RTB '09 - Notey's Bachelor Party

Another year of Reach the Beach and another phenomenal experience. If you haven't experienced a relay yet, plan to do one and soon! They are an enormous amount of fun, challenging and a unique experience to add to anyone's running resume. I feel particularly blessed to be a part of such a great group of people and to have the chance to take my running somewhere it's not most other times in the year. This is not exactly a race although if you ask the winners they'd tell you different. It's not training either. It's certainly an endurance event but not in the same sense as a marathon, ultra or even a long run. The terrain, at least to me, is not anything close to what I normally run on. Nor the time(s) of each run. What this is is the opportunity to act as a team. You certainly want to do your best. For me, to run better than I'd planned or run in last year's relay. To be harmonious with the others in your van and on your team. To help one another and support one another.

And that's exactly what Notey's Bachelor Party did! Notey (Bill), our team cappie, is getting married in just a couple weeks hence the name. After a couple later changes in the line-up we were all set. Our team had 10 runners; 6 would run 4 legs each (myself included) and 4 runners would run 3 legs each. Van 1 was lucky enough to score our driver and kick ass photog, Chris, from last year. Additionally we'd have Glenn leading us off, Beth following him, Jenn following her, me and Bill bringing up the rear. Bill would hand off to van 2 which included Matt leading off, then Walter, then Jen, then Annalisa and last (but not least!) Heather. We arrived to nearly identical conditions at Cannon Mountain as last year - overcast and windy. After decorating the vans, attending the safety seminar, dividing up the food, grabbing our shirts/bracelet/bibs and timing chip Glenn got us started just a few minutes after noon. Followed by Beth, who was the only lucky runner to get rained on, Jenn and then me...

• my leg 1 (team leg 4) - 3:05 p.m. on Friday, 2.9 mi in 18:42 (6:26/mi)

I knew this leg well. Ran it last year and loved to hate it. It's not a long run by any means but you drop nearly 700 ft. in those short 2.9 miles and set yourself up for one hell of a sore set of quads. I took off knowing full well I'd run it harder than I should but also feeling like I wanted to stick with that approach. It was a helluva lot of fun! Ended up running this leg 1:05 faster than last year.

My leg was followed by Bill, Matt, Walter, Jen, Annalisa, Heather, Glenn, Beth, Jenn and then back to me again...

• my leg 2 (team leg 14) - 10:02 p.m. on Friday, 8.13 mi in 1:04:55 (7:59/mi)

Another repeat leg from last year. I remember loving this run last year for several reasons. It's dark - like very dark. No big city lights and traffic getting in the way of the dark solace found in the country or a sky full of stars. The second half of the run is on ultra quiet country roads and full of rollers and just when you wonder when it might all end you take a left and find your next runner awaiting you near a little tent and a spot of light. I didn't love it as much as last year mostly b/c the aforementioned quad thrashing. It all seemed to set in a bit faster and this was the leg where I felt it most. The first half was fine, I was ticking away miles a bit too quickly in fact (7:30s) and decided I had better dial back if I was intending to make it without snapping a muscle. Second half was full of those rollers. Not so fun. The uphills weren't even the problem, it was the "relaxing" downhills. Ugh. Anywho, the solidarity of the run made up for the pain in my legs and soon enough I found Bill awaiting me for both the bracelet hand-off and our customary ass slappery as part of the hand-off. Even with the pain, I ended up running this leg just :29 slower than last year. note: I do believe my Garmin was off on the length too.

My leg was followed by Bill, Matt, Walter, Jen, Annalisa, Heather, Glenn, Beth, Jenn and then back to me again...

• my leg 3 (team leg 24) - 7:46 a.m. on Saturday, 6.92 mi in 56:30 (8:09/mi)

And my last repeat leg from last year. The weather this morning could not have been more perfect. It was a tiny bit windy while waiting for Jenn to come in but I still wore a sleeveless tank style shirt and could not have felt more comfortable. I still had a decent amount of soreness kicking around but I was definitely feeling better than the night before. Our van even managed to score a couple hours sleep - all of us. A big bonus during RTB! Anywho, I got started and picked off runners pretty easily while dealing with some more rollers. This leg isn't nearly as interesting for the majority of the mileage but a left turn and about 1.25 miles at the end had me running into Bear Brook State Park. This one ended up being a major mental boost too - I felt the pain in my legs and I pushed through, even picked up the pace when I started really feeling it near the end. Ended up running this 2:21 faster than last year. WOOT!

My leg was followed by Bill, Matt, Walter, Jen, Annalisa, & Heather. It was at this point that 4 of our runners were done (Glenn, Beth, Annalisa and Heather). Jenn cracked out a wicked fast 6.9 miles or so for her 4th and longest leg and then it was back to me and my last leg.

• my leg 4 (team leg 32) - 2:58 p.m. on Saturday, 2.2 mi in 16:08 (7:19/mi)

This leg was completely different than last year. RTB switched up several things in the last 7 or so legs including a VA/TA (vehicle area/transition area) and the leg distances. Jenn actually ended up running the leg I ran as my fourth last year; the one that runs right by another running buddy's home - Dan! My leg ended up being half of what was Bill's last leg last year and he got the other half. So just 2.2 miles of running mostly through downtown Exeter. I liked the route but wish I could have run just a bit further. At this point my legs had mostly come around and were ready to finish this puppy off in whatever I could pull off. I probably got started a bit too quickly but picked off 3 runners in the first quarter mile and never got passed.

All in all, I ran a total of 20.15 miles in 2:35:35 (7:43/mi) over the course of 24 hours. That's a big improvement over my average pace last year of something like 8:20/mi. Yeeeeehaw. Bill, Matt, Walter and Jen ran after me to bring Notey's Bachelor Party in at 28:51:24 (8:20/mi) - another big improvement over last year's 31:08:01 (8:55/mi). Double booyah!

And so it ends. And we're all left eager for another year to pass so we can do it all again. And with as many words as there are in this post, it's very difficult to find the right ones to properly express what an experience this is and what it really means to me. It's about running and funning and supporting and digging deep and laughing and honoring and enjoying each and every breath & each and every step for what it is. Thank you Glenn, Beth, Jenn, Bill, Matt, Walter, Jen, Annalisa, Heather and Chris - thank you so very much! And special thanks to our buddy, Joe, who was with us in spirit for the entire journey.


front row, l to r: annalisa, walter, me
back row, l to r: jen, heather, beth, bill, glenn, jenn, matt