Reach the Beach Relay - RunOther

Leg 1: up a ski slope and back down, 1,000 foot accent, 1,000 foot decent over 3.1 miles.
(http://www.brettonwoods.com/alpineski/trailmap.cfm). Leave the resort at the base, run up some roads for .25-.5 miles, then onto the trails and start the straight up climb where the ski lift runs. ground was grass, about mid calf height. reach top and start decent zig zagging across/down mountain on trails of mainly gravel/dirt. several straight downs on loose gravel.

My teams start time was 9:20am, but we actually started around 9:26am. the starts are staggered based on your predicted times, slower teams starting first and fast teams last.

did well staying at easy pace on the road, but turned and looked at the straight up and it was crazy steep. so had to resort to a jog walk up (didn't feel bad about because everyone was doing the same thing). once I hit the top started to run again and just let go. but had to put the breaks on in several spots with loose gravel. finished with a really strong sprint to the hand off. Ended up getting deep blisters on the soles of my heals from putting the breaks on. Grabbed a bottle of water and ran to the van to move to our next transition. Next runner was a 7min/miler with 3.2 miles to run, so had to move quickly.

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In between legs while our team was still running we would wait at the transition, with new runner and pick up last runner. We found a couple streams to soak our legs in, very cold but oh sooooo good.

After runner 6 was done, we had some time to kill. so we went and got some subs to eat. Then drove to T12 and waited.

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Leg 13 (started the run at around 6:30pm) 3.8 miles on the road with slight climbs. Had to wear full safety gear from 6pm to 6am (headlamp, vest and 2 flashing red lights). Was not a big fan of this leg due to traffic (we were required to stay on the side of the road with signs - so that meant running with traffic at dusk:( ). No real issues by never really got into a rythem but finished it up and happy to only have 1 more leg to do.

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rest time again came for our van at 12:15pm and it meant eating some spaghetti made by the girlscouts and then driving to T24. slept at T24 from 1:30pm until 4am. woke up and stretched while trying to figure out when other van was supposed to be there. realized the cell phones were all off. so turned them on at 4:30 and received the call that they were going to be there shortly after 5:15. so I was up, dressed, drank a can of starbuck coffee and a gu. got fully suited up again with safetly gear since it was pitch dark and foggy. Made the mistake of dropping sock in the dark, became an issue later.

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leg 25: map and instructions said 8.9 miles ended up being more like 9.3-9.4 miles (leg 26 was shorted by the same amount). what a neat thing to run the hills of New Hampshire at night. the first 2 miles were up hill and it took a while to get the legs to cooperate. when you look up where the moon should be and there are red blinking lights (other runners safety lights). The van met me at mile 3 with h20 and I did a gu. it was after they left that i realized that something must be in my shoe, a rock or something. but with no light and not wanting to stop I said forget it since it was my last leg. Then the sun came up and the rabbits from the the 6 and 4 person teams started to come flying by (Running up hill at 5:30 pace). but it was beautiful. van stopped again at mile 6 for more h20 and I did another gu. feeling good at this point. the dirt road for the last 2-3 miles was a bit much. The thing in my sock rubbed more and I could tell it was not going to be fun taking my sock off. finished on a nice down hill and was told that the i wasn't crazy and it was the longest 8.9 miles i had ever run;) (it was more like 9.3-9.4 miles).

Stretched and then into van to cool off and get some fluids. Looked at right foot to see the damage from what ever was in my sock. it was a large pine needle and it left a blister 2 inches by an inch on my arch (ouch)! But happy that I was going to possibly be done.

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now I say possibly be done because being the 1st runner, I have to run if someone can't complete their leg. and one of the runners in van 2 had an achilles injury that was not happy. so I still might have to run the last 4.7 miles to the finish. So focused on rehydrating, munching on food and putting blister pads on feet. when our van finished its leg around 10:20 am we decided to drive right to the beach, get some beer/wine and wait for the verdict on the last leg. we got a nice swim in the ocean, which felt awesome on our legs. then waited at T35. Finally the call came at 1:30 that the runner was going to try to make it and she was feeling good. so we waited and finally the last person started their leg at 2:28pm.

the 2 vans then drove to the finish and we all got to run down the chute for the finish:) And yes I once again got a little emotional, these big events do that to me;)

Nice meal and drinks to celebrate. then the organizers of our team got us all together to give out awards: most improved runner (Lori - who just started running last year) and most valuable runner per van (Jerry from van 2 and myself in van 1). So yes I came home with hardware:)


nothing, but check socks better before putting them on;)

lots of cold stream baths and in the van stretching


calf injury 4 weeks earlier, so no real training






this was an awesome race that I highly recommend to all!!! well organized on the race direction and with the volunteers. the other teams were great also.

The van 1 team was fabulous. we all had a great sense of humor which helped throughout the race. we named people/teams based on their running style, clothes, van... you name it. it was so much fun. And van 2, although we didn't spend a lot of time with them, was also great and supportive!