Grand Teton Relay we ran as a 6 man Ultra team. Jeff, Matt, Dave, me, Rex and Dean. Kind of hectic getting team together because we had two guys who due to some unfortunate circumstances couldn't run. Luckily for us we were able to get Rex, and then Dean switched off of the 12 team at the last minute to run with us. Met up and loaded and headed up to Ashton for the start. I wasn't sure what to expect. I'd never done a relay before. Jeff started us off and got us out in front. I just had to watch for 3 legs before it was my turn. A bit nerve racking and it turned out this way almost the entire race as it seemed like it was generally my duty to "catch back up" to the other ultra team we ended up going back and forth with. 1st leg 3.9 miles 26:14 We were now behind 3 teams. I went out as fast as I dared. It was a big climb all 3.9 miles. I passed 1 team within the first mile and slowly start to gain on the others, just ran out of distance and handed off to Rex. Happy with keeping this at a somewhat respectable pace going uphill. 376' climb not near as others. 2nd leg 8.2 miles 51:47 Started having serious stomach problems right before this leg and they would stay with me throughout the entire run. Started out a short down the uphill section before bailing off into the trees along the roadside to take care of stomach issues. Ran pretty good after that and started to catch some teams. Pushed it pretty good but still not sure what to do because of inexperience with these types of races and not knowing how my body would react. Passed 6 teams on this portion. 3rd leg 6.4 miles 40:52 I started the rails to trails legs. No vehicle support just a dark dirt trail in the middle of the night. Started somewhere between 11-12. Our run had been passed by the other ultra team and it was my job to track down "Muscles" as we nick named him. I got him around 2 and when I passed him I laid on the gas trying to break any effort by him to stay with me. It worked and it started off a long line of kills on this leg. It real was a perfect storm as I would pass someone only to have 2 or 3 more runner tail lights ahead of me to go catch. The last guy I drew even with and stumbled right as I was crossing a road about 1/4 mile from the switch off. It gave him some more motivation as he had been struggling not to let me catch him for the last mile or so and he held me off to the line. He said thanks for keeping him at an honest pace and was I running with "that ultra team" which I found out we were getting quickly nicknamed. I ended up passing a total of 15 teams on this leg. It was fun and kept my mind off of most of the crap it can do to you on a dark night in bear country along a small path with thick bushes taller than you on both sides. I needed some sleep now. | 