We started the race at 11:18am on Saturday (March 31, 2012) in Paige, TX. Well--we actually started the night before at the pre-party...but that's a different story... None of the 11 of us on the team had done this race (or I don't think anything like this race) -- ever.
It was an incredible, intense, exhausting, and extremely logistical experience. We were challenged to make sure our team runner assigned to the next leg was staged and ready take the handoff BEFORE the current runner arrived at the exchange. We were challeged by each of us essentially being required to run three to four 10K's at a fast pace within a 28 hour period of time--with minimal sleep (I caught about a total 2.5 hours of intermintent sleep the entire two days). Oh, and it was HOT and HUMID! We had to work through issues such as one of the vehicles breaking down, one of the team members having to run our first leg, play in a band at the Beerfest in Austin, and then come back and run some more relay legs. When some of us attempted to sleep, we were woken early. Due to the cooler temps overnight, the team could run faster, causing us to be ahead of schedule. We had to get our next assigned runner to the correct handoff point an hour ahead of what we anticipated. There were many, many more stories/memories that I and the other team members could share.
I found this personally challenging. By the middle of Saturday night I was tired, my stomach was rebelling, and I still had more three more 6+ mile legs to run. The anticipation of the runs...and the desire to run them fast (in the dark, alone) built up anxiety. I stated before my last 6 mile leg in 88 degree humid temperatures that I would never do this again.
However, the team members stayed in great spirits, worked well together to get us to the finish. Never again--well, maybe.
Train safe!
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