The Relay 2008 – 199 miles to Santa Cruz

This past weekend, around 200 crazy teams participated in the annual 199 mile (race) from Calistoga to Santa Cruz to benefit organ donations – called The Relay. Our great team, which was called Cheaper Than Therapy, came in 2nd in our age/gender group and around 26th overall – which is pretty darn good!

There were two vans, of which ours, Van 2, started late afternoon on Saturday and finished up late afternoon Sunday on the Boardwalk. Each of us ran around 15-19 miles, and they were all different. I loved my runs this year. My first one, was in Sonoma/Napa and the first 2-3 miles literally went through vineyards and private property. The sun was shining through the oak trees as I ran along roads and trails and enjoyed my special playlists on the iPod. My leg than came out onto 121/12 highway, mostly uphill and straight into a howling cold wind, but made it through the first 7.4 miles in around 62 minutes which was pretty good time. After the other runners finished, we had a couple of hours at our respective houses from around 1030-1am, then we had to meet up in the (by now Very Messy) van and get to Golden Gate Bridge by 2am to meet the next van’s relay runner. Mine was the second leg up and it was pretty amazing. Starting at about 250am, under a full-moon (the relay is always planned for full-moon weekend), my leg started out along the Great Highway with the moon flashing over the Pacific Ocean, my headlamp illuminating the streets before me, and the soundtrack from Juno playing through my headphones. After starting out on Great Highway in SF, the route migrated down Highway 35 and Skyline where my leg ended around Daly City after a distance of around 5.6 miles in around 52 minutes (much of it was uphill). Running at night is a great experience! Later, we stopped at Canada College on the way to Santa Cruz for an hour or so of sleep in the van or gymnasium, then our last runs were in the Santa Cruz mountains. Mine was “only” 4.7 miles, much of it downhill through the forests along Highway 9 winding roads, and was very enjoyable. This was a fast run done in 36 minutes, so averaging around 7:40 miles (which was pretty good after running three separate times over 24 hours on the same legs). We ended up on the beach with a great meal and drinks, and a medal around our necks. All in all a lovely weekend! (See other blog for the “real stories”!

Check out the video on YouTube, it’s great!!!!