Lots of extra information about each legs
But I am jumping the gun.
I was contacted (urgently) by Adam Orlow asking if I would be able to do this race. It's a 200K relay race put up by JRunners. They need more runners and willing to accept non Jews but this one is an all male race due to logistics of cramped cars. I get it.
Just a little tangent here about Adam. I used to run into Adam at Alley Pond. We usually went the opposite directions and always said Hello to each other until one day I stopped him to talk. I recognized him from the Run For Israel 5K. He always does well there. He also went to my High School tho he is older.
Anyway, back to the story. He contacted me saying that this race is coming up and their team of ten is short runners and can I...Trying to be a good guy, I immediatly asked cost. The answer was $ 300. Oi....Hail mary time - "Per team or per person"? And the answer of course is??? Per person. Told him wife would not let. How about $ 150? Nope. How about $ 75? That I can bring to the wise council. She said YES! Cool...And I lose a work day instead of a weekend so not that bad...
So, I'm in. Team "9 runners and a baby" I think we are called.
The race starts tonight (Wednesday) at 9:30 pm and I have so many questions and so many unknowns. Last night tho, we had a meeting at Adam's house and some things have been answered.
First off, I should say that I met 7 of my 9 teammates and they all seem like good people. I don't care about slow/fast. I care whether I can stand them or not and they all seem good. Got along too. One (Michael Appel) of them is the brother of a guy I went to High School with (Robert). Robert was in my grade. Let's hope that doesn't count against me once he talks to him. Haha.
There are 30 legs and 10 runners so each runner runs 3 legs for an average of 15 miles. Some will run more and some will run less. I don't care what legs they give me. My only concern is getting lost and also (not related) disappointing my teammates. Apparently we are considered the slowest team so I guess we can only move up...
My legs are 6 (6.4 miles - flat), 19 (3.6 miles - some small hills) and 29 (5.3 miles - rolling). That's accoring to the maps. I'll know more later.
I'm in car B. Some people speficially asked for Car A. I figured I was last in and shouldn't demand or request anything but that's actually a good idea. You run first and then can relax. My first leg won't start until 1am which sucks. They will be able to run and relax while I stress and then run. Also, they will finish their last legs and can explore a shower idea. Also, there is a BBQ at the finish and I hope they don't run out of food.
Apparently this is the only relay race with chip timing which will be cool. Last year they started staggered but this year all teams will start together. The handbook or details make things easier to understand and I will include them rather than try to explain them but another change this year is that at every "Major Exchange" point, all teams will wait for all teams to catch up. They are trying to have the teams finish around the same time. Last year, there were hours in between.
In any case, when I got back, it seems Lee ate some of my food. Not her fault as I didn't tell her not to but oh well.
What to take with me...? Hm... How do you pack for this kind of thing? The forecast was for rain, rain and miserable conditions mixed with rain. The storm was coming from the North-West and we were heading straight for it. I should reiterate that I do NOT like running in the rain. If I get caught in the rain, well that sucks but you continue but to get out in the rain to run...YUCK!
This is what I packed from feet to head, worn items to race first:
Adam said he will pick me up at 7:20 but as is got to me around 7:50. We needed to be there by 8:30 to check-in and this late pickup worried me but whatever. In the car beside him was Michael Appel and Daniel Silverman. Now we had 3 cars going up with us which made things nice (more about it later) but no cars going back and besides me at least 2 other people coming back to Queens. Dan was working on that and I tried to give him space about it but I was worried.
We got to race site on time and Adam found a great parking spot. I met the other people on our team, checked in (had to interrupt the dude from schmoozing too much) with JRunners and walked around a little. Weird...It's close to 9:30 pm and there is so much activity people trying to figure out what to do and what goes where. What a mess. Met Avi Hornstein, team mate and apparently a year younger than me at same HS, and he was chomping on Sushi (OH MY GOD!!!) since he just finished chomping on Sesame Chicken. Sheesh.
I was a little suprised that the Hatikvah was not sung but after a speech, the runners were off to great cheering. It was nice the comradarie there. Actually through out the whole race...
Before we started we heard that both the Brooklyn Bridge and the George Washington Bridge will have closings so cars need to hurry up. Once the race started tho, all 3 of our cars went to the start of leg 2. Very exciting. We also took Paul Kentor (new friend) for the ride. He wanted a long training run. He thought about doing 5 legs but eventually I heard did about 15 miles and went home. Very nice guy - glad to met him. Seems like we know the same people too.
We got to the end of leg 1/start of leg 2 and cars started showing up. I don't really know anyone here except Adam and my team mates who I barely know. Runners eventually started showing up. Our runner, David Devor, showed up not happy with his time. Truth is his time was exactly what he promised (actually a little faster) so that's cool.
One of the runners (Bresslers (more on him later) team I think) came in to find his runner MISSING! This is exactly what Adam didn't want to happen. He stressed this as a major point. Well, we were there and it was kinda funny and sad that their runner ran his butt off only to find his guy missing. Apparently he was peeing and screams for him started up. He also (I think) was the only one who showed up late to the check-in. Sheesh dude. Still, we said good bye to team A and went to the first Major Exchange point in NJ.
Later a few stories came out here which don't really affect me but need to be told to be complete. That same runner apparently got lost I think and also complained that the biker support dude intentionally pushed him. What?!? Later there was also some story about him refusing to go because he was waiting for a hot chocolate or a coffee to be made. I don't know...It's heresay but I really hope it wasn't true. Onward...
Another story was that 2 different people (Woman from Missouri and a Jewish guy from NY I think) posted a nasty message to the JRunners FB page. Apparently some of our runners were peeing in the park in front of everyone. I gotta assume there are rest rooms in Prospect Park and if not I hope they went off the beaten path but according to the messages they did this in front of everyone wearing their JRunner shirts. When you gotta go, you gotta go but ...
Daniel Silverman later told me that he had issues too. Biker next to him wanted him to change his route so that the biker wouldn't have to deal with stairs or some such. Also, at one point, he (Daniel) stepped on grease or oil and he was going at it with another runner and that it was hard to run with one leg slipping but eventually the runner took a detour and he was able to deal with the oil and outkicked him. Nice.
I should mention also that during the race, people approached me about my MM singlet. One even blatently asked "if I earned it or just got it?"...That's cool. They know what it means to "earn" it. Earned it and wear it proudly. Last year especially was the most aggressive year for me and I still consider myself a sprinter if I am a runner.
Anyway, on the major exchange point and shooting the breeze with my team mates. Avi is driving his car (Lexus SUV) with Adam, Chaim, Michael Appel and me to NJ.
We are the second team to get there. The staging point is the CNBC building in a desolate road which supposedly is parallel to the Palisades.
Parked and tried to rest but we were 5 in the car and it was crowded. The other team were already sleeping. I opted to go outside. I mean, I can sleep anywhere. Martin Bodek got a great picture of me sleeping.
It was kinda chilly so I used my windbreaker and a towel to cover my legs. My hat blocked the light. I slept about 30 minutes but woke up when it started raining lightly. I tried to crawl underneath the car but it was too damn low. Got in the car but was awake so went out to walk/talk.
Three runners came in and the excitement started. As this is a major exchange point, the clock gets reset and we all wait until the slowest runner comes in. At that point, all 4 runners go off. Four runners going off at the same exact time only happens at the Major Exchange Points so basically at Legs 6, 11, 16, 21 and 26.
I was going to wear my windbreaker because it was a little chilly and because I knew it was going to rain. I was actually suprised it didn't really rain that much like it was supposed to but I knew I would get "lucky". Well, everyone was wearing singlets and I truly felt stupid so I took it off. And then it started raining. Haha. Not that bad but still. Some people love running in the rain. I don't! If I get caught in it, so be it. If it's a race, so be it. Otherwise I won't start in the rain. That's why there are treadmills and I have already done a few 20 milers on them so who cares. Still, the race started (again). We took off or rather I took off. I was ahead of the pack. And then it started to pour. Turns out only 1 leg had rain - MINE!!! Someone must be laughing somewhere...
The Bressler van at one point to me and their Captain stuck his head out and gave me some smack talk. "You suck. Don't you wanna just stop running since you really suck?"... I completly aggreed with him which he thought was a little weird. Later I saw him again and he screamed at me to "go suck a nipple". That annoyed me and I threw my gum at him. I unfortunatly missed and there went my nutrition. Oh well. Later he and I talked and were cool about things. Maybe it helped that I also mentioned to his runner to tell him to chill out a little. A little more about him. He's 20 years old and did IronMan Lake Placid twice. This year he wanted to beat his time by an hour and a half but with a bad sinus cold that didn't happy and he was a little slower than last year at around 12 hours. Wow. He is a nice guy but was definitly a little worked up here between winning to race and sleep deprivation and the stress of being a captain. More on him later.
There was a biker on the course and he was pretty cool about it. I mean it's not easy being a bike volunteer riding ridiculously and in the dark and rain. He rode past me and I yelled out "too fast biker" and he slowed down and stayed with me. I felt better about it. I mean I had light up toys but I felt safer on the road with him there. We still wouldn't be a match for a car hitting us, not that there were that many cars out there, but together we were more visible which is what I wanted.
So besides the freaking rain storm it was also pitch black and I wore the head lamp that Jim gave me. I had no experience with it whatsoever. My night running experiencs is very limited. The first time was I got home after a long swim and felt guilty about missing my run the previous day such that at midnight I went for a 2 hour run followed by a shower and my normal 5 am wakeup. Granted tho, I stayed at well lit areas. The other time was last year at my 3rd Ironman where I ran with a small flashlight in my hand. I heard that headlamps make some people nauseous but I had no issue.
At around mile 2.2, Jonathan Pittinsky (I think) passed me. His story is amazing. He went and did the NYC Marathon with a time of something like 5:45. He then went and lost 100 lbs and did it the next year in 3:45 I think. Wow. Dude was trucking. Third place caught up and we ran together which was cool. More light and conversation - cool. At around mile 4, Bresslers van told us we have another 2.4 miles which didn't make sense to me at all as I was sure we were only doing 5 miles. OOPS...My mistake but that kinda ruined it for me. Still, my fault. At one point, we saw a car parked and people outside. I yelled to them looking up the road. Stupid me. Should never do that in the dark... My foot landed in a hole. I didn't fall tho it could have gotten ugly. Still, that hole was full of water so that sucked. Those people we saw? Poles. This whole scene was for naught...Ran and the road was a little greasy which I didn't like. We saw the exchange point and my buddy said let's give them something and we took off. He out kicked me and came in a split second before me. Nice. I couldn't do it with my foot slipping. It's ok. Gave my bracelot to Adam and he took off.
The chip timing? Didn't happen at all. Except for the Major Exchange Point it was the runners job to keep their times. The guy who ran with me? He started his Garmin a little late so that system doesn't exactly work. We had a slap it on bracelt we had to pass instead of the baton.
During our meeting Adam really stressed 2 points: The first was that a runner cannot finish his leg to see that his runner isn't there. The second was that every runner MUST study his leg. They must know their leg. No screw ups. This is important because of how true it later became.
So Adam took off. He was in 3rd at this point but really really close to 2nd. I needed about 30 seconds to wipe my face off and get back in the car. I'm used to short transitions and I never stretch it out. Typically about 5 minutes after race finish, I'm already making the drive home to no big thing. We are on the move and we catch up to Adam. He's doing well. We leapfrog with him a little until we get to a bunch of our cars and a lot of lights. Ohoh...Cop talking to one of the vans. We all tense up hoping that no one got injured. Truns out there was an accident and the cops closed this stretch of road. Runners could go through but no cars. We were told to go back and get on the Palisades Parkway (I think) for 1 exit. We hurry up and try to find Adam. We really have no idea where the runners are. Still, Avi (driver) and Michael (Navigator) do a good job of getting us back on track and we spot our runners. We make sure Adam is ok and then continue on to the next leg. Right before the end of his leg, there is a kinda_dangerous right turn. It's ugly. We were afraid he was gonna miss the turn or worse get hit by a car so we left the next runner (Michael) and Chaim in the car and Avi and I went up the road a little. Adam's leg is 7.7 miles and soon enough the lead runner comes through. And another runner. Hm...Weird. Adam should have been there too...Then a cyclist comes through. He wasn't the good guy that was with me. He had a Kosher Cyclists Jersey on and he stops to tell us the news. He saw a runner go the wrong way and he thinks it's ours. Shoot. Avi runs back to the car and I stay where I am in the hopes that he is wrong. The scoop: The cyclist saw a runner flying down a steep downhill and decided he didn't want to chase him because then he would have to climb that hill.
So they leave Michael there at the exchange and Avi and Chaim are driving all over the place until they give up. Next thing I know they are on the highway next to me in the wrong place. They then proceed to reverse up the entrance of the highway and then over a grass median to get back to Michael. At this point I spot Adam who is pissed. I run him in and all he can say through clenched teeth is "DIDN'T YOU GUYS REALIZE I WAS F***ING LOST!?!". I quickly told him that Avi went looking for him and what he did to get back and then what happened with the cyclist and then Adam really got pissed.
Apparently Adam saw the cyclist and he turned down the really steep hill and gave it all he got. At the bottom of the hill, his watch said 7.7 miles and he knew he wasn't in Kansas and he then turned and climbed that bad hill to find the right way home. He couldn't believe the cyclist didn't chase him or yell out or anything.
Now there is a concept of "athlete know thy course" and therefore it's (sorry Adam) Adam's fault for screwing up and the fact that he stressed this to us is truly ironic and funny and Adam really felt terrible about it but there is also a concept of being a "Mensch".
Look, Adam screwed up royally and he really felt bad about it. Me personally, I couldn't care about it because I don't care about winning so I got over it really quick even tho he didn't. The biker on the other hand...It's not his job to rescue runners - True. He is a volunteer so why should he help anyone and definitly not another teammate - True. But as a human being? He should have tried to do something and the bottom line is HE DIDN'T! Also, if you dress as a real cyclist (bike pants, jersey, clipless shoes) and all then you have to deal with hills. I hated hills on the bike and I cannot say that I love them now but I now see a hill as a challenge to do either on the run or the bike. He should have went after him and then thanked him for the extra hill workout. Well, maybe not that far but he should have done something. The only truly negative thing I saw through out this event was this single act of yuckiness.
Adam finally calmed down to a steaming 120 degrees of pissed off and we put him in the car. The mantra in the car now became "no more oopsies!!!". We caught up to Michael who was suffering. He had a 1.5 mile up hill to go and he was suffering. I asked him if he wants company to which he immediatly responded with YES! I asked Avi to stop and I went to run with him. I needed the use of indoor plumbing but figured I can still run the up hill and flat with him. I wasn't going to try the downhill because that usually gets me badly. During the 1.5, I did what I had to do: I distracted, BSed and joked around with him. After the hill, I got back in the car and let him go the downhill by himself while we delivered Chaim to his leg. Eventually he came down the hill and Chaim took off. We let Michael stretch and recover and then went to chase Chaim. He looked good and we made sure to stop at the next turn. I got out and made sure he made the turn. Avi, during his leg kept jumping out of the car every so often and delivering water to Chaim. Nice. Chaim later told us that he was very disappointed with himself because he "just had no gas". I had no problem with that. I get it. Sometimes you have it and sometimes you don't. Anyway, he finished and Avi took off.
Avi was very worried about the course but all he had to remember was Right-Right-Left and this was really at the beginning of his course. Still, between the excitement, lack of sleep and the pressure of an anchor leg and trying to make up time, we had another mishap.
Chaim got in the car and we drove off making the turns as needed. Now we know Avi is fast so we drove on but at one point it became clear that we are in trouble. Either we missed him because we drove off or (CAN'T BE) Avi is lost. We U-Turned and started looking for him until it became clear that he is lost. I texted our guys and Chaim called our guys. Go look for him! I don't think they did tho. We circled back and went one way. Nope! Circled back and went another way. Nope! Circled back and went a different way. Nope! This is why I run with my phone. If you think I am lost - CALL ME! If I think I am lost - I will CALL YOU! Still he had no phone and couldn't be found. Circled a different (no way) way and drove on and on. I was just telling Adam to turn back and he said just a little more when I noticed him. I screamed there he is to which everyone screamed where and Adam hit the gas. We drove past him with me screaming out the window "STOP RUNNING!". We u-turned and threw him in the car. There he is sweating like crazy and refusing to believe us that he is lost. He were allowed to bring him back to where he should have been but we gave him a little extra distance. Still, because he was so fast, it still hurt us. That's cool tho. Still, the excitement was stressful.
Avi finished at the next Major Exchange Point which was also a stopover. Free breakfast ($ 10 max) at a kosher bagel store. I cared more about the indoor plumbing and that felt great. I finished off my Matzabrei while guys swallowed huge bagels and pancakes. I gave Avi Blisko my coupon so he wouldn't have to go back to the car to get it. I didn't want anything tho I ended up getting Chocolate Milk and a candy bar from Israel (Pesek-Zman) for the kids.
I was feeling fine and alert tho people were in various exhausted states. Team Bressler had only 1 vehicle (huge white van) which is good and bad. The good is that your team (all of your team) is always with you and cheering you on. The bad is that no one can rest.
The following picture is the state of exhaustin they were in...
These guys all had huge red spots on their foreheads when they woke up.
Well, soon enough everyone used the indoor plumbing, ate and prayed (this is JRunners...) and we were off. The next batch off runners were off. Car A was active again and now car B had 2 cars. Avi, Adam and I went off to the Lexus while Michael and Chaim took Adam's car and we all drove to the next Major Exchange Point. We parked and napped. I got my 2nd 30 minute nap and that was all good for me. Soon, I was introduced to Mordy Ovits. I spoke to him briefly before and it was a pleasure to speak to him more now. Seems like a brilliant guy and a nice guy too. Did I also mention fast?
Runners eventually started coming in and again as soon as the last (slowest) runner came in, the runners were off. We were active again. Back to positions...This time Avi went first and it was a hard leg. I don't remember who he went against but if I remember correctly the order was Bressler, followed by Mordy Ovits, followed by Avi and then someone else. So many names and I am truly horrible with names.
We pulled over in the middle of the hill and as Bressler ran by we screamed "go suck a nipple" which made him laugh. Cool. This was a hard leg and the runners both kicked butt and got their butts kicked at the same time.
The next leg was one of the shortest (2.1 miles) but probably one of the hardest and it was Michaels. It was up. Just up. We went to the exchange area and runners 1 and 2 show up. Michael who started in 3rd gave it up for 4th and it was cool. It was a VERY hard leg. Still 3rd place shows up and no Michael. Instead of Michael, we get an ambulance and 2 cars with emergency lights and I'm thinking Oh-Oh... But then Michael shows up right behind them so that was cool.
Adam takes off and he is really worried now about making an oopsie. I can see he is still blaming himself and he asks that we make sure he doesn't mess up. I ask the cyclist (good guy again) to keep an eye on him and since he's in 4th, that's nice and easy. We leapfrog with him too and that was cool.
There is drama with the other team between 2nd and 3rd and perhaps 1st but Adam is our only priority. Eventually, we drop him and fly to the exchange area so I can get ready.
Bressler is at the exchange point sitting on top of their van. Nice. Adam gets there and I take off. Other teams are there but no one else is running. They had already left. Nice. I have a smaller leg this time - 3.6 miles. Easy pizzy, right? Pretty much a straight shot until mile 3.4 (blinkling light) where I need to make a right-left-left.
My team is MIA. I wish for mental support and Bresslers van pulls buy and asks if I need anything. I immediatly tell Bressler that I need a nipple and he starts screaming and laughing and they drive off. That was cool. I don't really know distance but I think I am running well. I didn't bring my Garmin. I don't know if it's wise or not. Whatever...
Running, running and oopsie...I twist my ankle. Ran too close to the area between road and grass and got what I deserve. No face plant, no fall. Lucky. Where is my team? Ambulance goes by and I thank them and ask if they can leap frog with me. I ask the biker where I turn and how bad is the rest of the course so he goes to check. I get to a blinking light and I am elated until I look at my watch and decide there is no way in HELL that I ran 3.4 miles in 18 minutes. Sad. Biker still didn't come back so my only company is the leap frogging ambulance. Eventually, I get to the right blinking light and turn, turn and turn. Speed up and Chaim takes off. He seems better. Had trouble eating at the bagel store but he forced himself to eat and felt better. After this, I made it clear that we need to support each other better.
Adam asks for a few minutes rest. I was ready to go but he talked to the ambulance people. His legs/quads are a little sore and they suggest Oxygen. He climbs in and they put a face mask on him and it seems to help. We thank them again and leave chasing Chaim. Poor guy is all by himself. Everyone is waiting at the next Major Exchange Point for him and as soon as he gets there, car A becomes active again. We can chillax now.
Daniel Silverman takes off with Car A in tow. We now have 2 cars. Adam and Avi go ahead while in the other car we have Chaim (driving) with Michael and me. I state the need for indoor plumbing and so we drive off. On the way, we see some of the runners. We see 4th place and 3rd place. Third place is a 14 year old who I don't remember his name. Real muscular guy - real nice. He was runnign and clutching his stomach bad. We stop and I get out to see what's up. He tells me with a pained expression "Cramps - I need to take a dump". Unfortunatly for him, we are in a suburban area with houses in both directions. This is my worst nightmare as I do suffer from stomach issues. I flag the (bless them) ambulance and they stop. I explain the situation and the guy says to me that they have bedpans. Oi.... We drive away as he gets in the ambulance. Later I find out that he couldn't do it and ended up walking the 2 miles. We get to the exchange area and I tell his team mates what's going on with the following statement, "I sh*t you not". Sorry dude - couldn't avoid that one... Too easy.
From there on we drive toward the next Major Exchange Point. We see a country store and they tell me that they are sure there's indoor plumbing there so we pull in. I ask the guy and he was cool about it. Nothing happened unfortunatly in there for me but I did find a $ 20 bill so I used it at the store which made everyone happy. I bought something so the store owner was happy and well I came out ahead. Later, I joked that I laundered the money. Anyway, onwards...
We pull in to the next Major Exchange Point and there is clean indoor plumbing and we have success. I think all the runners had success there. The 14 year old kid? He got there and had major success and begged for another leg to redeem himself. He was so upset with himself. I told him "sh*t happens (sorry) and not to worry about it".
We all sat and relaxed or tried to sleep. I didn't sleep. I heard that Bressler wants to draft another runner which was Balognia... You can't do that...And worse, he tried to draft a race offical to his team...Nonesense...Conflict of interest.
Soon enough first runner came in. Suddenly, car A rips into the parking lot. They grab Avi Blisko's inhaler and fly out again. I don't remember what place he came in (don't think it was 4th) but I went out looking for him and ran with him in, supporting him. He came in hard but then crashed. He didn't look good. Had trouble with Asthma/breathing. The ambulance was called. Someone cracked a joke that the EMT is the one who needs help. I turned to him and said "it's funny but wait a few minutes before you crack that one". Ambulance came and he was AMA. Not smart. I told the ambulance guy not to let Avi tell him his job and for him to make sure that Avi is really ok. I like those 2 ambulance guys. They stayed with us for a looong time and I felt bad for them.
In any case, We were active again so into the car again. Bressler, Adam Orlow,Jonathan Pittinsky (black shirt) and another guy (white shirt) went off.
This was also a rather difficult leg. Bressler led but he wasn't smiling at all. His face was contorted in a death grimace and he was suffering. Adam was chasing and he looked good. White shirt was 3rd followed by black shirt. We leapfrogged but suddenly from afar we realized that now it's Bressler, white shirt, Adam and then black shirt...And white shirt is gaining on Bressler. He never caught him but he came close. I think if he had more real estate he would have caught him. Eventually black shirt took Adam too. Not Adam's day tho really not his fault. He gave it all he had in his first leg and that cost him.
Couple of things. Avi was superb. Kept jumping out of the car with water. I tried too but he did the grunt of it. Bressler's team had support done the best. At one point, they had one of their own on a bicycle riding with him. The guy was just spinning and warming up because turns out later he was the next runner. The other team mates? They came out to support their captain... One guy held out water, another Gatorade and the third Jelly beans or some snack. Wow! Serious prize for team work...
Eventually Adam got in the car all banged up and Michael took over. It was in the middle of a hill - yuck and he suffered as well. Adam at one point offered to run with him. He stuck one leg out of the car and said "no way"... He was hurting that bad. Sucks. We really stuck to Michael now with the car. There was absolutly no traffic so why not?
Had an interesting conversation with Adam. He said that he should have given me that leg since he can't climb. What?!? I see Adam run by me every May at the Run For Israel 5K. What nonesense that he can't climb. Dude is faster than me. I told him that the difference between me and him is that I would take a judicious walk if I needed it where he wouldn't. He admitted to that fact. Still, I think he was the best candidate for this leg from our car. He did well. He left it all out there and he should be proud. He actually told me during his run that "he is done!"...It was that bad.
Eventually the switch to Chaim whose wife came to pull him. How cool is that? And his father was driving the course too, nice and slow. Lot of support for him. Avi was very well hydrated and needed to lighten his load every 5 minutes or so. It was really funny. I kept reminding him of it which made him stop again to pee over and over. Is that mean?
Eventually they dropped me off and went back to him. I talked to Chaim's dad for a little. Very nice guy.
It's my turn and I got 5.3 to go. When I found the $ 20 I bought a coke. I initially was gonna drink it afterwards (maybe) as my reward but decided to use it here and now. Asked my team for approx every 1/2 mile a swig realizing there will be a speed bonus involved. They sped up and made sure I made my left turn and right turn. Thank God too...I would have missed the right turn. My first 2 miles were around 7:30 so I was kicking it even up hills. I'm happy with my time all things considered. I definitly lost time tho when they went to drop Avi off for his last leg. They did it at an uphill and when they left I lost focus. I wish they would have waited a little but it is what it is...
Finished and sent Avi packing. Got in the car right away to make sure he makes his turn. I wasn't sure how I would be and how he would be. I would have liked to run with him his entire leg but I didn't want to slow him down either. Still, at 3.1 with the final turn to go, I got out and waited for him. All we had was a half mile with half of it being up and the other half down. Ran with him. Later he told me that he was very happy for the company as he was hurting. Ran and BSed and told jokes and at the very last got him sprinting to the finish. Daniel tried to join but we were moving and I almost crashed into him. Sorry. We ran hard and I let Avi go and cross the finish line to the cheers.
We had tickets to the BBQ which gave us a hotdog, fries and a drink. Yuck...I wanted a burger and was going back to the car to get $$ but Chaim's father refused to let me go and bought me a burger and fries and a drink. What a nice guy...
During the race, I asked Daniel a few times without trying to annoy him about the ride. He kept saying "work in progress". Oi...Hate that. I mentioned that to Adam and he asked what are my plans and I of course said that as of now my plans are sleeping under someones car. Adam without thinking immediatly said that I can sleep in his car then caught himself and said I can sleep in his house. Funny...Still, Dan came through. Love this guy. His brother (Alan I think) and a friend came especially to pick him up. Wow...We left around 8 and of course it rained but I was home by 9:15ish. Speed a little? Jessie was still awake so I took a quick shower and said goodnight to her. Went to sleep early at 10:00 and slept until 7. That's a little more than 2 days of sleep for me so I felt pretty good.
Jeremy went to hang with some friends so I stayed home with Jessie. We walked to the YMCA and met up with her friend and played Raquetball. Nice. Saturday, I ran around noon when the kids swam. Did a slow 6.5 mile in 1:10. I pulled a guy who was hurting. I than swam a 500 yard (20 laps) just to cool down a little and then played raquetball against Jeremy for 45 minutes. Sunday ran 15.20 miles but I was tired. Left house at 5:30 and legs were tired. Still, finished, showered, shopping at BJ and then met friends ar Bayville amusement park as Saturday was Jeremy's 15th birthday.
The race: I definitly had a lot of fun but in truth never ever I done a race that was Fun/Hard/Awesome/Stressful. Even the Ironman, I've done 3, weren't all of those things. Yes they were hard and fun but this was different. The stress was on me and my ability and my screwups. Here it was a combined effort and therefore lot more stress.
The outcome: I'm good with it. Just because I now do long distance racing doesn't mean that I expect to win. I'd like to finish. A PR is just dessert. We had fun. We didn't get injured. We managed to podium at 4th place. I spoke to different people on my team and they were apologetic about their
Would I ever do it again: During the race I texted my wife that I AM NEVER DOING THIS AGAIN. But I think it's the same thing kinda thing with childbirth. Ask a woman during childbirth if she would do this again and she's tell you no way. Ask her a little later when the pain is gone and the joy is there and she will tell you yes. I think I would and I would not change my teammates. I might prefer Car A because of the schedule and I might also place me differently but otherwise definitly yes. What do I mena about placing me differently? I think I should do earlier legs so I can then escort people in trouble. I had no trouble escorting Michael in leg 7 because I already ran. But I didn't escort him later knowing that my leg is coming up.
Something weird that happened during this race. I already ran my first leg and it was 3ish Thursday morning and Elizabeth texted me. She was worried about me. Maybe it was my vibe but this never happened before. She never worries. I think she trusts me to always make it out alive. But this was different and deserves mentioning here.
And now for a long and seemingly not related tangent which is 100 % related. Who am I? I was born in Israel and came here when I was 9. I was never religious and never will be but by my own decision I went to a religious High School. I went to TMSTA-YUHS or plainly Yeshiva Uniiversity High School (MTA). I went there to keep the language, customs and holidays and also because it was/is a top rated school. Education is important. When I started there, some people there treated me like crap due to my ignorance of a lot of stuff. They called me stupid and other great names. Well, jokes on them. I ain't that stupid. I got many a Rabbi's son on the honor roll both in hebrew studies and the secular studies. I didn't care if people cheated of me. Eventually I left there on early admissions. I could have gone to YU but chose not to. Why am I mentioning all this? I mean it was like 100 years ago, right? Wrong...I signed up for this race because Adam asked me but I was worried about the reception I was going to get.
I don't know if my running credentials had something to do with it (others beside Morti knew about my running resume) and perhaps it was my MM shirt that also spoke for me but the people I met were genuinely good. They were nice and the level of comradarie was out of this world. I saw other teams stop to make sure that other runners (AKA the enemy) were ok. That they didn't need anything. Wow. It's gonna sound like a cliche but I was and am awed.
By the way, some of these people were not only nice but damn F-A-S-T....Wow.
On another note....I saw a baby dear on the course and I thought it was pretty cool. Other people saw a baby bear and where baby bear is, Momma bear ain't to far. Luckily no one saw her but one of the cars stayed with 2 runners (again comradarie) and made sure they were safe besides letting everyone know.
I'm gonna link up other Race reports if I have access to them here...
As a Funny aside, the local newspaper reported our team as the winning team. Ha...Pays to be last right?
