American Odyssey Relay

This weekend I ran in the American Odyssey Relay race. This race started in Gettysburg on Friday at 8am and finished in Washington DC on a very hot Saturday afternoon. The route is 200mile (315km) and teams of 12 or 6 relay run day/night to the end. There are 36 legs in total and I was in a 6 person team so it was 6 legs each that totaled around 32mile (52km) each give or take a bit. I know, you’re currently shaking your head saying ‘What the hell were you thinking?’ My theory is the greater the challenge, the bigger the reward. Climbing, distance and time of day determined if legs were easy or hard. My legs were 10, 8, 7+7, 14 and 6km noting a double leg in the night. I was in a team of Aussies and our team name was the Aussie Drop Bears. Our t-shirt was a lucky find on the internet and certainly stood out amongst all the colour and glamour at the race. It also made for a good story to those who asked what a drop bear was. This was a new challenge for me. My previous challenges have been on two wheels so switching to two feet was new, exciting and scary all at once.

This race is in its 9^th year and is very very popular. Many teams have competed several times, some every race. There were 11 Ultra (6 man teams) and 86 12 man (sensible) teams. I’m sure there were more teams initially so some must have pulled out prior to race day as I thought there were over 100. There were some laughable team names…Pavement Princesses, Llama Spit, Runs n Goses, The Bone Zone, Angie’s Nuts, The Sweaty Dozen, The Stash Mob, Green Legs and Hamstrings and Fuelled by Caffeine and Cheetos. Each team has a van (12 man teams have two vans) and are decorated with all kinds of colour, bling, mascots and streamers. There is a competition for the best team name, costume and van.  Cirque de Sore Legs won the best team name. The vans were nothing short of entertaining. My favourite two were Pavement Princesses who had a big silver crown on the roof and We’ve Got the Runs with lots of poo-themed names on their van. They even had a gorgeous Vizsla dog called ‘Pooper’. There was also a cancer prevention themed van with big writing on the back telling you to get your Tatas (tits), Balls and Bum checked – the driver will do checks for free !! There was one van that rang a cowbell everytime if passed me running – I think it was Rosie and Rivetting Runners. There was a large contingent of women’s teams which was fantastic to see. Each van would always cheer you on as it passed you enroute to the next transition.

 

I was Runner 1 so I proudly kicked off the race from Gettysburg running through the country farm roads, neighbourhood and into the town.  I missed a bloody sign because I was past my 10k leg length and the transition was nowhere in site. Another girl was with me but, lets just say she missed a sign way earlier on and was not much help. We ended up at the Gettysburg Visitor Center outside town and it was clearly not the transition. We stood out amongst the civil war tourists. I then realized that I had not put the team phone numbers in my phone. The other girl called her team but she was really not understanding the address to collect her so I let her go. I had no choice but to do an ET and ‘phone home’.  I had to call a friend at the Embassy who works with several of the team. After her initial panic of hearing from me, I explained I was totally fine, just kind of lost with no phone numbers and needed a phone number. After a few texts thankfully, I made contact and the team came to my rescue and drove me to the transition – I was a few kilometers away but, I actually ran past the transition by about 100m – the next street over. Very annoying. Anyway, I jumped out of the van and tagged Runner 2 albeit about 45 minute delay. So, not off to a great start but it was all part of the experience. Everybody decided it was a good thing to try look at your route map and get an idea of direction.

The first day was warm and we were carefully managing our hydration. The team were running fabulously and I’m sure they all have Kenyan genes in their bloodline. I was clearly the slow pair of feet but we were all in this together and time didn’t matter – it was about everyone finishing and enjoying the challenging experience. We each had a mix of legs, there was no good or bad set of 6 legs. The mountain goats got allocated the climbing legs, the greyhounds got the longish legs and the rest were paper, scissor, rocks allocations (well sort of). I tried to get the easiest and least distance but as I said, each set of 6 legs was ugly in some way. The rules are to run one leg after the other with the runners in order so no swapping around the order at any time. These rules apply if teams want to be competitive for a place. However, teams can still run with any number of runners, change the order etc, but they will NOT be competitive for a place. As such, our strategy was to run singles with a double leg in the night. We were not focussed on an official placing and this strategy would give each runner a longer break during the night. This strategy worked well and although sleep was limited, we managed to get some shut-eye and rest along the way equivalent to that of flying economy to Australia.

Some transitions were at churches or schools and they totally rolled out the welcome mat for us. I cannot say enough how friendly, kind and supportive the community was. There were bake stalls, hot food, drinks and toilets to enjoy. Some food was even free and others were fund raising in which everyone generously supported as a way of saying thanks and ensuring these people return next year. I enjoyed a hot dog at these spots. Mid-race (Friday night) is a school which provided showers, hot food and a chance to sleep horizontal. The gym was like a crèche – quiet time – for people to sleep but others just laid on the grass outside in their sleeping bags. It was perfect weather to be outdoors. We could see the years of experience amongst the teams as they were well prepared for this oasis pit stop. The shower felt better than words can explain and another hot dog went down with ease.

The team ran well. We all struggled with something like a headache, upset tummy, blisters, sore legs or feet. But we all overcame our demons and got through the night. My most challenging leg was the double leg which was 14k at about 2.30am. As we arrived at transition it started to rain and there was an almighty thunderstorm and lightning overhead. Great (not quite the word I was really thinking). The marshals actually said I couldn’t go because of the lightning, safety comes first. I waited about 10 minutes back in the van and then my runner came in telling me that the race was back on. So off I went into the darkness and rain. This route was straight along the Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) canal trail – this runs for about 300mile all the way to Pennsylvania. It runs along the Potomac river all the way to DC. It was dark and stormy and not the Bundy Rum type. I stopped quickly to put my rainjacket away as it was warm and the rain was light so I was fine to get wet. The lightning and thunder were scary. I ran across one bridge, with big stone sidewalks and this mass of lightning streaked the sky followed by a horrendous clap of thunder. I yelled out “S-H-I-T’ and swear I crapped my pants. The route was dark, covered in trees, lonely and a bit muddy so I was looking forward to finishing this leg. I didn’t see any other runners except for early and later in the leg. There were little toad-like frogs on the trail and I was trying not to step on them and praying they would not jump at me. I eventually made it to transition and was glad that leg was over. The next runner endured similar weather and nearly fell over in the wet – phew, thankfully he didn’t and lived to tell the tale.

Transition was always a rowdy time. In daylight, I could see the team in their yellow shirts. Once seen, the team would yell loudly ‘Aussie Aussie Aussie, oi oi oi’. It was great. At night, I would yell Ninety One (our team number) so they knew I was coming. Again, that Aussie chant would erupt. All the other teams would clap and cheer also – it was just fantastic support all the way around. I was pleased with my performance. I ran well, didn’t walk and my nutrition worked well. I was nervous as I’m used to nutrition on the bike but running is different. I carb loaded last week and drank til it came out my ears. The secret formula was PB Squared - porridge, pasta, bagels and bananas. My trusty ol’ Ensure Plus drink did the post run trick each leg and Torq, gels and Clif bars kept my feet moving. I also enjoyed hotdogs and coffee in between run legs and I don’t know how many times I imagined Georgetown cupcakes along those kilometers.

The team did incredibly well. I am so impressed with the team, they are very accomplished runners and it was great to run with them. It’s inspiring to see what people can and have done and these five athletes are people I look to with great admiration. It was not until the last leg, Leg Number 6, that steel and lead found its way into our legs. It was Saturday morning approaching lunch. Most of the team had long legs, over an hour and the heat and humidity was killing us. We slowed down and just focused on getting there.

We finished the race about 3.30pm on Saturday afternoon crossing the line together and proudly holding our Aussie flag. It was a wonderful feeling, we had finished, and finished ahead of our estimated time. We would have been earlier had it not been for me getting lost on the first leg. We'd taken about 31.5 hours. The medal was a serious piece of bling – definitely representative of the sweat, stench and pain. There are always people supporting in great achievements like this. I have to thank our superb race driver. He volunteered his time to drive us around from transition to transition, find the gas stations, the McDonalds, the food stops, the toilets and importantly endured the never ending smell of sweat and stench. He also was our official photographer and I can’t wait to see his photos. If ever he needs anything, I told him I would be there as we were all very grateful for him being there with us this weekend. Thanks Mark. xx There was also lots of support from family and friends from home, work and afar. Thanks again to you.

 

Deb met me at the finish. She had her own marathon getting there through the horrendous traffic. The Climate March was on that day so streets were blocked. Another Trump inspired protest march. I was barely keeping my eyes open getting home and a hot shower felt a-mazing. We went out for an early dinner where I filled my belly. I was in bed by 7.30pm and slept for 16 hours. I did wake about 3am as expected, hungry, so I had a huge bowl of cereal and went back to bed. This has been a routine feeding time after a 24 hr event so I’m not surprised I woke up for a feed. My legs are quite tired, stiff and sore. Deb drove me to Georgetown Cupcakes so I could treat myself. I came home and woofed down 2 cupcakes and half of Deb’s (she was a good girl and only ate half). 

It’s a been a huge weekend and a great experience, and the team were simply fantastic. I totally enjoyed myself and am super thrilled with my running. I hope to do this again next year with Deb and I’m sure the rest of the team are up for it again. I've made a short video on my next post. The song was our team song as Rudy played it on our way to the check-in on Friday. We tended to sing this over the weekend....chuffing awesome.