Thursday morning, nine of our twelve teammates gathered at Port Columbus airport to begin our journey to Hampton Beach, New Hampshire. We picked up Bob in Cleveland, where we connected for our flight to Manchester. There, Steve joined us by car (he drove 7 hours to meet us), and one van stuck around Manchester to pick up Mandy, our final teammate, that evening. We got some groceries (okay, peanut butter M&Ms), and drove up towards the mountains.
After checking into our home away from home, the beautiful Profile Deluxe hotel (also our namesake), our van went up to Cannon Mountain to get signed in for the race. It was cold up there! We went through the orientation meeting, got our shirts, and got back to the hotel. Usually, we all go out to a bar/restaurant across the street for some pool, darts, and other entertainment. This year, though, we were pretty tired, and just got some dinner and went back to get some rest before the big day.
Morning broke, bringing more cold weather, low overcast skies, and some light rain. The race course changed this year, and actually ran right by our hotel. The team grabbed some plastic chairs and brought them out to the curb to cheer on the early teams. The first waves of runners started at 7:30 AM, while we weren't due to start until 2:40 PM. It's a long time to sit around watching other people run, but we always seem to make it an entertaining time. Unfortunately, Meredith had caught a cold, so she missed some of the entertainment while taking a nap.
Finally, 1:30 rolled around, and we packed up for the long hours ahead. A quick trip back up to Cannon Mountain, and we were ready to cheer Mandy on for the first leg of the race. Each twelve person team is packed into two vans. We were van two, so while van one stuck around for support, we jumped ahead a bit to grab some lunch and fuel up for the evening. We found a Quizno's on the course, and sat outside watching more runners go by. Meredith hadn't brought a sweatshirt, and it was so cold that we bought her one there. (It's got a moose on it, and says "Live Free Or Die!")
I was leg seven, the first runner for van two. So, before I knew it, I was standing at the transition area at the Attitash Ski Resort, ready to take the handoff. (The baton is actually a slap bracelet. Remember those?)
I'm the slowest runner on our team, so I'm always eager to hit my estimated times. It was nearing twilight as I began my run, and it had just begun to drizzle. Leg 7 was a 7.2 mile run that went up through "The Notch", as the locals told me afterward. It was too dark and foggy to see any of the scenery, though. Almost immediately, two men passed me, and were gone. A couple more trickled by within the first couple miles. As we wound around the side of the mountain, a pair of women passed me, and I managed to hold on to their pace for a bit. They would gain on me on the uphills, but I was flying down the downhills while they were playing it safe, and kept I ending up right behind them. Eventually, though, they pulled away, and one other woman passed me as well. The course instructions told me I'd be turning at mile 5, but that turn ended up being more like 6.7 miles into the run. Thank goodness I knew my road names this time! During my run, the drizzle also turned into a steady, heavy rain. It didn't feel too bad, but it's really distracting when you have a headlamp on illuminating the drops right in front of your face. By the finish line, I could see a headlamp behind me, but I managed to hold them off. The transition area was a blur of flashing lights and sound after a dark run in the woods, and it took me a few moments to find Bridget, our next runner.
Leg 7 - 7.2 miles
Pre-race Estimate: 1:04:00
Actual Time: 1:04:00 (8:53/mile)
Roadkill: -7 (+0, -7)
After my first run, I found a slice of pizza at the fundraising stand for the school at which we were handing off. It tasted amazing.
The rest of our van's runs went off without a hitch, and we raced ahead to the next point at which we'd run to try and get some sleep. My next run was estimated to start at 4:00 AM, and we arrived there at 1:30 AM, so we wouldn't get much. I decided to sleep in the van, because I was worried that I wouldn't hear my watch alarm. Soon enough, we got the call from van 1 that they were on their way, and I had to hurry to get ready for my run.
My second run, leg 19, was a 4.4 mile run, with some hills. The first half mile or so began uphill, but then the next three miles were a nice steady downhill. This leg, other than extremely high humidity, was beautiful running weather...felt like mid 50s, and no rain. Again, I was passed twice early, but then it finally happened. Five legs into my RTB career, I finally caught a runner! I'd add two more before that downhill was over. After the descent, though, we took a sharp right and began a sharp uphill. Another runner was in sight ahead of me, and I tried to chase her down on the hill. My stomach, however, decided it had had quite enough, and mutinied. I never (quite) lost my lunch, but had to walk a bit to get everything settled, and got passed by one more guy. After that incident, I managed to coast into the next handoff, and was excited about my time. I had worked hard during that leg, and it showed.
Leg 19 - 4.4 miles
Pre-race Estimate: 40:00
Actual Time: 36:17 (8:14/mile)
Roadkill: 0 (+3, -3)
When I finished, I was informed that one of our runners was missing. They had to leave the last transition area without him to pick me up and drop off our next runner, so we headed back. Eventually, we found him standing with a couple members of our other van. He had overslept, and received quite the abuse for the rest of the race over it. :) Thankfully, the leg after mine was over 9 miles, so we still had time to get down there and do the next handoff without interruption.
The next set of legs are really kind of a blur, as I was dozing off during a few of them. I think sleep deprivation was setting in for all of us.
I do distinctly remember doing a U-Turn and stopping at a Dunkin Donuts during Meredith's run. She was giving us a thumbs up, but after she saw what we were doing, I'm not so sure it was her thumb anymore...
Morning broke again during our legs, and we handed off to the other van in a suddenly hot and sunny day. Far from buying new sweatshirts, now we were all putting on sunscreen and trying to stay hydrated. We all tried to find some shade and get a little rest before we brought the race down to the shore. My last leg was 2.5 miles, and it ended up being a nice flat/slight downhill run for the entire distance. My goal was just to bring it in under 8:00 miles. My calves had cramped up pretty badly from the first two legs, so I had to work at it. I only saw one other runner on this leg of the race, and I passed her pretty easily. The transition area finally appeared, and I handed off just under my goal.
Leg 31 - 2.5 miles
Pre-race Estimate: 20:00
Actual Time: 19:35 (7:50/mile)
Roadkill: +1 (+1, -0)
We wound down through the coastal towns, and before we knew it, we were cheering Nathan in for the last few steps of the entire 200+ miles. Most of us took the opportunity to hop in the ocean (who needs an ice bath?), and enjoy the afternoon before heading back for pizza and some much needed sleep. Our team did very well this year. We finished in 25:45:37, a 7:23/mile average. That was good enough for 29th place out of 356 teams finishing the course.
But then, the adventure really started.
Our Contintental Airlines flight from Manchester went off without a hitch, getting us to Newark around 11:30 on Sunday. We were scheduled to have a connecting flight just before 2:00 PM. The staff informed us that there was a mechanical problem with our airplane, and the flight coming in from Mexico City would now be our plane. So, we waited three more hours in the terminal. Then, they said that the flight crew had been on duty too long, so they were cancelling our flight. Didn't they know that three hours earlier?!
Everyone scrambled to the customer service counter, and our team scattered. Five of our teammates who absolutely had to be home the next morning rented a car and drove the 8+ hours home from Newark...ugh. The rest of us took the hotel vouchers and spent the night in Piscataway, NJ at the Radisson. Down in the lobby, there were a multitude of women in short, short dresses, and had obviously had some...um...work done. We were guessing either prostitutes or adult film stars, but Google says it was a pro wrestling convention/dinner. Everyone but Meredith and I got on a flight to Cleveland at 6:00 AM, while we were back on the same 2:00 flight in the afternoon.
We made sure to use up all our meal vouchers on lunch, ice cream, and anything else we could find. Eventually, we were left with $16, and I went to McDonalds and told them to give me as many bottles of water as it could buy. The cashier didn't look amused, but I got 7 bottles out of it to bring home. :)
At 2:00, the Continental rep announced that some of the flight crew never showed up. We thought sure that we were spending another night in Piscataway, but eventually they found a replacement. Only 28.5 hours after arriving in Newark, we were finally on our way home.
When we got to Columbus, we found that the storms in Ohio had knocked out the power for half the city, including our house. The estimate was potentially a week to get it back, but thankfully, we woke this morning to blinking alarm clocks and a working fan.
Hey, it wouldn't be Reach the Beach without stories. It was another great year!
1 comment:
Epic. Glad you guys finally got home safe!
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