The Sawtooth Relay--Huge Race, Huge Post!

Yesterday I participated in my first race ever, the Sawtooth Relay Race, with some of my family members. We had a great time and a good race, too! Here is my synopsis of the entire process, so I hope some of you make it through the whole thing and maybe even enjoy it (reading this can't possibly be harder than running in the race)!!

I left on Friday to drive to Stanley, Idaho. I had looked up the route and the estimated driving time was 3 hours and 57 minutes. I made it there in almost exactly three hours. I'd like to think that the time estimate on the web was incorrect. The drive was beautiful and if I had known it would only be three hours I probably would have stopped to take some pictures. As it was, I didn't take any until I was just outside of Stanley. The race is called the Sawtooth relay because it is up in the Sawtooth mountains. This mountain range is huge and beautiful!! Pictures do not do it justice.

I arrived at our campsite and realized that the rest of my team would not be there for at least a half an hour, so I went on a walk to find the river I could hear. The river wasn't far, but it was so peaceful and quiet as I meandered around the camp area. There were practically no people around and I couldn't hear a thing except the running water in the distance and an occasional bird. I snapped some photos of the mountains again...

...and the river.

I sat in the car to read a book and was startled by something moving. This friend was walking through our campsite as I sat there reading a book with the car door wide open!

The rest of the party arrived about an hour after I had gotten there (I had already taken 50 pictures, so I really AM summarizing here). We set up camp, had a spaghetti dinner, and went to see Redfish Lake before bed.
I used the self-timer on my camera for the first time ever for our team picture!
Trying to go to sleep early in a tent didn't work too well, but somewhere between the hours of 10:00 pm and 1:30 am I got some sleep. Dad, Patrick and Kevin headed to the start line at 1:30 while the rest of us drifted in and out of consciousness until about 3:15 am. Kevin (my brother) was our volunteer and was assigned to serve coffee at the start (and had to learn how to make it--thanks Kev!). Dad was the first runner for team #67, Run Willy Run, and started at 2:00 am in the pitch dark! He's right in the middle of this picture.Patrick (my brother-in-law) took off on the second leg as Dad came to get the rest of us out of bed. Patrick and Dad both get gold stars for starting off and allowing us some extra rest. Their exchange was right by our campground, so it worked out well. We met up with Patrick (here he is after his leg, sorry I don't have more pictures of you, Patrick, but I was trying to prepare for my leg)...

...and I took leg #3. Running in the middle of the night on a country highway alone made me a little uneasy. I couldn't see any runners ahead of me for almost the entire leg. My team was there at a few points and a very few cars drove by, but most of the time it was me, the road, Dad's dorky headlamp, and the squirrel roadkill I nearly stepped on. The good news is that running in the dark is much like running on a treadmill (which I did the vast majority of my training on). As much as you move your legs you feel like you are getting nowhere and can't really tell how far you've gone. My goals for the race (in order of importance) were:
#1: Finish
#2: Complete each of my legs in under an hour
#3: Run the entire distance (no walking)
#4: Get out of bed the next morning
Unofficial goal: It IS a race, so I DID want to pass at least one person.

I finished my first leg (5.03 miles) in 55 minutes with one quick shoe tie (that was a little annoying) in the middle and was able to pass one runner. I didn't have anyone pass me on this leg, so that felt pretty good as well. Here I am after my first leg (still smiling).
After this I sat in the car and shivered for a few hours. I don't know why I couldn't get warm, but I am sure my poor body spent a lot of energy just trying to warm up. I finally decided to bundle up so I could at least get warm before I had to run again. I ended up with shorts, two pairs of pants, a t-shirt, long-sleeved t-shirt, two jackets, gloves, a headband, and a blanket before I finally got warm.

Lisa (my sister) ran leg #4 in 45 minutes--our fastest leg yet! Here she is all buff and ready to start!

Leg #5 was Lori's (my sister-in-law) and she was the first to enjoy an entire leg of daylight, but she was also the first to enjoy almost an entire leg of rain. At least it wasn't raining while it was still dark. Lori was too fast for any good pictures (and I was freezing), but here she is giving Julie a high five as she takes off!
Leg #6 was the most horrendous leg of the entire race. Our hero, Julie (who I am proud to say is my sister), had this leg. It was 5.35 miles and gained 1,331 feet of elevation. It was one serious kick-your-butt hill. It was also raining/sleeting, AND windy. Julie did awesome on the hill and I was way impressed! She is amazing!

Julie's first leg started at the left of this picture (you can barely see the road because of the rain, but it's right in the middle of that white mist) and went up and up and up and up....

and then up some more (this still wasn't the end)!!

Dad took the 6.02 mile, 1,411 feet downhill through amazing views...

...and Patrick did his second leg (#8) much too fast for my comfort. I couldn't believe it was my turn again, but he handed off to me and away I went.

This leg was very different than my first leg. I think the light really helped, but it was raining the entire time, so that did not help at all. I had to wipe my face off onto my sleeve a few times just to see where I was going. I was able to pass two people early on although I was passed a bunch of times (seven, I think, but I had already assumed some of the faster teams who started the race later would be catching us). I rounded a corner and thought I would be close to the exchange. Instead of the exchange I saw a HUGE stretch of highway still ahead of me with a bend in the distance and no exchange. I decided I must have been running slower than I thought I was, so I picked it up a little and carried on. I was a little deflated until I came over a slight rise and there was the exchange!! I was prepared to carry on around the next bend, but the exchange was just beyond this small rise, which was just big enough to hide the exchange from view. I kicked it into gear feeling much better about the distance I had covered and took the last stretch with some nice fast strides (I don't think it could really be considered a sprint, but it was close). Here I am handing off to Lisa after completing my second leg (4.64 miles) in 45 minutes (thanks, Lisa for your answer of "FAST" when I asked how I was doing on my time half-way through)!

Leg #10 was the longer of Lisa's two legs (I am glad my longer leg was first), but she was awesome and here she is handing off to Lori.

We all wanted Kevin to be there for Lori's second leg, and we were worried that she would finish before he found us since she was so speedy (for those of you who don't know, Lori is Kevin's spouse). He got there just in time to see her finish and she handed off to Julie for our grand finish!
We drove to the finish line and met up with Julie there. Here is our team after completing the race. WE DID IT!! YAY!!

This was a great experience and I am glad I did it. It's nice to do something completely new and to reach the goals I set for myself. We will have to see if I jump on the treadmill at all this week! I sincerely apologize to any and all of my teammates I may have embarrassed in this post as well as any details I forgot. If I must change anything to ensure accuracy, please let me know. RUN WILLY RUN!!