Event was a 187 mile relay from Wickenberg to Scottsdale, AZ. Each team has two groups of six and each runner does three legs. My team was comprised of New Mexico Law Enforcement staff. I was in the first group and running legs 6, 18 & 30.

Leg #6 - 4.4 miles, catagory "hard", time 45:33
This leg was run mid-afternoon, and was HOT. Word had come down from the second van about the monster climb. The climb in question was at about halfway through and had about a 200 ft. elevation change. I downed a gel before taking off. I was glad to have sport drink on my fuel belt and consistantly took a drink (and a brief walk break) at aboout five minute intervals. The climb felt good and as I made the turn toward Lake Pleasant the sight of the lake brought a smile to my face. I passed off the team slap bracelet to the next runner. After a wipe down with some travel wipes, a couple off passes with the massage stick, and a sandwich, we loaded up went to the next exchange sight.

Leg 18 - 4.1 miles, catagory "Very Hard", time 40:43
Exchange point was at a school. Tried to eat spaghetti, but wasn't very hungry. I rolled my sleeping bag out by the van and rested for a little while. There was a delay in starting leg 13. There had been a multiple vehicle accident and our guys from van #2 stopped, took charge of the scene and rendered aid until local law enforcement could arrive. Much to our disappointment an AZ law enforcement team went right on by without stopping.

After about a forty minute delay, they were running again and it was dark when we started legs 13-18. From about legs 14 - 17 I noticed we were "leapfrogging" with one of the Tucson Tri Girls vans. My teammates were a little confused on what a Tucson Tri Girl was, so I informed them they were a kick @ss group of women triathletes. Fortunately, they've spent enough time around me to know what a triathlon is:)

Leg 18 itself was a steady climb of 4.1 miles with an elevation change of 544 feet. I do most of my running at night, so I felt in my element. The race instructions had stated to run a certain stretch of it on the right side of the road in the gravel. The surface was to unpredictable even with the headlamp, so I took my chances on the roadway with the cars. Finished the leg without incident and passed the bracelet off to the other group.

Went to the next exchange sight. Took a cold shower and slept for about half an hour before getting word that they other group was only a couple of miles away. After some grumbling on how the other group had all the descents and faster times, we were loaded up again and on the road. It was my turn to navigate and despite sleep deprivation, we still mangaged to find our exchange points.

Leg 30 - 3.3 miles - catagory "moderate" - time 32:53
There were multiple events going on this section of the course. In addition to the relay run, there was also a cycling event, possibly a century or some other type of tour. It put new meaning to the words "share the road" as there were only a couple of lanes and still a lot of vehicular traffic.

The leg started out with a 149 ft. climb over the distance of about .6 miles, the rest was (mostly) downhill. The shoulder was bad in some areas and the heavy traffic forced me to walk in a few areas. I was also glad to have my fuel belt, as it would have been hard for the team vans to stop for us. I received and returned plenty of "way to go" and "good job" with the cyclists on the course.

After final transition to our other group, we made our way back into town and were able to eat, shower & catch a (very) few winks before they arrived at Eldorado Park, where we crossed the finish line as a team.

Team time: 26:48:48

And that other Law Enforcement team that didn't render aid at that accident? We still beat them.

Nothing

Some stretching and some passes with the massage stick.


I took some time off from training because of illness, but this may have helped more than hurt.


This race was a good challange, a good team building opportunity, and overall a lot of fun. There were sections of this course that were potentially hazardous - bad surface conditions, traffic, dark remote areas, but a sense of adventure and some common sense go a long ways. I would do this race again.