What a great adventure. Running non-stop from Madison to Chicago. 190 miles. 28 hours. 2 vans.
This year we had 5 of the 6 in our van returning, with a new person - Stacy. It was awesome to literally pick up some of the same conversations from last year, while also making new jokes, memories, and van-isms.
Here's a quick snapshot of the start - this year we were Van 1 with a start time of 10am:
As the morning progressed, we started writing some of our "lessons learned"/"van-isms" on the back of our not-so-15-passenger van...
Then it rained. And we accidentally used our rear window wipers...
So now, I bring you, in written form vs. pictorial evidence - a few priceless "Van-isms" from the relay:
- Chaffing is overrated
- Serrated knives do not cut skin (later we changed our stance on this issue to "Serrated knives do not cut skin WELL")
- My aim is not so good from the van to the port-a-potty (discovered when we felt the bathroom was just TOO.FAR.AWAY)
- Conversation after our 1st legs, while we were on break and van 2 was running...
Me: "Can we stop at the steaming pot?"
Chris (driving): "Sure. You need a port-a-potty?"
Me: "No! The steaming pot is the coffee shop we just passed. I need a coffee"
Chris: "Ohhhh..."
- Enterprise thinks this is a 15-passenger van. (2nd year in a row Enterprise issues left the team 1 big white van short. This year it was because someone got into an accident with it the day before it was ours)
- Exchange point, meeting Van 2 as they take off...
Matt: "How was your runs?"
Me: "You realize that question would be totally inappropriate and rather gross outside of this relay, right?"
- Conversation at 11pm...
Me: "I passed a lot of people on that leg"
Stacy: "Yeah, a lot of people are tired and just giving up."
Me: "Oh good, I thought I was just getting faster. What a relief"
- Looking at the relay book with maps and distances...
Ryan, to van: "My third leg is the hardest and the longest"
Van: Stunned silence....then someone uttered..."I bet it is"
- At breakfast, after our 3rd leg has been run, looking at a 5 hour wait before van 2 finishes and we head back to Madison...
One of us (we will never admit who): "Let's just text the other van, tell them we are heading home now, and turn off our phones"
Now of course, we would NEVER do that. But 26 hours without sleep and at least 15 miles of running completely eliminates the edit function between your brain and your mouth and YOU.ARE.SO.TIRED, you would give up anything to just crawl into your own bed.
- One of the quotes on a van in the parking lot...
"We are the fast girls your momma warned you about"
- One of the girls, lamenting this observation as we waited for a runner to arrive at the transition..."It's just so hard to know when he's going to come"
- Me to Johanna at one of the transition points, watching a male runner come in...
Me: "Is he just wearing a jock-strap under that tutu?
Pause.
Johanna: "Um, yes, it would appear so..."
Both of us, in unison: "Oh gross..."
Later, "How did he run in that?!"
Here we are, at the finish line...tired, hungry, happy, tired, stinky...
Stacy and Chris, taking a nap in the "Party Zone"
Jamie, kicking back with a Goose Island and her re-newed NYC accent
Finish line. Cold, again! But so pretty with views of Lake Michigan in the background.
More pictures of the entire team coming soon! For now, I still have sleep to catch up on. And my body is a little sore from the 15.4 miles!
2 comments:
Glad you had fun.
That sounds like a lot of fun. I think I need to do a race like this!
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