I may have briefly mentioned before that I get to run with the Afternuun Delight Team for the Hood to Coast Relay this year.
There will be three teams: Team Morning, Team Noon, and Team Night. I get to to be on Team Noon! Noon for Nuun! Yeah, that won’t be confusing to people at all.
As with all long distance relays, a full team = 12 crazies and so I’d like to introduce you to my 11 soon-to-be new best crazies in batting order:
- Kelly – According to Kelly: Legs 1, 13, 25
- Laura – Nuun Employee: Legs 2, 14, 26
- Laura– Camping Out In America: Legs 3, 15, 27
- Jocelyn – Enthusiastic Runner: Legs 4, 16, 28
- Sarah – Once Upon a (L)ime: Legs 5, 17, 29
- Molly – Mollyberries’ Hodge Podge: Legs 6, 18, 30
- Tonia – Racing With Babes: Legs 7, 19, 31
- Kim – Nuun Employee: Legs 8, 20, 32
- Tiffany – Heavy Medal: Legs 9, 21, 33
- Zoe – Nuun Employee: Legs 10, 22, 34
- Jessica – Pace of Me: Legs 11, 23, 35
- Lindsay – Lindsay On The Go: Legs 12, 24, 36
YEAH! Can I get a ‘whoo whoo’? Engine, engine number 9, running toward the finish line, if I run and fall down flat, pick me up, pick me up, pick me up! Who runs in the night? Who runs in the night? Who runs the night? Oh! Oh!
Or…or…
I can’t tell ya if it’s day or night. I scream and yell at anything in sight. And when I hear my team cheer for me as I run by, I love it when they say, “Go, Love Potion #9!”
I am totally pumped. Can you tell? Okay, no more songs. Down to da real biness. That’s right.
Runner position 9 puts me in Van 2, aka the bringin-er-home van, droppin the deuce, the final 6, the finish line fiends.
Okay, so what does being Engine Number 9 really mean, here? Well, according to this gem of a chart, it means I better get my speed on.
While I don’t have elevation to worry about and I get the benefit of running off road and slightly downhill for the majority of my first two legs, I am going to have to make sure I can pull push my weight for these longer distances. Totals miles = 19.6! Whew. I figure running the SoCal Wine Women’s Half Marathon this Saturday and then going for another run later in the day, and then again on Sunday, should be a fun indicator of how much work I need to do.
Runner/Relay nerds can click here to see what I’m in for when it comes to my first leg, second leg, and third leg, and then mock me accordingly for this being my first choice of positions to run. Sorry, ladies, if you picked 9 and didn’t get it and you’re faster than me. I know the ladies running 9 for Team Morning and Team Night look uber fast. But I’m flanked by Nuun employees so it’s all good. Hmm. I wonder if that was on purpose….
Anyway, here are some interesting Hood to Coast facts that you may or may not know:
- Largest relay in the world. Duh.
- It’s 199 miles long.
- It starts at Timberline Lodge, elevation of 5,960 ft.
- 1,050 teams participate!
- 3,600+ volunteers make this possible
- 14 years of filling up on the first day of registration
- A documentary was made about it
- Men’s Elite course record is 15:44:55 (1995)
- Women’s Open course record is 18:49:54 (1996)
- First relay was held in 1982 with 8 teams
- Finish line was moved from Pacific City to Seaside in 1989
- In 1984 an MTV Rollerblade team was allowed to participate
- In 2000 a couple got married at the start line
- Alberto Salazar formed the team that set the Men’s Elite record
- The 1st solo H2C was Cindie McKenna in 1995 (Damn!)
YOU’RE GOING TO ROCK IT!!!!! I did #9 last year and I guarantee you will KILL IT. Bring as much light as you can to your middle leg though – that leg is terrifyingly dark on gravel in the middle of the forest and I struggled big time even getting past a slow slog because I couldn’t see where I was putting my feet (pothole central!) and was scared of coyotes!! hahaha, I’m a baby though! 🙂
Thank you! Good word on the lights. I will be prepared. Did you carry a flashlight as well as head lamp? I might do that in case my head lamp isn’t adequate. Maybe I will also wear some blinky lights just for funsies and bear bells. Too much?
I ONLY had a headlamp, and it was pretty much worthless in terms of enlightening the potholes on the ground, so I ended up holding it like a flashlight. Definitely have a flashlight and a headlamp. And all those other things you listed!
AHHH, so great! You’re so prepared for the off-roads now with all your trail running! So excited for you.
WAHOO!!! NOON Team!
Go Team Noon for Nuun! 🙂 So excited. Our team is speedy. I’m definitely not as fast as a lot of the others. Don’t worry- they’re not flanking you with Nuun employees on purpose. Zoë was hired by Nuun after she was selected for the HTC team with her blog submission.
Whew! That’s good to know. lol. We are gonna have so.much.fun.
I know first-hand that Tonia and Kim are awesome vanmates 🙂 You all will have such an enjoyable time! I am super impressed with how hardcore you are…9 scared the shit out of me! You go, girl! You are going to do fantastically!
1,050 teams? Are you freaking kidding me? That’s insane! I don’t know the Engine #9 song, but I’m glad you’ve got a song! I’m runner number 5 for Ragnar, so I keep saying I’m “Runnah numbah 5!” (To the tune of Mambo number 5). We should try to think of more songs to go with our numbers!
You can do it, Engine number 9!!!!
Hehe. It’s from Fatman Scoop’s “Be Faithful”. There has got to be a good song for each number, I agree!