I did something a bit different this weekend. I ran in a relay called the American Odyssey Relay. The relay consists of a 12 person team completing 200 miles starting in Gettysburg and finishing in Washington DC. Our team, Ambler Stampede, had two vans leave on Thursday afternoon to do the registration and we stayed the night in Gettysburg. We started the relay at 9:30am on Friday morning. The 200 miles is divided up in 36 legs that consist of somewhere between 4-10 miles. We designate the vans as van 1 & 2. The 6 people in van 1 complete their legs and at the 6th transition point, the vans meet up and switch for the next set of runs. Essentially, each person has 3 legs of their own, they do their leg and they have to wait for 11 runners to complete their legs before they run again.

I packed 3 running outfits and a bunch of sweat shirts and sweat pants because I knew it was going to be on the colder side. I put an expected pace time of 6:30 per mile. Each person gives their own pace time and this is what we used to know how long you have to get to each transition point. For example, if Bob (the runner before me) has an 8 mile run and expects an 8 minute pace, I know I (Van 2) have about an hour to get our van to the next transition point so I can be ready for when he finishes. This sounds easier said than done. It happened a time or two when our runner would finish and the next person wasn’t ready to go at the transition point. Coordinating 12 people really takes some managing.

Another key difference in a run like this is the rest time between your next run. I was a bit unsure how to approach this as I’m not used to only waiting 10 hours before my next run. I’ll briefly describe my experience with the legs. My first leg was about 5 miles and started in a trail area only to hit the main roads and turn into an out and back. I did a few shots the night before and wasn’t feeling fabulous but still finished my run in under my expected pace by a few minutes. My second leg was by far the highlight of my experience. It was about 2am, 40 degrees, and the sky was crystal clear with hundreds of glowing stars and a crescent moon to run under. Not to mention that I was running through where the battle of Antietam took place. Not knowing how my legs were going to feel I started off the run at a modest pace. After the first mile (and passing about 4 other teams) I knew this was going to be fast because it was all asphalt. The leg was only 4.7 miles and the conditions were that of a perfect storm. I started moving at a brisk pace and finished the run before my teammate was even able to meet me. The mile times, I think, were probably 5:30’s but I didn’t have a watch on them. Absolutely phenomenal experience. My 3rd leg was along the Potomac river (it was actually a canal) was my longest at nearly 8 miles and I beat the expected pace by a few minutes but my legs were really feeling the fatigue. I was happy with my personal performance.

Here are a few notable stories & findings from the trip –
– We left our runner at a transition point due to complete panic and miscommunication
– Nikkii was by far the best at designing our van
– I have a knack for directions
– I slept a total of 2 hours in the entire experience and did my best to keep Nathan awake on our drive from West Virginia to Poolesville at 4am-6am
– I had my reservations on how easy it would be to get lost over the course of 200 miles and I found that it wasn’t an issue. Our runner, Jeff, however did not have the same findings as he ran a full mile off course until he was rescued by the race director.
– Your eating schedule gets completely out of whack on a relay like this.
– Meeting 11 new people is truly a great experience and I’m happy I signed up for something outside of my norm.