Relay This!

Participating in the Utah Marathon Relay has become a tradition of ours. This year marked our third time running in this race, which consists of 26.2 miles split into five segments of 5.2 miles each.

All the first runners were lined up here and ready to start. Drew claimed trail real estate far behind the bulk of the group for some reason.

We lost a couple of our teammates this year due to pregnancy and laziness so we found some fresh blood in the form of our friend Abigail and my sister-in-law Simone.

Once I had that sweaty baton in my hand I was off like a shooting bullet...or possibly a limping noodle.

Things went smoother this year than last, we didn’t have to replace any of our runners at the last minute due to overflowing bowels, but not everything went exactly according to plan. As with last year, the night before the race I started getting a sore throat. Give me a break body! Why must that always be part of this annual ritual?

I may have been moving a tiny bit slower than last year but I was still obviously enjoying myself.

On the plus side, my brother Drew actually trained this time. Yes, miracles never cease. He was our first runner this year and managed to pull off a 49 minute 8 second run. I think that’s almost ten minutes faster than his usual. So yes, training does make a difference. (Please take note of that Drew for future reference.)

Simone ran a good race for a first timer. Hopefully now she realizes that 5 miles is a breeze.

It was my turn next. I wish I could say I shaved ten minutes off my time but I crossed the finish line at 52 minutes and 46 seconds, which is very close to what I ran a couple of years ago but about 2 minutes slower than last year. Sad. I’ll blame it on the sore throat and shin splints. (Yes, my shins were a hurting during the race due to a bit of overtraining in the days leading up to this event.)

Abigail dramatically handed off the baton just minutes after dramatically upchucking in the bushes.

Simone and Abigail were our next runners. This was the longest race Simone has ever run. Kudos Simone for taking on the challenge! Abigail is no running rooky but the heat and exertion got to her and she ended up puking in the bushes within eyesight of the finish line. Way to take one for the team Abigail!

Jason was flying so fast his hair couldn't keep up.

Jason closed the race for us with a 42 minute and 23 second run, which is pretty dang good considering that the temperature was escalating quickly to sickness-assured levels.

Our team kept its name, The Gait Keepers, even though we had a huge changeover this year.

I’m proud of our little group. Our total time was 4 hours 22 minutes and 10 seconds and we finished 48th out of 63 teams. It may be our slowest pace yet but we did have fresh pack members this year and participants new to running in general. So good job everyone!

We are the Gait Keepers and we will step all up in your pace!

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