Red Eye Relay Recap

What is now 2 weekends ago I had the opportunity to run and complete the Red Eye Relay in Bloomington Indiana with 11 other runners (9 Rusted Bears, 1 Emergency substitution/MVP, and 1 other Michigan Runner), and while there were things about the race that could be improved upon over all it was an epic adventure! (This recap is painfully late, but we are finally back into a groove and I am getting a chance to sit down and write relatively uninterrupted)

So here are the numbers:

Rusted Bears - Dirt Cheetahs, Grin & Bear It, Rusty Bear Trap

Team(s) Miles: 103.92

Team(s) Time: 16:27:00

My Milage: 23.28

My Total Time on my feet: 4:07:33

Leg 1 Malaria Miller: 

Distance 8.39 Time 1:25:54

Leg 2 Smokin' the Bear:

Distance 4.41 Time 45:26

Leg 3 Easy Cheese:

Distance: 3.33 Time 35:47

Leg 4 Death Dog House:

Distance 3.85 Time 41:49

Leg 5 Grape Ape:

Distance 3.3 Time 38:37

Rusted Bears celebrating their finish! So lucky to have had the opportunity to meet and run with these folks!

Team Dirt Cheetahs

I am not going to get into the details of every leg since you can see the little recaps on my Daily Mile page, I am just going to talk a little bit about the good and bad of it all.

Good: RUNNING BUDDIES! Because we had 12 runners we actually formed 3 teams and decided ahead of time to stick together, so every leg I was out there with my 2 running buddies.  I cannot tell you how much I loved that we did it this way.  Being out in the middle of no where Indiana in the pitch black by yourself can be a bit creepy, having 2 other people there, while it did not help stop my imagination freaking me out a bit, it did help relieve some of the anxiety.  I would not have done this race as a solo runner.

Hey we just met, let's go run 22+ miles (See the rockstar in the middle-she was a last minute substitute b/c a teammate had to drop for an emergency, anyways later deemed MVP had only been planning to drive her team, instead she ran 23.28 miles like a boss at the last minute!)

2 legs down, ready for the last 3!

After-we did it!

Good: Having plenty of clothes & shoes to change into.  I took 5 complete outfits, 1 for every leg, and while I ended up only wearing 4, it was nice to have the option to change if completely stinky or sweaty.  Having 3 pairs was nice since the race started in the rain. (Side note: One of my van mates was thinking ahead and bought several newspapers when we stopped for gas to stuff in our shoes, that helped dry them out a bit)

Bad: The mental exhaustion that comes with staying up overnight, and also the ups/downs that come with it.  There were several points throughout the night that I did not want to continue, I just wanted a nap.  Those thoughts were then followed with reminding me how much fun I was having and what a fun experience. 

Bad: Fueling for this race was tough.  With the travel I had forgotten to eat a late lunch/dinner and the granola bar before the race just didn't cut it.  Throughout the night traveling in the back of the van really bothered my motion sickness and made for an icky stomach for a few legs till I figured out the cause.  Throughout the night I had 3 Island Boosts, 1 Package Honey Stingers Cherry Cola Chews, a handful of potato chips, a handful of peanut butter filled pretzels, 1 Picky Bar, 1 piece of pizza, tons of Nuun and water, and a total of 1.5 cans of Busch Light (not craft beer but it was still tasty).  I ended the night/morning extremely calorie deficient and I do not think I felt full until Wednesday. 

Bad: The course while marked apparently better then last year there were several typos in the race manual, and several times throughout the night the signs were turned/moved or completely removed by what we could only assume were people who thought that would be a funny prank.

Good: And overnight race means you can sport AWESOME night gear!

Overall I would run it (or another relay) again, even though I doubt I would do more then 1 a year...