100 Miles for Lima Recap
Okay, I'll try to sum this up with the least judgment and bias as I possibly can...I'll save that for the end of my recap, lol:
Several months ago, my husband's co-worker (former boss)--who is a former Marine--asked both of us to join a relay team for a relay called "100 Miles for Lima"; the Lima Company suffered heavy losses in the last several years and in 2010, when a bunch of men found out that one of their own had died in 2005, they wanted to do something to raise money for the kids these men left behind. The first relay was held last August in D.C. This year, it started in Mariemont, OH and ended in Galloway, OH.
Our team started out with 5 people--four men and myself, the only female. By the time the date arrived, most of our team had dropped out (plus, my husband had a leg injury and declared he couldn't run at all beforehand), so we found 3-4 new people to join in. One of these women was the sister of a Marine who died. Before we met her (leaving out names for privacy), she had told our relay organizer that she would be running 50 miles. Because she seemed sure, the rest of us were told we wouldn't really be running all that much. The original plan was to take turns running legs until it amounted to 100 miles.
I took the day off last Friday so I could meet my husband and his coworker at their office where we loaded up a large truck w/ our belongings (brought many changes of clothes, towels, snacks and a TON of water) and made our way to Cincinnati for a pasta dinner being held in Mariemont before the race. While we were there, we met the lady who was running 50 miles....and I will say here that I did not say this out loud, but the others all said it later--this girl did NOT look like she was even ready to run a 5K let alone 50 miles. More on that later.
After eating mediocre pasta, my husband didn't want the evening to end, so one of the ladies whose house we were crashing at for the night, suggested we all go to Aglamesis Bros. for ice cream. Ryan and I were like, "Agla--what?" We couldn't believe--especially Ryan since he's from Cincy--that we hadn't heard of this place. We consider ourselves to be Cincinnati foodie aficionados--you know the usual: Skyline chili, Graeters ice cream, Montgomery Inn, etc. so we were curious! This place did not disappoint! It was SO good! I played it safe and got a hot fudge sundae...maybe the best I've ever tasted, I'm serious.
But if that weren't already satisfying enough, Ryan's friend heard about this burger place called "Zip's" that had great burgers...and these guys decided to drive over to try one. Ryan and I split a burger, there was no way I was eating an entire one:
So FINALLY, we were done eating for the night and headed to our hostess' house to call it a night. We had to be out the door at 5AM, so I woke up at 4:15 (did NOT sleep well at all, maybe 2 or 3 hours of solid sleep) and we were all packed and sitting in the truck w/ our coffees by 5:20. We were about 10-15 minutes from the start line so we got there in time. I guess it's good we got there when we did, though, because as we rolled into the quaint town of Mariemont, we came across a short caravan of vans and trucks and seamlessly fell behind them where they stopped at the town square and got out for a short ceremony. The girl who was doing 50 miles (I'll just call her 50 Miles from here on out) took the first leg, which was only 3-4 miles I think, so we drove to the first checkpoint where I got my first taste of what was to come for the next 24 hours: a LOT of waiting around. And the forecast was predicting temperatures in the 90s this weekend. Super.
I took the second leg and caught up with the group of 10 men who were running (and pretty soon here, the word "running" will be loosely translated into "shuffling" and "hobbling") the entire 100 miles plus other relay runners, bike riders and golf cart that's not really a golf cart, but slightly bigger--I'm not sure what the correct term is for this thing--carrying all the supplies. My leg was 3.75 miles and I quickly realized that we were all doing 12 + min. miles, so it was a struggle to slow it down--I felt like I was practically jogging in place at times. But since this wasn't really a race--more like a fundraiser--there was no speeding up ahead of the pack. I finished my leg and felt totally fine. Easy, peasy. Someone else took the next leg and now my husband was the designated driver for the rest of the time. This went on for a few more legs until around checkpoint # 5 where I was mindlessly stretching my legs, claiming to "stretch my hips" when I felt something really not right in my left knee. I straightened up and realized that I felt pain every time I slightly bent it. Crap. I told Ryan about it and he gave me this "Are you serious" look. I was deadly serious. We told the others and they didn't think it was a big deal since "50 Miles" was doing most of the work anyways. Well, okay. So for the next several legs, I sat it out hoping my knee would feel better.
At this point, it was getting hotter and hotter, the "runners" were doing more walking than running (unbeknownst to us until halfway through the relay when we were wondering why it seemed like we were waiting around for twice as long as it should have taken), and on top of that, the directions that were given to us were completely off, as all the checkpoints were at totally random and rural places in Ohio. On two occasions, our checkpoints were in the front yards of unsuspecting home owners, whose permission we had to get once we arrived. So organized. Not. Another checkpoint was in the parking lot of a Livery that was already bustling from the Memorial holiday weekend. Yeah, they were NOT happy to see a bunch of trucks and vans taking up their parking lot space. I don't know who the genius was that decided we'd park there, but somehow thought it was unnecessary to ask for permission beforehand. The checkpoint before that wasn't even a checkpoint as we never saw the runners. We sat around in the unbearable heat trying to hear back from one of the runners to see where exactly their location was. Turns out, some police misdirected the runners and they ended up walking an extra 5 miles. Argh.
On and on it went. Each leg got a little longer as the heat rose. Oh, and 50 Miles? Where was she this whole time? She wasn't riding with us, so at times, we were left wondering where the heck she was. As night time crept up, 50 Miles completely disappeared and didn't reappear until the next morning when all runners were supposed to run the last 2 miles to the end "for show".
In the end, our team leader did most of the running, I took on 8.5 miles, Ryan actually did 5 miles with me, the other two girls did a few here and there, 50 Miles probably only did a half marathon's worth (so much for 50 miles!), and someone managed to get another runner to meet us at 3AM in some totally random cornfield where this guy--to our collective relief--took on 20 miles himself.
Between the hours of 1:00AM and 6:00AM, I nodded off and would wake up again, get out of the truck to stretch, take a pee, brush my teeth, and then get back in to sleep some more. By 6AM we were driving to the last couple of checkpoints. By this time, I was VERY annoyed. Annoyed at the Marines, annoyed at whoever sloppily put this relay together, annoyed at our team leader for treating my husband like crap when he was doing all the driving, annoyed at 50 Miles for disappearing and reappearing only for the finish line where all the cameras and families were waiting to cheer on these "runners". I was so annoyed that I sat out the last 2 miles. I didn't care about how it looked. I was done and was ready to go home. While I could never run 100 miles straight, and totally understand how fatigued these guys were, I was still annoyed that they pretty much walked the entire relay and only started running again when spectators were in sight, or when cameras were rolling. Sometime halfway through the relay, around mile 47, that was when I took on a second leg w/ Ryan and we quickly found out just how much walking these guys were doing. We mistakenly thought that if the two of us started running ahead of the pack, it would encourage the others to keep going, but that just found us WAY ahead of them, so much so, that we lost sight of them, and then had to stop running in order for them to catch up. I don't think those guys appreciated that, so we walked 4 miles and ran the last mile when people were in sight again.
I was all for the cause, but I would never do this race again. There were a few other relay runners who felt the same way and dropped out halfway through.
However--this has oddly inspired me to consider training for ultra long distances in the future; I don't want to sign up for something again before I know I'm prepared, but I can't toss the idea of someday doing an Ultra. First thing's first, though--must do a marathon before doing an ultra marathon!
So there it is--great cause, poorly organized, too long a period to spend in confined spaces with four other people, probably gained a few pounds from all the eating, thinking that we needed that fuel for "the next leg"--I love running, but I'll pass on the relays.
Several months ago, my husband's co-worker (former boss)--who is a former Marine--asked both of us to join a relay team for a relay called "100 Miles for Lima"; the Lima Company suffered heavy losses in the last several years and in 2010, when a bunch of men found out that one of their own had died in 2005, they wanted to do something to raise money for the kids these men left behind. The first relay was held last August in D.C. This year, it started in Mariemont, OH and ended in Galloway, OH.
Our team started out with 5 people--four men and myself, the only female. By the time the date arrived, most of our team had dropped out (plus, my husband had a leg injury and declared he couldn't run at all beforehand), so we found 3-4 new people to join in. One of these women was the sister of a Marine who died. Before we met her (leaving out names for privacy), she had told our relay organizer that she would be running 50 miles. Because she seemed sure, the rest of us were told we wouldn't really be running all that much. The original plan was to take turns running legs until it amounted to 100 miles.
I took the day off last Friday so I could meet my husband and his coworker at their office where we loaded up a large truck w/ our belongings (brought many changes of clothes, towels, snacks and a TON of water) and made our way to Cincinnati for a pasta dinner being held in Mariemont before the race. While we were there, we met the lady who was running 50 miles....and I will say here that I did not say this out loud, but the others all said it later--this girl did NOT look like she was even ready to run a 5K let alone 50 miles. More on that later.
After eating mediocre pasta, my husband didn't want the evening to end, so one of the ladies whose house we were crashing at for the night, suggested we all go to Aglamesis Bros. for ice cream. Ryan and I were like, "Agla--what?" We couldn't believe--especially Ryan since he's from Cincy--that we hadn't heard of this place. We consider ourselves to be Cincinnati foodie aficionados--you know the usual: Skyline chili, Graeters ice cream, Montgomery Inn, etc. so we were curious! This place did not disappoint! It was SO good! I played it safe and got a hot fudge sundae...maybe the best I've ever tasted, I'm serious.
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| The place has been around since 1914! |
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| This was one good burger! |
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| Just waiting around |
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| checkpoint #1 |
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| I was standing around when the first leg arrived, and my team member said, "Gaby, it's your turn, go after them!" Well, geez, thanks for telling me! |
At this point, it was getting hotter and hotter, the "runners" were doing more walking than running (unbeknownst to us until halfway through the relay when we were wondering why it seemed like we were waiting around for twice as long as it should have taken), and on top of that, the directions that were given to us were completely off, as all the checkpoints were at totally random and rural places in Ohio. On two occasions, our checkpoints were in the front yards of unsuspecting home owners, whose permission we had to get once we arrived. So organized. Not. Another checkpoint was in the parking lot of a Livery that was already bustling from the Memorial holiday weekend. Yeah, they were NOT happy to see a bunch of trucks and vans taking up their parking lot space. I don't know who the genius was that decided we'd park there, but somehow thought it was unnecessary to ask for permission beforehand. The checkpoint before that wasn't even a checkpoint as we never saw the runners. We sat around in the unbearable heat trying to hear back from one of the runners to see where exactly their location was. Turns out, some police misdirected the runners and they ended up walking an extra 5 miles. Argh.
On and on it went. Each leg got a little longer as the heat rose. Oh, and 50 Miles? Where was she this whole time? She wasn't riding with us, so at times, we were left wondering where the heck she was. As night time crept up, 50 Miles completely disappeared and didn't reappear until the next morning when all runners were supposed to run the last 2 miles to the end "for show".
In the end, our team leader did most of the running, I took on 8.5 miles, Ryan actually did 5 miles with me, the other two girls did a few here and there, 50 Miles probably only did a half marathon's worth (so much for 50 miles!), and someone managed to get another runner to meet us at 3AM in some totally random cornfield where this guy--to our collective relief--took on 20 miles himself.
Between the hours of 1:00AM and 6:00AM, I nodded off and would wake up again, get out of the truck to stretch, take a pee, brush my teeth, and then get back in to sleep some more. By 6AM we were driving to the last couple of checkpoints. By this time, I was VERY annoyed. Annoyed at the Marines, annoyed at whoever sloppily put this relay together, annoyed at our team leader for treating my husband like crap when he was doing all the driving, annoyed at 50 Miles for disappearing and reappearing only for the finish line where all the cameras and families were waiting to cheer on these "runners". I was so annoyed that I sat out the last 2 miles. I didn't care about how it looked. I was done and was ready to go home. While I could never run 100 miles straight, and totally understand how fatigued these guys were, I was still annoyed that they pretty much walked the entire relay and only started running again when spectators were in sight, or when cameras were rolling. Sometime halfway through the relay, around mile 47, that was when I took on a second leg w/ Ryan and we quickly found out just how much walking these guys were doing. We mistakenly thought that if the two of us started running ahead of the pack, it would encourage the others to keep going, but that just found us WAY ahead of them, so much so, that we lost sight of them, and then had to stop running in order for them to catch up. I don't think those guys appreciated that, so we walked 4 miles and ran the last mile when people were in sight again.
I was all for the cause, but I would never do this race again. There were a few other relay runners who felt the same way and dropped out halfway through.
However--this has oddly inspired me to consider training for ultra long distances in the future; I don't want to sign up for something again before I know I'm prepared, but I can't toss the idea of someday doing an Ultra. First thing's first, though--must do a marathon before doing an ultra marathon!
So there it is--great cause, poorly organized, too long a period to spend in confined spaces with four other people, probably gained a few pounds from all the eating, thinking that we needed that fuel for "the next leg"--I love running, but I'll pass on the relays.
Comments
BTW, that is a nice shot of you taking off running - you look fantastic!