed her going up the mountain goat was just now coming in. Are you kidding me? She didn’t just beat him to the exchange, she, as someone else coined the term, “Girl’d him!!!”. And he wasn’t too happy about it either! Designated Drinkers Van 2 was a roll now! Stacey told me, while she was cooling down, that she saw how hard Troy and I ran to get us back on track and she didn’t want to let the team down. So she gave it her all. I tried to give her some time back with my run and she paid it forward to Laura. This truly was a TEAM.

We jumped into the van to go to the next exchange and Laura seemed to be half way through her 4.4 mile leg already. She looked peppy, springy, running like a gazelle. She was so graceful and fluid. I was mesmerized by her movement, her pony tail swaying back and forth. Everything was in slow motion like I was watching Animal Planet. I was mesmerized. Laura seemed to be carrying that same energy and spirit that had been transferred through the bracelet from Troy to me, to Stacey, to her. It was poetry in motion. Now just let me say, Laura does not like hills. Hell, who does? But the way she attacked the hill, you’d have thought she was riding a Space Car up that hill (Troy’s term for when he was trying to think of Space Shuttle). It was awesome to watch.

The next exchange zone had John running out on the beautiful Blue Ridge Parkway. Lucky! The temperature was now warm (almost hot) and sunny. John, with just his vest, looked like the Terminator. I had no idea how big of a man he really is. Bastard! He looked like a muscle car out there tearing up the highway. Hootin’ and hollerin’. That was John, not us in the van. He was a total machine. We stopped a couple of times because he had some really tough climbs at the front portion of his leg. He took some water when he needed it, wet towels, and kept motoring on. I can’t remember if he walked at any point because his strides were so long and quick. John running or walking looked kind of the same to me. After the hill it turned out on the parkway and we knew we were in good shape. He had the eye of the goat and we would see him soon at the next exchange zone.

While waiting on John our van started livening up a bit. We knew that we were close to the end and we were ready to party. We were cracking jokes, laughing, reflecting on the last 24 hours, talking with others. A van on the other side of the parking lot was backing up and a guy started screaming “STOP! STOP!”. Too late. A jug of water spilled everywhere. Wait, water spilled? He screamed like there was a child was behind the van and it was just water being spilled? Darryl, being Darryl, loudly commented something like “Oh no! You spilled the water!” or something smartass that only Darryl can make. We all laughed. Well, all of us minus the guy who yelled “stop”. He didn’t take too kindly to being made fun of. A few minutes later Darryl asked him (intentionally, I think) if he would mind taking a picture of our team by the van while we were waiting on John. His response; “I ain’t takin’ sh*t for you, my man!”. My man. He actually said to Darryl, “my man”. You can’t get more 70s than “my man”. Darryl will forever be known to me now as “My man!”.

John appeared on the parkway and he was motoring. Laura looked like a gazelle and John looked like a semi! I could see the smoke stacks billowing as he was changing gears. All I could think was not to be in his way when he came through. He had a big grin on his face, yelling at Darryl, then stomped on his four disk anti-lock brakes and made the exchange. And in a blink, Darryl was gone. I was reminded of the movie Christmas Vacation when Chevy Chase sprays that new bonding agent on the bottom of his circular sled and with the hang loose hand sign says “later dudes”. That was Darryl. He shot out like a rocket! I think there are still sole marks out on the road from his feet trying gain traction as he took off. We rushed to get into the van and get ahead of him and after many minutes of tracking him we finally caught up. We moved ahead to get out of the van and gave him water and a cold wet towel. It was then that I got a text from Sara stating that Hazel was on the same leg. “Wouldn’t it be great to finish together?” she wrote. Could it be? Did we finally catch the ultra team? “How long ago did she leave?” I responded. I ran out to meet Darryl and ina vain attempt to try and run next to him so I could tell him. So I stopped and just shouted instead, “Hazel is on this leg right now!” Darryl asks “How long ago did she leave? Can I catch her?” I thought, with that pace you’ll beat the van into Asheville. Just then I get Sara’s response. “45 minutes ago!” I shout back. Darryl kind of snickers “That ain’t happening!” and he disappears.” Wow! The ultra team is at the finish. How awesome is that?” I thought to myself. To have 6 runners run the same course we did; with little or no sleep and Leo driving. Oh yeah. Leo didn’t get any sleep either. Wow! I can only imagine the gratitude they are feeling towards Leo right now.

At the finish the party was in full swing. Bands were playing at every corner of the park; vendors selling food and drinks; people were everywhere, teams were finishing their relay; van 1 waiting for us with a 6 pack of beer (thank you van 1). It was only then that we actually got to spend some time with the van 1 members. I realized that I knew them about as well as I knew my own van-mates when the race started, which was very little. I’ve ran with Sara, Landon and Diane before. I’ve talked with Mark about brewing beer, although briefly. I’ve never really talked with Scott or Dave. I wondered if any of those guys were in my same predicament when they entered van 1? Not really knowing anyone of whom they were about to spend the next 30 grueling hours with. I was kind of saddened that I didn’t have the opportunity to share some of these experiences with them like I did with my van-mates. I tried to imagine some of the crazy stories they came up with, the events that helped shape their experiences (Scott getting lost. Or was it Dave?). I again reflected on these past couple of days. The things that led me to agree to this craziness that is the Blue Ridge Relay; the nervousness of agreeing to it; the bonds and friendships that I made with Troy, Laura, Elizabeth, Darryl, Stacey and John; the camaraderie we carried through each exchange, leg and transition; the support and love we shared with one another; the support we showed other teams; the stories we shared and lots of laughter. It was then that I heard “Runner!” and as we all stood there at the finish with smiles of excitement and the sense that this was all ending, we saw another team come running through the finish corral. Bastards! Then we saw Darryl. It was a home coming like no other. With cheers, high fives and hell yeah’s, we all ran across that finish line together. What started out as acquaintances ended as a family.

As I was listening to music and thinking about how to write this, Sarah McLachlan’s Do What You Have To Do played through my headphones. The lyrics, for me anyway, pretty much summed it up. The BRR is truly an experience like no other. I find myself still longing and yearning to be out there; out there with all of you. “I don’t know how to let you go.”  http://youtu.be/cCIw4gc6G8Q

Thank you BRR, the Designated Drinkers, members of the Ultra team, van 1 and most of all van 2. Thank you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. You’ve given me something that I will forever cherish and carry with me. From my heart of hearts, I truly thank you for allowing me to be part of this great experience. No matter what hills life throws at us, I know we can accomplish it because no hill is bigger than a Space Goat hill.

Blue Ridge Relay 2011: 208 miles, 30:34 hours, friendships and memories for a lifetime.

* * *

By: Janette Gaw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-iI6cLbzxc&feature=youtube_gdata_player