Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Urban Dictionary
Post Race
The Final Stretch
I never got to tell everyone about my 3rd leg due to a problem blogging because we had all sent in too many blog posts! My 3rd leg was definatly challenging. I started in Highland park, IL. After arriving at the exchange a little later than desired, I was a little nervous. Virginia came in about 10 minutes later, and I was off. I was supposed to run down the sidewalk and then cross over. Right at the corner there were about 3 children and their parents with hands out for high-five's, it was pretty cool! Then as I crossed the other street, another mom said to her daughter, "look honey, it's a marathon runner". I continued down the street to run onto the Robert McClory Bike Path. The trail was pretty nice, but a bit confusing with all of the parking lots that intersected the trail, that I was supposed to run through. This leg was a bit harder than the previous 2. I actually thought to myself that running at night may have been easier because I couldn't see where I was at, and just kept going. I wish that this leg was marked a little better, there wasn't a marker for the last mile, so at about the last .3 miles I kicked it into high gear sprinting in to exchange with Clarissa. It was AWESOME, I loved all of the people standing there clapping for me as I came in. The Ragnar person in charge of the exchange had a megaphone, and was saying, "Team Slizzard, coming in strong, look at that great exchange!" Pretty soon after arriving, we were leaving again to meet Clarissa from her 8.2 miles. She maintained a ridiculous pace around 7 minute miles, came into the last exchange of the race passing off to Gus. Then she ran to the nearest bush... Our vehicle then headed to Montrose Beach to the finish line. There the team met up, and we waited for Gus to all run in together, however no one informed Gus, so he kept up his pace, as half of the team struggled to keep up in their flip flops! At the finish line we took some team photos, and checked out a couple tents. We all got our medals/ beer opener, and a window sticker, that you better believe will be going on my car! Saturday, June 11, 2011
van #1 legs 1 and 2 complete!
It's almost beer thirty for van numero uno!!!!!!
Already???
Van 2 is wayyy too fast!!!! :) Its time to be running again...already??! Ahhhhhhhh. Most of our crew got some rest in the van while Ryan and I rolled out our sleeping bags inside a church, right up by the altar. I wasn't successful in catching any zzz's but stretching out on the ground still felt nice. None of us are real excited to be facing another round of legs, but that's irrelevant. Time to dig deep.
31:30 for 3.6!
Deep dark night
Leg 19, potentially the most scary thing ever, right after sky diving! 3.7 miles along a dark, DARK road! The first 1.5 I was the only runner in sight, next to the deep, dark, woods. All I could think about was who was going to jump out at me. The only light was my headlamp and the vans checking in on runners occasionally. I was ecstatic to meet Zeke at exchange 19. Zeke knocked out a quick 2.5 before handing off to Virginia. She was getting a few last stretches in before heading out in the misty fog.
18 down...18 to go
As I write, the runners of van 2 are making their way south toward chi-town, while van 1 runners are also pointed south, in our big white van. Hoping to get a couple winks of sleep in Racine before we get slapped with the bracelet around 3 am. Key word: hoping!!
Our night legs went well and we added serious points to the Roadkillz tally. Well, everyone except me :( My 3.2 mile leg started at 11:20 pm and I ran alone for most of it...under bridges, down a trail, thru residential streets and down a bustling blvd before finding the exchange point. There maaaay have been a teeny tiny panic attack when I thought for sure I was "that runner" to get lost. But all ended well.
Good luck van #2!
Power of the Bee!
Holly uses her magical bee wand to light her way to the next exchange point... with a slight detour.
Martin Luther High School: Major Exchange
Friday, June 10, 2011
Bar hop
Cheers to our homies in van 1. We stopped at Water Street Micro Brewery in Delafield to grab food and a cold one. Just checking into major exchange 18 for a quick snooze.
Exchange 12 - Wales community park
Van 1 and suburban 1 unite! Gus hands off to Libby...now food, sleep, hydrate, and showers until 1am ish
Lei'd
Homeless on the playground...
Okay, maybe they're runners. But when we installed this playground I don't think we could have predicted people sleeping on the shredded rubber.
Leg 10: Finished!
Van #1 back in action!!
Elizabeth all geared up for the first run of the night! Headlamps and tail lights...check.
Welcome to HELL-enville Virginia
Virginia was welcomed by a silo falling down in Helenville. She said, "Glad I didn't get lost! Part of the leg was an obstacle course with a tree down."
Team slizzard errr Team Gus
Leg 7 was an amazing run on the Glacial Drumlin Trail. 2 Roadkill...what a good feeling! After I handed off the baton, we cheered for a few runners along the way. One random runner yelled, "thanks, go team...Yeaaahhhh..errr..Gus?"
6 down...30 to go!
Van #1 finished up their first round of legs by passing off the baton to Amy, runner 7, in Lake Mills. Amy has already texted us photos of her road kill -- eat 'em up, Ames!!
My 8 mile jaunt from Cambridge to Lake Mills flew by and I was even able to add a couple tallys to the Roadkillz count...heck yes!
We're all ready for a nap and Megan has volunteered her apartment in Oconomowoc for us to stink up...errrr, rest at. Thanks Megan!
Best of luck to Van 2! See you in a few hours!
