Catskill Mtn 100K relay -aug 10, 2008 -race report

Here is a photo of our 100K relay team --from left: don, frank, myriam, pam and me.
We each ran 2 legs of 10K --we are sporting our medals, as we came in second place in the mixed division --Myriam and I suspect that only 2 teams were in the mixed division but no matter -we still ran a sub 9 min. pace over extremely hilly terrain, and had a blast!!! After all that work, I was greatly relieved that we did in fact WIN medals! Don, Frank and I planned to drive up to the start of the relay's leg 4 (near Phonecia off rte 28) yesterday morning. Myriam would run the first leg, Pam the second and third (for marathon training)...well, we got to the start of leg 4 too late!! (9:15 a.m.) and Pam had kept going --Frank jumped out of the car and took her place as it was his leg ---and what elevation --he had to climb 1,000 -plus feet up a twisting mountain right out of the car! I drove Don to start of leg 5, where he would run, and came back to support Frank -I told him, when he was climbing the hill that it was 'all downhill from here'--whoops -he had more climbing to do --since I was driving I underestimated the climb. Don had a nice flat leg BUT it started to pour rain -Myriam then ran leg 6 in driving rain (hence her comment about feeling like she was in a wet-t-shirt contest) ---I then started my leg in the humid, sunny weather --it was just beautiful!! I climbed a rolling hill, and then ran down and into a real catskill town, with covered bridge and farmer's market. I handed off to Frank who had scenic but rolling terrain ---I again supported him and told him that he had a 1/4 mile to go, when he really had .8 --he will never listen to my mileage estimations again! better yet,he needs a GPS watch. Then a tired Don took off on a narrow stretch of road along the Peekamoose river --Frank and I drove ahead and thought we were lost --we had to ask some older people if 'runners had gone by'.
Now, throughout this whole day, we were the second-to-last team, so no one was on the roads!! It was a surreal experience (our time was the same as other teams, but we started later). Don appeared at the checkpoint and finally it was my turn to run the final leg!! After 10 miles at a 7 min pace yesterday, it was difficult to get going --it was humid and I couldn't breathe, and felt all alone. The team, though, came back to support me and told me that I had less than a mile to go. Frank even offered to run for me if I wanted to stop! Bu i was finally warmed up and I ran in.. we had missed the awards ceremony but did get our medals, and had some beer and food -it was just a great time....now, wouldn't I love to run that course as a 100K ultra??? NOT -running 12.4 miles of it was perfect. See Frank's blog for Don's report and photos!