The Relay Story - Episode 2

[Note: Part 2 of a 3 part series. See Part 1 here]

Sun Oct 16, 12.00 am: The Van 2 crew of Chris, Jaime, Trevor, Mary, Angelique and myself found ourselves at a Denny's all-night restaurant in Corte Madera (just north of San Francisco). We had just finished one whole set of legs (all 12 of them, approximately 70 miles total) as a team. Folks from Van 1 were running their second set of legs, and we had around 4 hrs left to kill before our turn would come again. The Denny's was rather crowded - considering it was past 12 on a saturday night. We could spot a few other folks at other tables who were looking tired, yet semi-hyper - clearly another running team. We too were surprisingly energetic given the time of the day - we actually had some intelligent conversation - including an analysis of the merits of TV watching and video game playing on kids - while we were guzzling down some seriously hearty food. Boy, that meal of pancakes, scrambled eggs and fried potatoes tasted really swell at 12 in the night.

Sun Oct 16, 1.30am: We made our way to the spot of our next rendezvous with Van 1 - just south of the Golden Gate Bridge. Incredibly exhausted, I had already started dozing in the van on our way back from Denny's - I was immensely glad I didn't have to do any driving. Trevor, who claimed to be on "British Time" had taken over from Chris (who did the bulk of the driving), and cheerfully drove us to the van exchange spot, just off of the Presidio, south of the bridge. Our van's turn would come again around 4am or so, so here was our opportunity to have a couple hours of sleep. Some of us slept in the van, while the rest of us stepped out to try sleeping in the open, in the lawns near the Golden Gate bridge. It was a crisp, and cold night. But my sleeping bag felt warm enough. Plus the sky was really clear, with zillions of stars visible. I lay down and promptly fell asleep - it was probably the best 2 hours of sleep in my whole entire life.

Sun Oct 16, 3.45am: My blissful sleep was interrupted as it was time again for our Van to get into the action. Our team had crossed the golden gate bridge. Oh, what I would have given to have another hour of sleep right then! Trevor, fresh as ever, took over - his leg would take him through Golden Gate Park and drop onto the Great Highway - along the ocean. The rest of us took to the van to reach the next exchange point. Chris had taken over the driver' s seat. I continued to use every opportunity to doze. But as we pulled into the parking lot, I couldn't help opening my eyes. We were right alongside the ocean and were greeted by the sight of a full moon, reflecting off of the ocean and causing the whole ocean surface to glow. Quite spectacular.

Sun Oct 16, 5.00am: Jaime then took over from Trevor, and ran a hard leg through the still-dark night. He handed it over to Mary for another tough leg in the dark. Running was furthest from my mind during this stretch- all I could think of was sleep. As Mary started on her way, I finally started to freshen up and get some coffee into my system. Mary handed it off to Chris at around 6.50 am - the sky started to lighten up, and first hints of pre-dawn started to become evident.

7.26am: It was time for me to start my second leg. I wasn't feeling fully rested, but the coffee had made me wide awake and a bit jumpy. This was a 3.7 mile, "easy" leg. The first mile-and-a-half was all downhill, and I got off to a brisk start. I even overtook a runner within the first half-mile - woohoo! Most of my run was along Skyline Blvd. The day had arrived, alright - sun rays were starting to make it over the hill on the left, and on the right, mist rose from the surface of Crystal Springs Reservoir - just an incredible sight. I barrelled into mile two, and this is where the rolling hills started - hey, this was supposd to be an "easy" run, where did the rolling hills come from? Soon, I wasn't feeling all that good anymore. I realized that I had started off too fast, and was quickly running out of gas. The next mile was really tough even though it wasn't nearly as steep or as long as the hill from the night before. So much for this being an "easy" leg! The turn at towards the very end of the run eventually came, (but not nearly soon enough). I got roadkill-ed by a few more runners in that last mile, but that was the least of my concerns now - I was just willing myself to finish somehow. What a contrast from the previous night - those 7.1 "hard" miles didn't nearly feel as hard as these "3.7" easy miles! I turned onto Canada road - how much more to go, I wondered, as I was fading fast. But a few hundred yards later, there was the exchange, with people milling around. Angelique was waiting to begin her next leg. I pulled in, feeling really happy to just be able to finish my leg after that miserable last mile. Checking the time, however I realized I had done the thing in less than 26 minutes, translating to just over 7 min per mile! Waay faster than I'd ever expected. No wonder, it felt super-tough!!

[The team at the Canada College interchange, while waiting for Angelique to come in. Two legs done, still looking good! ]

8.15am: We headed to Canada College, the spot of our next rendezvous with Van 1. The Van 1 folks were looking a little too fresh - it almost seemed like they'd actually gotten to sleep! Angelique came in around 8.45 and handed over the "baton" to Angeline (see picture on the left), and we were officially done with two sets of legs - ~130 miles done. Only one more set of legs to go. Canada College was to be our stop for the next few hours. We were desparate to get some rest, and the college actually was nicely set up for the purpose - they opened up the gym room for runners, and turned down the light, and rolled the curtains, making it one large bedroom. Showers, coffee, breakfast, etc. were also available. I considered sleeping, but then decided against it because the coffee in my system still seemed to be working. Instead I hit the showers, got myself more coffee, and something to eat. Halfway through my breakfast I realized I was a walking zombie - the exhaustion was setting in - yet I was too wired to get some sleep. The sun had come out in full force. I found a shady spot by a small tree near where our van was parked, sat down, and closed my eyes for a bit. The day had come too soon. And in a few hours, we would be barrelling down the roads once again, and pushing our bodies to the limit one last time. Did we have enough juice left in us? Only time would tell.
[To be continued...]