This was the start, I think every 20 mins they had about 15 teams start at the same time. There is Jeff on the right behind the guy in the hat, he has some floppy hair.
"Hey Ben would want to run a relay race with us in a few months"
"Sure Jeff, why not, sounds like fun"
Was my answer to my roommate Jeff about 2 months ago. I did not know what I was getting into....
This past Friday and Saturday I ran a relay race called the Wasatch Back presented by Ragnar. Click here Ragnar is a circuit of relay races they have throughout the US, in total I think they put on about 7 different races. I ran with a team of 11 other people. We ran/jogged/walked from Logan to Park City. A total of 181 Miles. In total there were 579 teams with aprox. 12 people on each team so you do the math. Roughly 6,000-7,000 people running. Pretty cool. We were Team #340. We were running for Jeffs dad (Ford) that is having a hard time right now recovering from a surgery. So that was great having a good cause to run for. It was probably one of the harder things I have done in a while. Each person had 3 different legs to run ranging from 3 miles to about 9 miles. There were a few different classifications for each leg. Easy, Moderate, Hard, Very Hard. We drove up to Logan and started at 12:40 in the afternoon on Friday, ran all day, night and most of the day Saturday. It was a pretty big deal. A lot bigger than I had anticipated. When we arrived in Logan at the start line it was a different kind of atmosphere for me. I am pretty accustomed to "The snowboard" crowd or "The Motocross" crowd. But the "marathon/runner" crowd was one that I never been around. Almost every person was in great shape and 95% of them were pretty amped with their vehicles plastered with everything imaginable to show their enthusiasm for the race. Pretty interesting and funny at the same time.
Ben's legs:
This was my first Leg. Ashley exchanging the wrist band we had to wear while running. Look at the dude next to me, thats how just about everyone looked, and then ther I am with the bright shoes, baggy basketball shorts and sunglasses. But it's all good.
Beautiful vew from my first leg. Scott waiting to give me some water.
Avon pass
Huffin and puffin.
Avon Pass
1- Leg #5 Very Hard 7.4 Miles. Ben's time 1 hr 7 mins 35 secs, Average mile of 9:07. It climbed Avon Pass coming out of Logan's cache Valley. This one was pretty hard, I am not really a runner so 7.4 Miles was a lot and especially all uphill. It was all dirt road, so it was pretty hard for me but the scenery was awesome! I gained a total of 1210 ft. of elevation.
Getting ready for Leg #2 and my night run. Carrie giving me some words of encouragment, or just taking a break from her "front seat routine"
2- Leg #17 Moderate. 5.9 Miles. Ben's time 48 mins and 40 secs. Average mile of 8.14 which I was stoaked with. This one was my fav. It ran along a frontage road in the Morgan Area. It was about 12:45 at night when I started. It was dark, but still pretty warm while running. I ran past a ranch that my Aunt Jan and Uncle Wes used to own so it brought back a lot of memories of being there as a kid with the family. This by far was my fav. leg. At night, nice and cool, under the moon and stars, just running by myself. Pretty sweet.
3- Leg #29 Moderate 4.1 Miles. Ben's time 28:28. Average mile of 6:56 . I ran this one at about Noon on Saturday so it was pretty hot but awesomw views of Deer Creek. It was 1/2 down hill so that was nice but by this time my muscles were pretty sore and my feet especially the outside of my right one were starting to hurt. They are just not used to this type of running. But it was a nice leg to finish up, not too long and part down hill.
Our Team
Our total time was 29 hrs 43 mins and 9 secs.
Click Here for the overall results, we were in the Coed Open Division. 141st out of 210. Not bad!
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