2013 Frostbite Marathon Relay
Pre-Race: At o'dark thirty yesterday morning Spike and I headed over to Holland, MI to meet up with a team of bandits we like to call the "Repeat Offenders"; dressed in our "prison orange" we joined forces at The Curragh, as is tradition, for this year's Frostbite Marathon Relay.
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| We strike fear in the hearts of... um... well... |
Offender Lineup: Team Captain, "IronDaddy" (3.3± M) started us off, then it was on to "Bandit Smuggler" (2.4± M), "Short Stuff" (3.30± M), "Cheesy" (3.25± M), Red (4.15± M), "The 3rd Jen" (2.7± M), "Cell Splitter" (3.2± M), and Spike to bring us in to the finish once again (3.35± M).
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| I can't stop cracking up at mind and Spike's faces in this group shot |
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The Race: Things got underway a little after 8am with another unceremonious holler to "GO!" Our "baton" was a pair of fuzzy handcuffs and we lucked out with another ideal winter day of clear skies, little wind, and plenty of snow on the ground to make you feel like you were running in a winter wonderland. As it had the last time we ran this back in 2011, time seemed to fly by as we made our way from exchange to exchange cheering/harassing the other runners and our teammates.
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After his first leg IronDaddy, ever the
gentleman, joined Bandit Smuggler for hers |
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| Short Stuff and Cheesy did both their legs together. Team work! |
When it came time for my leg, Leg 5, I was feeling pretty tight, but inside of the first mile I warmed up and was able to loosen up enough to find my stride. Fourteen "road kills" (though I got passed by two speedy guys in return) and a little over four miles later I was feeling good enough to join 3rd Jen & Cell Splitter on their legs, for a total of 10.12± M for the day.*
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| Just a couple of Jen's, running |
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| Heading out with Cell Splitter |
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| Cell Splitter sending Spike off with a slap! |
After we sent Spike on his way we headed to the finish and got ready for another big team finish together, except Spike took an early turn and snuck up behind us from a different direction! We all quickly hopped in to the street and "finished" with him in just under 4 hours after we started.
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| Finishing |
Post Race: Once again the post race party at Curragh's with their delicious white chicken chili, various treats, and local brew was a fitting end to things. We also received another super comfy hoodie, to commemorate the experience.
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| Swag hoodie, customized bibs IronDaddy made, and our "baton" |
Post Race Thoughts: As in 2011, we had a blast running this! Because all but two of our teammates were true "repeat offenders" to the race, we had logistics down to a science with the only issue being Spike taking that wrong turn. I still wish they'd have something, anything in front of Curragh's that made it clear that you had 'finished,' but I guess that as long as you read the race directions you should know that. I would definitely recommend this relay to anyone that likes a casual race environment and beer at the finish; the race is held annually on the last Sunday of January, teams can be 2, 5, or 8, and the race is not timed for results. (And leg mileage is a best guestimate)
*The bonus mileage was a result of my entire weekend being thrown off track when I totaled my dearly beloved Lola during a snowstorm Friday morning. Thankfully I was/am ok, but the impact had me feeling pretty sore so I thought it best to skip my planned 16 miler on Saturday. By race morning I was feeling much better and my coach and I agreed that if I was feeling ok, I would run extra to be able to still get in a longish run for the week.
11 comments:
I read the recap by "Iron Daddy" just before yours. As I said on his blog, my head is just spinning thinking of team possibilities for this one.
I'd need a few more bodies, though.
Sorry about your car. Glad you are ok.
I think long runs should always be done with a bunch of hoodlums :-)
What a fun race!
OMG I'm so sorry about Lola but glad you're ok!! One of these years I want to run Frostbite. I had a bunch of friends running yesterday but never made it out there.
I hope you weren't counting your "road kills" aloud. That would just be mean ;)
We had a blast! Thanks for joining us (and bringing the minivan and baton ;) )
adorable.
Oh no! Glad you are ok!! Looks like fun and great you still got to get in the miles :)
That looks like a blast. Ilove the mug shots!
SO MUCH FUN!! I love the mug shots, you guys look great! What a fun and creative idea, glad you had fun!
Sounds like a great finish to the weekend!! Hope you find a snazzier new car :)
Team runs are fun, especially when there's no expectations on gunning for a time (that's more stressful than work!).
Bummer about your car. You have to watch for those Michigan drivers because they don't know WTF they're doing on the roads. Sounds like a fun race. Cheers!
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