Race Report - Tuna Run

We did it!  200.9 miles with our new bestest friends!  Here's the good and the bad (you take 'em both and there you have.. the facts of relay running).

The Good

• Did not die!
• No vomiting from our team - which is an accomplishment, because dude, it got hot!  Many teams kept track of their "kills" on their vans, one team started a vomit count. 
• No bear sightings this year!  In fact, the night runs did not feel anywhere near as creepy this time as they did last year.  Not sure if we were just used to it, or it was the clear weather.  We'll take it either way!
• DINNER!  Hours-cold pizza is not exactly foodie heaven, but at 2 in the morning, it'll do the trick.
  
• No rain.
• We did overlap van transitions for the first leg (Van 2 showed up 1 leg before the big transition, and Van 1 stuck around 1 leg after), and it was nice to hang with each other a bit more.
• We bought collision insurance on the vans, and the guy told me, "you could run this into a ditch, bring it back, and you'll just need to sign some paperwork".  I took that to heart.  Keep reading...
• Cheap Bait is semi-officially the Most Congenial Team.. we even got them to say it as we crossed the finish line! (ok, we totally just asked them to do that, but ask around, people will vouch for us).
• We got all the tags!  It was a rare vehicle that wasn't driving around with a "CB" on it.  DoorKicker even tagged another RUNNER!
  
• Pancakes. And Sausage.  And chocolate milk.  'nuf said.

The Bad

• The rental company called THE MORNING BEFORE and said, "soooo.. we're overbooked on these 15 passenger vans.. can we give you 2 small ones and 1 big one?".  HECK NO!  I had to call around to other companies to find a matching pair (Triangle RentACar totally saved the day!).  Woe unto those who deny me my Big Girl.
• We drove right past the campgrounds after our 2nd legs.  We had to backtrack, and were quite pooped when we found it.  Should've watched the mileage closer.
• At the campsite, there was order-ahead dinner waiting.. pizza and ...subs.  With meat and cheese.  Sitting out for a few hours.  Draw your own conclusions here.  Somebody who shall remain nameless had a sub, and ended up talking to the cornstalks during Leg 3.
• Here's a tip for future relay-ers.. make sure that people in your van don't all use the same mobile provider.  I woke up after a scant hour or two of sleep to see Sara sitting upright in the tent whispering many profanities.  She'd moved her phone just enough to pick up a flurry of messages that had been waiting for her to move back in range.. telling us that Van 2 was AHEAD OF SCHEDULE.  We threw everything in the van and took off like we stole it.  I had the first leg, and had to dress on the way!  (we made it)
• Those subs came back to haunt *someone* during their run.  At one point, we'd pulled over to cheer, and were asked, "is there a bathroom anywhere nearby?".  I looked about 20 yards down the road and suggested the cornfield.  What I'm sure felt like a few pounds lighter, our runner practically bounced on down the road!
• Leg 3 (as always, for everyone) was tough.  DoorKicker had the 2nd to last leg (Sara's least favorite from last year), and was struggling with a serious douche grade.  We pulled over a bit more to offer moral support.. and DROVE IT INTO THE DITCH.  I could not believe it!  AND, AAA does not cover these behemoths under normal coverage, they're considered RV class.  Fortunately, some pierced and ponytailed angel came to our rescue, pulled us out with the tow cable he had lying around in his vehicle, and would not take a dollar for his trouble.  Beware of soft shoulders that look even, but really aren't.  Bring a 2x4, and some tow rope.
  
  
  
• The next day was also HOT, and the closer you get to the beach, the less shade there is.  We passed alot of other teams running WITHOUT WATER (I know, crazy!).  We started pulling over to cheer for folks, and handing bottles of water to other teams.  In hindsight, we really should have also brought some ice, it would have been great to soak some shop towels in ice water and draped them around our necks.
• Someone tagged Bruce. (you can see it on his fin).  While initially shocked, we all had to admire the moxie of the person who stealthily climbed our van to tag him (while we stuffed our faces with pancakes).
• 

Drama, part The Second

So what happens DURING the race?  What do you need to know if you are signing up for one of these wacky events?

1. The morning of will be a mad scramble.  Everyone is going to bring more crap than you thought they would, and you're going to have to cram it all into that van, AND get to the start on time.  Plan for extra time, and make sure everyone knows who's bringing a foam roller so that there aren't 6 of them rolling around in the van.
2. It will not be just like you planned.  I don't care how many Twofer Tuesdays you've been doing, there's a big difference when you sit in a van for 6 hours, and then run an 8 mile leg by yourself.. in the dark.  Accept that you can't totally prepare yourself for this.
3. The night run will be creepy.  It's dark out there.  If you can find someone on another team with a similar pace, ask if they mind if you run with them.  They'll probably be grateful!  It will also help pass the time, since there's no real sense of it when you're running into a funnel of light in the middle of nowhere.
4. Not all drivers are nice.  The course will not be closed.  Run against traffic, and be prepared to jump off to the side if needed.  Did you read about what someone did at the Ironman Chattanooga?  Some people are just dicks.. be ready for it.
5. You will hit the wall.. especially if you don't watch what you eat.  Don't nosh on bars and Gus the whole time, eat some real damned food.  Even if you do, there's a good chance you may just mentally be ready to check out by the time you get to your third leg.  I still remember the text from somebody last year - "need Nuun and Bodyglide.".  We turned the van around, provided the requested supplies, and paced our runner in to finish up!  It's hard.
6. The finale is a little... anti-climatic.  Especially if you are in Van 1.. you get there, but you don't actually get to cross the finish line yet.  You hang out, do whatever, cheer on the other Van, and wait for the last runner before you cross the finish line as a team.  Kinda weird to get to the party and then wait.

What you won't know about a relay.. until you sign up.

Part of the impetus to start this blog was to share tips with people who've never done a relay.  We've shared the helpful stuff.. how to pack, what to eat.  That's nice, right?  Now here's the underside of the relay world.. the darker facts that no websites will list in their FAQs. 

There will be pre-race drama

1. Finding people and getting them to commit.  Not only do you have to find 12 people crazy enough to do this, you have to get them to commit.  Poor Captain!  They need to sign up (and pay) early enough to get a good rate, and then figure out how much everyone owes, and get them all to pay up!  If you don't have the full 12 yet, then that cost sits there on your credit card until you find them all! 
2. Keeping up with changes - you can bet money that someone's gonna bail!  We lost 1 person to bigger goals, someone got pregnant (on purpose, and you can't really be mad about that!), and a near-injury scare!  So not only might you have to quickly re-figure the leg assignments, you need to decide how to handle refunds!  Have some backups ready, and discuss up front under what terms people will get their money back.
3. Leg assignments - and even if you keep all 12, someone's not going to like their legs!  Or their van.  Be upfront about how long you'll need to run.  If everyone ran the same length, it's an average of 17 miles a person.  If you have a van full of people who've run a half marathon at most.. they will run more than that!  Not only that, but you're almost always going to have one or two people who simply can't, and you'll want to balance that with your longer-distance runners. Aaaannnd.. the legs are all different lengths.. it's however long it is between transition points.  Some are 3 miles, some are 9 miles - at night!  There's a lot of sucking it up.. don't sugar-coat it, let people know what they're in for!
4. Because of leg iniquities, you can't have all of your strong runners in the same van.  You can probably accommodate some buddies, but folks are gonna have to go where they need to go! Make everyone friends with regular group runs leading up to the race.  We started doing "Twofer Tuesdays" (credit: Melissa B), doing a run in the morning, then another in the evening, followed by dinner at a local eatery.  Good practice for back to back running and good team building!

Next up... race drama!  What to expect during your adventure!