WSU 100k Relay Race

Last Sunday (Easter), it seems like we spent the entire day eating and lazing around. This Sunday was a completely different story. Greg and I were part of a 10-person team that ran a total of 1o0 kilometers (62 miles) around the Pullman area. The race started at 7:30am and our team didn't finish until sometime around 5:00pm. The weather was great and everyone seemed to be feeling okay (both before and after running), so it was a pretty fun event. This race was started in 1990 as part of WSU's centennial celebration. The purpose was to run 1 kilometer for every year of the school's existence. The race was such a hit that they've continued it every year since. Although some great runners turned out, the most impressive team was a group of Canadian men, all of whom were over 55 years of age, that blew away the competition. Unfortunately, they all had a penchant for wearing WAY too short shorts! :)

The race started at 7:30am just outside the fieldhouse on campus. Travis ran the first leg for our team. That's him in the green t-shirt. As a side note, that little guy in front wearing the long-sleeve white shirt was an awesome runner. He pretty much left everyone in his dust right out of the gate.

Greg ran the second leg of the race for our team...about 5.6 miles. He had just received the high-five from Travis here.

Greg managed to pass 12 people during his run. Way to go. See, running's not SO bad, is it?? Although he was giving the thumbs up here, he was paying the price later with blister-covered feet. I'll spare you all the pictures. And yes... he did take pictures.

Greg handed off to Ray (in the yellow and purple) who had a seven-mile run downhill through the canyon for the third leg of the race. His legs were about to give out on him afterwards...it was a steep, relentless downhill! He then handed off to Shannon who ran almost 8 miles along the Snake River (the pictures we posted a few weeks ago). I didn't get pictures of the other runners on our team (legs 5-8) because I had to go back home to change and eat before it was my turn to run.

This is Michelle (9th leg) who handed off to me for the final section of the race.

At last! After waiting around all day, I finally got my turn to run.

By this time, the teams were so spread out that I ran my entire 4-mile leg without another person as far as I could see in front, or as far as I could see in the back. It was pretty boring running by all the farms and fields.

Since I was the 10th and final leg of the race, my run took me back onto campus, into the fieldhouse, and finally across the finish line. It was after 5 o'clock when I finished...our team had started at 7:30 that morning.

This is our team in the order that we ran. (Back, l-r) 1-Travis, 2-Greg, 3-Ray, 4-Shannon, 5-Derek, (Front, l-r) 6- Alex, 7-Melissa, 8-Cassie (not pictured), 9-Michelle, 10-Lindsey. Dixie and Ginny served purely as moral support! Trust me, Dixie wants NO part of a 62-mile run!

Modeling yet another set of matching t-shirts.
That, of course, is Shannon behind us being ridiculous! :)

Next weekend's adventure will most likely be homework.
Stay tuned for those exciting pictures! :)