In case you missed it: Cape Relay Recap: Part 1 and Cape Relay by the Numbers. I’m feeling wordy!
After finishing this first leg of the relay, Van 1 spent all afternoon lounging around. By late afternoon, we were more than ready to run!
Around 6:00 PM, we received word that Van 2”²s last runner was en route, so we prepared ourselves to run again. A little while later, we saw Kristie coming down the hill to finish off Leg One.
Once again, the race organizers held us (until 7:20 PM) before we could start the second leg of the relay.
Leg Two
Christine kicked off Leg Two for us!
By the time Christine finished her leg and it was Lauren’s turn to run, the sun had set.
Running at night meant that all runners were required to wear a reflective vest and a headlamp. A bunch of runners also ran with flashlights in their hands.
Lauren and Evan both blew through their legs, so, before I knew it, we were at Scusset Beach getting ready to send Esa off on her next run.
It was really dark!
And cold!
And then Esa was off!
With such a long wait between my first leg and second leg, I went from having a sweet runner’s high to questioning why the heck I agreed to do an overnight relay. It was cold, dark, and scary outside, so the last thing I wanted to do was run. But, I sucked it up and prepared for Leg 17.
Somehow, I lucked out with one of the best legs of the entire relay, which included running over the Sagamore Bridge onto Cape Cod and along the Cape Code Canal Trail.
I thought I would hate running at night, but I absolutely loved it. I went from being tired and cranky to absolutely ecstatic about the whole experience. It was so cool!
The run along the canal was actually pretty creepy since it wasn’t well-lit and the van couldn’t follow me, but I ended up sticking close by another runner, so I wasn’t totally alone for the 2.9 miles. The other runner was cruising along, so I really had to push myself to keep up with her. I ended up finishing in 22:54 (7:53 pace), which was insanely fast for me. I didn’t want to run alone in the dark, so I kept my legs moving as fast as they could go!
Becky finished Leg Two around midnight and handed off to Van 2. Our second leg was done!
There were several hours before Leg Three started, so I changed into some comfy clothes and cozied up in the van with Lauren and Becky for some sleep. Christine, Esa, and Evan slept outside in tents.
I slept for about 4 hours and woke up feeling like a million bucks. Who knew sleeping in a van would be so restful? Don’t I look psyched to run?!?
When we woke up, it was about 6:00 in the morning, so we knew we’d see Kristie coming pretty soon.
Leg Three
Kristie handed off to Christine, and Van 1 was at it again for the final leg of the relay.
A few fours later, it was my turn to run Leg 29, which was 3.2 miles along the Cape Cod Rail Trail.
My final leg flew by”” it was flat and fast, and I rocked out to music.
Becky finished off Leg Three with a quickie 1.8 mile run.
Once she finished, we were all so happy to be done with our part of the relay.
Wahoo!!!
The Finish
Once we passed the baton onto Van 2, we drove to the finish line in Truro to wait for the rest of our team.
While we waited, we celebrated with a round of beers!
Hooray!!!
Around 1:30 PM, Kristie brought it home!
We joined her and the rest of the team to run across the finish line together.
We finished the 189 miles in 30:15:10, which was an average pace of 9:36! Pretty amazing, huh? I’m so proud of us!
Even though the race was pretty disorganized overall, the Cape Relay was one of the coolest running experiences of my life. The stories and memories that came out of this single race are ones that I will never forget. I’m already itching to do another one!
95 Comments
This looks so fun!
Seriously, after reading your recap and Becky’s, I really want to run a relay like this sometime! I have enough friends nearby that would totally do it with me too…and maybe some fellow beantown bloggers who might be up for the challenge… again. 😉 so cool!
Awesome pics, Tina! SUCH dedication to be outside when it’s cold and dark in the morning like that…congrats on the race!
I’m so glad you enjoyed your first relay experience! I absolutely loved the first relay I did and couldn’t wait to sign up for the next one, but I’m always a little nervous that someone else may not love it as much. You rocked it on every run, speedster! It was great to have you on the team! Now let’s start planning a big blogger relay!
Now I’m dying to do a relay! I don’t know how I feel about running in the dark- I guess as long as it was in a safe area, I would feel better about it!
god bless ya..Im afraid to drive over the sagamore in my big suv let alone run across it in the dark.
GREAT job
@kate@hautetotsBOS: me too!!! i cry driving over that bridge!!! i find it so awesome that tina was on cape cod!! 🙂
You are so badass, Tina! I loved this recap — the relay sounded like SO much fun! Congratulations to you and your team!
That sounds like an amazing time! There is one in MN similar to that, that I have heard of, but I forgot what it was called! I need to figure it out so I can get a team together, I’m pretty sure it’s over summer sometime.
SO COOL! Would love to do one sometime!
That is so amazing! Relays souns so fun, and 189 miles in a day is just plain awesome 🙂
Tina that looks like fun! I did a relay of 135 miles in 24 hours from Hershey Medical Center to State College, PA for children with pediatric cancer. Those relays are the best bonding moments ever! And the funny thing is, 2 of my 3 legs were in the dark, and now I would rather run at 9pm than noon 🙂 A total relayer at heart. Our relay was http://thehopeexpress.org/ftk/
what an awesome event!! looks so cold though lol
WOHOOO! Looks like you had so much fun! Very cool experience:)
Oh man I can’t imagine running across the Sagamore bridge at night! Crazy!!! You are CLEARLY so dedicated!!!! Not to mention fearless.
I have never heard of something like this before! It looks like a blast to do a long relay with a group of friends! 🙂
Good job!
Cara 🙂
I think I am able to see all of your endophins!
how fun lady!
Looks like a lot of fun, what a cool experience!
What a fabulous recap for an awesome race! It looks like such a great event – I’d love to do something like this one day. Congratulations on such a mammoth effort – what an awesome achievement!
this was the coolest race evah! congrats!
Oh my gosh that looks like it was such a blast!
I have such runner’s envy being injured right now!
PS – Love your BC sweatshirt – there’s where I went undergrad 🙂
I live on Cape and had NO idea what those vans were for… now I know. AWESOME!
That’s awesome!!! I’ve always wanted to do a relay. This looks like a fun race.
Amazing, amazing, amazing! Congrats!
that sounds so awesome! Glad you had such a wonderful time!
I’m 99% sure that the 9th picture from the bottom of you in the parking lot with the trees and cars in the background is my high school parking lot! So weird but cool!!!
This made me think of you!
http://www.etsy.com/listing/73662110/keep-calm-fawn-pug-greeting-card?ref=cat3_list_22
Reading this os making me want to do a relay!
Wow- what an achievement! Sounds so fun and an experience of a lifetime!
This race looks like SO much fun. What a brilliant idea! I’d love to try running at night. A few people I knew at uni would sometimes go for midnight runs. I’m pretty sure the area around our uni is fairly safe, I was just too lazy and preferred to head straight to bed :P.
Looks like fun! Incredible memories.
This is so *fun!* The pictures are fabulous and what a great experience. 😀
Running at night is so exhilarating, isn’t it? Like getting away with something you’re not supposed to do! 🙂
Looks like a great time! Nice work!
Long time reader of CnC, first time commenter… or maybe second time commenter. I can’t remember, I just know that I don’t leave nearly enough love on your blog!
Inspired by the health & fitness blog community, I took up jogging last year and am casually working on becoming a better runner. (Strength training has always been my physical fitness activity of choice.) I still prefer to run at an easier pace, anywhere from 5 to 6.5 mph, averaging at ~6. The only race I’ve ever taken part in was a Thanksgiving Day 5k last year — it was a blast. I don’t care as much about the “race” aspect, but I do enjoy the challenge that such a new experience presents. Maybe a relay is in my future!
Understatement of the year: this Cape Relay sounds AWEsome. I’m from Connecticut and have been vacationing on Cape Cod my entire life. I can’t imagine there’s a better location out there for this event — the scenery on the Rail Trail must have been positively lovely!
Big congratulations to you and your team for your accomplishment, Tina, and best of luck with your brand spankin’ new book as well. ;D
Congrats! I think it may be good that you had no real warning – not enough time to freak out. Since you’ve been running/training for various other events you were obviously ready. Awesome job. I’d love to do something like that some day! 🙂
I LOVE that you did this on such short notice – love love love!!! Aren’t relays so crazy and intense and just insane?!? So glad you had a great time 🙂
awesome! and a great pace!