Running with Ed Relay Race
This is kind of a baby Ragnar thats held in Park City which benefits Park City Schools. You have five members on the team, and cover 41 miles total. Since I had just run 29 in Zion on Wednesday, I thought this might be a good recovery run, plus it was with 3 of my brothers. Each runner has two parts that they run.
1st run - Leg 4 - 3.6 miles
This leg started at the Olympic Park, where the ski jumping is, and climbed you up and over the ridge and down the other side, finishing in the Canyons lower parking lot. First mile is a pretty decent climb, about 600 feet of vert in that mile, then you crest over the top and have a steep downhill. I passed several people on the downhill, especially when I found that I could run much faster and more comfortably on the dirt shoulder! :) Legs felt a little fatigued still, and calves were tight on the climb, but overall they felt pretty fantastic. Finished 3.6 in 27:58, for a 7:48 avg pace.
2nd run - Leg 9 - 6.02 miles
One cool thing about this relay is that most of the exchanges are at schools, and each one had a fun time decorating and welcoming runners. The best part was you had a nice, clean real bathroom at almost every stop! :) This run wound me up some hills in a neighborhood and just as I was thinking to myself "man, I'm really getting sick of these roads" what do you know, we take a little turn, and there the course hit right onto an ATV trail! Oh yeah. I really felt my pace pick up as I hit the dirt and began to pass people as I motored up the hills, and then more as we got a little downhill action going. Plowed right through mud and beelined through runoff streams, as others tip toed their way around the wet stuff. I passed one lady who said "Woah, looks like somebody still has a lot of giddyup in them!" I didn't want to mention that I had just run 30 miles two days before! I just said "I love the dirt!" And I do. :) Finished the 6 miles in 47:14 for a 7:49 avg pace. 300 ft of vert
My younger brother was the last one to run, and ended up going off course, so one of my other brothers and I had started run backwards on the course to find him, when he appeared, so that gave me another half mile :)
Overall this race was quite well organized, great after party with free burgers, drinks, cotton candy and popcorn for racers. Great food at most exchanges. Course wasn't extremely well marked in some places, and the least fun part of this race was that you couldn't support your runners while they ran, you just dropped them off at one exchange and drove on to the next one, often taking a completely different route.
Great day with some of my brothers!
