Wild West Relay Race Report

Well, I know its not a triathlon but I couldn't resist sharing my experience at this year's Wild West Relay. It's a 195 mile relay run from Fort Collins, CO to Steamboat Springs, CO.

This is the second year the team has raced in the relay but half of us were new to the team. Each person runs 12 legs and each runner's legs are graded from easiest to hardest. We had two vehicles with six runners each and while one van was dumping their runner's at each exchange point the other van would drive ahead six exchange points and get a chance to relax and wait for their six legs to begin. That's pretty much the race in a nutshell and you just keep doing that until you've made it 195 miles, simple concept right?

Our team had a mix or serious runners and some who just wanted to do it for fun. Teams start off in a stagger based on estimated finish times. Unfortunately our times got messed up so instead of starting earlier in the morning we ended up at 10:30. And since Colorado has been getting scorched like the rest of the country we ended up starting the race on the hottest recorded day in Fort Collins, pegged out at 105 degrees, perfect day for running!

It's team tradition that our first runner wins the sprint from the start line to the stop sign at the end of the parking lot (about 100m), and Andrew didn't let us down. My first leg was 4.3 miles and flat. The heat was the only thing that worried me b/c I didn't plan on holding back. Luckily my vanmates were there to give me cold water at the half way point. End up running the 4.3 miles in 29 minutes and was happy happy with the result. The day only got hotter and the suffering more severe. After our first six legs our van had about 3-4 hours to burn so we stopped at the only local convenient store around and grabbed lunch (more on this mistake later).

We had one runner who had problems with the heat but fortunately our top runner is a damn machine and he easily picked up where she left off. The start of our second legs were brutal for our first two runners. Both had considerable climbs on dirt roads with plenty of heat and dust to deal with. My next leg was a 9.8 mile run that started at about 10:30. We had a lost about 20 minutes off of our pace time due to the heat and this is where I knew I could make up some time. The first two miles were downhill, in the pitch black, with nothing but a dust cloud fogging up my head lamp, it was great! After about 7 miles I was holding about a 6:20-6:30 pace and was feeling great. My van had stopped once to give me water and I knew that I could hold this pace over the 9.8. Well, then it all went downhill from there. This is when grabbing two slices of pizza from a random convenient store came back to haunt me. Now, I know we've all been on a run before when mother nature calls. My best guess is that whatever was living on that pizza was now alive and well in my stomach. The urge to go #2 hit me like a ton of bricks. Unfortunately I had two options: 1. Run through the pain and get to the exchange as soon as possible, 2. pull over and take care of business. Since the run was out on a prairie I didn't have any cover, especially b/c of all the vans illuminating me every 5 minutes. So 2. was all but out, especially since I realized that the woman I had just passed was still about 500m behind me and my ego wouldn't allow me to be caught in the bushes. So the first option it was. The only thing was the faster I ran the worse it got, and the slower I ran that longer it took me to get to the exchange. So not to go into too much detail I went from running at a 6:30 pace to about a 9:30 pace, it even brought me to walking a couple of times. So instead of finishing around 1:05 like I had hoped for, I came in at 1:15 after the most miserable last 3 miles ever. I handed off to the next runner and made bee-line to the pot o' john.

This was pretty much the drill for the rest of the morning. Each exchange we hit, I would have to run to the port o' john. Luckily all I had left was a short 2.5 miles which I planned on burning up to make up for the poor showing at the end of my second leg. So there I am once again standing in line at the port o' john two legs away from sprinting to freedom from whatever bug I picked up. At this point I figured I was pretty dehydrated since everything pretty much was going straight through, but I knew I could easily tough out 2.5 miles. Well, a lot of teams had fallen behind and jumped ahead of us, leaving the race director pushing us to make up time. One of our other runner's comes up to me and gave me the, "uh, bad news bud." Our lead runner in the van ahead of us had a great idea, since I only had a 2.5 mile run left and one of our slower runners still had 6.7 to go, in order to make up time I was now going to run the 6.7 and give away my precious 2.5, SOB!

Well, two thoughts crossed my mind. First, I didn't know if I could make 6.7 without something bad happening, either stomach wise or dehydration. Then I realized that the team wasn't expecting me to run a leisurely 6.7 miles, they were expecting results so we could get back on track. So moment of truth, I didn't want to let the team down and I'm always up for a challenge. So I started the Gatorade and iPod plan. The Gatorade to make sure I had something in me and the iPod to take me mind off of what was to come. My whole plan was to just pick a runner ahead of me and focus on passing them, I figured this would get me through the run. Plus I had already briefed my van that I needed them to stop every two miles for water and just in case I had to duck behind the van.

The beginning of the run dropped about 300 feet and I quickly picked off three runners and was feeling pretty good. The course leveled off and I continued to focus on the runners ahead of me. The other runners gave me great support and before I knew it I was half way done. I knew I was handing off to our top runner and then one who had the great plan to extend my last leg. Other than my legs feeling like bricks from the 9.8 suckfest the night before and the sick feeling in my stomach, I felt pretty good on the run. I ended up at 48 minutes for just over a 7:00/mile pace and had passed 17 other runners. So needless to say my last leg was my favorite. I didn't let the team down and it gave me good prep for my next HIM in two months b/c I pushed through more pain than I had before.

Our team finished right at 30 hours and I couldn't be prouder of them. Two beers later it was lights out at the hotel and the next morning I actually thought I was going to fall over when I tried walking. My calves are still killing me but its the good kind of hurt. Got out on the bike today and road at a high cadence to work out the kinks. If anyone ever has the chance to run in one of these relays a HIGHLY recommend it, it is a blast! I can't wait until next year. I've been voted to take on the toughest legs since our best runner is leaving (most of us are active duty military so we come and go). So it looks like I'll be running up and down the Barr Trail (Pike's Peak) to get ready, it will be great prep for my first IM.

Sorry for the long report and details of my stomach issues, but the moral of the story is stay away from convenient store food when you plan on running 10 miles later.