A few months ago, I received an invitation to join a team for a fabled 200 mile relay. That's right, 200 miles. But before you jump to the conclusion that I'm solely nuts, our team consisted of 11 other people, split between two vans that would leap frog one another during 30 hours of running.
The scenery is what you'd expect from Vermont. Green, mountainous, epic vistas and then there were the little details. During my 3:30am run, the near full moon was setting just in front of me to my right, while the darkened sky was giving way to the early morning sun behind my left shoulder. I quietly ran through a Christmas tree farm, seeing triangular shadows looming in the early morning mist, and smelling the deep pine as it moved over the roadway. My other two runs were equally experiential with rolling hills, turtles, and lots and lots of cows.
Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream factory tour, little mountain towns, cows, and 7 covered bridges were the icing on the cake of this rugged yet peaceful relay. Screw you, Cow!, our team, finished in just over 30 hours while the winners came in at around 21 hours. Congrats to the lone wolf, first one man team ever, for finishing in 62 hrs 11 minutes and 11 seconds (He really ran all 198 miles by himself.)Running a relay is a difficult task as the nights are long, your legs get more and more tired after each length you run and navigating the van dynamic can sometimes be dodgy as you're cramped in with 5 other people with unique personalities. Luckily, I have no complaints about my Auntie Bebe's.
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