Reach the Beach Relay - the Aftermath
* Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Run
“We lived more in a weekend than I normally do in a month”
- teammate, van-mate, fast-running and twisted tea guzzling Steve Allison
This was simply an incredible adventure. I was nervous heading into it, but as soon as I took two steps in my first leg, all the butterflies went away and I lived in the moment. The running is challenging and fun, but the camaraderie is what the RTB Relay is really all about. My team, the Cutters, has a long history of RTB appearances dating back 10 years; now that I’m finished I can join that illustrious group and officially call myself a Cutter. I’m so lucky that I was able to run with such awesome people who had done the race before and organized the entire weekend to perfection. I hope to have the ability and good health to run this thing for many years to come!
On to the running report:
My first leg was 8.67 miles along RT 302, ending at Attitash Mountain. It was mostly downhill, and the adrenaline was really pumping for this one. My time for the run was 1:08:22, which works out to a 7:55 split. Considering that I’ve only run 1 training run under 8 minute miles, I was amazed how fast I ran. Coming into Attitash, I received the loudest ovation I can ever remember at the end of a race. I had the good fortune of running the last leg for Van 1, so every team who started early like us had their Van 2 waiting at this exchange. Sweet!
My second leg took me 4.89 miles through downtown Laconia. It began around 11pm so the roads were quiet. This leg started downhill but ended with a full mile of straight uphill running. I felt like I was running in place, and my time reflected that - 42:38 for an average pace of 8:41. Considering that I probably ran the first 3+ miles in the (very) low 8’s, that hill really slowed me down.
Finally, I had the great luck of my last leg being a mere 3.15 mile run that ended at Sanborn High School in Kingston. Despite having only 2 hours of sleep and legs like lead, I wanted to finish strong. I pushed the pace for the entire run and finished in 24:24, which is a 7:44 split. To my knowledge, this is the fastest I’ve ever run for any real distance. To be fair, I had more than myself as motivation - for the entire 3+ miles, there was a dude from another team about 25 yards behind me. I was NOT going to let this guy pass me on my final leg!
In summary, I really don’t have the words to adequately describe this kind of an experience. I feel very lucky to have been invited to join such a great group of people; I can’t thank our Captain Matt Cox enough for his organization and leadership. Simply awesome.
