A colleague at work suggested that we (12 people from my workplace) run the 199 mile relay, from Calistoga (wine country) to Santa Cruz (beach country). Even though I wasn't sure if I could actually make it, I signed up due to Preetu's encouragement. D-day: May 5 & 6, 2007
The Relay: "California's Longest Party" is on - from Calistoga in Napa Valley to Sonoma to Marin, through Sausalito, across the Golden Gate Bridge under a full moon, through San Francisco to Palo Alto and through Silicon Valley to the beach in Santa Cruz. Featuring the natural beauty of the Bay Area, the 199-mile course boasts the largest number of tourist destinations of any run.
Teams are comprised of 12 members, each running three legs in rotation. The 36 legs through 36 cities are 3 to 8.9 miles and rated from easy to very hard allowing runners to select legs that match their strengths. Runners of all abilities are challenged, contribute and have a great time.
P.A. Semi Conscious Slugs: Our team (all colleagues of P.A.Semi ), semi-conscious (this we would be, at the end of the run), Slugs (the Santa Cruz mountains are full of slugs). Runners were: Sribalan, Ruchi, J.C.Yeh, Patrick, Viranjit, Vincent, Conrad, Mike, DanFlees, Pete, John and me. The first 6 people made up the Van#1, and the rest of us were in Van#2.The training: Having signed up about 2.5 months in advance of the May 5 & 6 run, we started training by running at lunch time. Most of the team except for Sri, Ruchi and me were long distance runners, and they were in good physical condition. I started off running half a mile, and went upto running 3 miles on a trot. A significant accomplishment for me, considering I have not been running for almost 18 years. A dental surgery put me back a week, and an ankle sprain put me out of commission for 10 days. The trip to Barbados about 2 weeks before the run didn't help either.
Equipment: Preetu gifted me a new pair of running shoes (Asics Gel Foundation 7), purchased at the Sports Basement, along with running shorts, and socks to match. These are real comfortable for my low arch. Great running shoes, it fits like a glove! Add the iPod shuffle to the mix, and I was all set.
The run:
Sat - 10:00AM
Van 2 met up in Santa Clara to load up for the trip up to Napa. Preetu dropped me off
at P.A.Semi, and took a group picture. John picked up samosas from Rajjot for Van 1.
Pete had the van there bright and early so we started loading up the cooler and our
bags. I picked up bagel sandwiches for lunch. Conrad soon showed up with Mike and
Dan shortly thereafter. We were on the road fairly quickly.
Sat - 11:30AM
We got word from Sri that the other van was ahead of schedule and expected
to be at the exchange point about an hour earlier than scheduled at about
1:15PM.
We had plenty of time to get to the exchange as we discussed the merits of
gobbling up the samosas before running. Weather looks hot, windy, and clear.
Absolutely beautiful scenery on the drive up.
Sat - 1:15PM
We've parked next to the Samosa and Chai team (an ILP team) who surprisingly
didn't bring their own samosas nor chai! I thought about offering them some of
ours, but decided to be greedy and give them all to our own team members instead.
Conrad takes the baton from Vincent who has just finished his leg in under a
7 minute mile. Sandbaggers all of them! Hopefully the samosas will slow
them down.
Sat - 2:06PM
Conrad absolutely smoked the course barely coming in second to Vincent's
PA Semi record at 6:59 per mile. Given that this was the first runner, we
we probably didn't support Conrad as much as we should have given the heat
as evidenced by his parched lips and salt rings on his face. Mike is now
on the course and has a pretty long trail run up and over a hill.
Sat - 3:03PM
Mike runs in and hands off the green band (baton)to me. I had just
disclosed to my team-mates that I've never run more than 5 miles at once
so this will be my longest continuous run ever. I'm pretty sure that they
were all shocked, as they didn't quite know how to react, but I bet they
were thinking "what is this guy doing with us!"
Mike, meanwhile, comes in and utters his first patented phrase... "That
was harder than I thought." He also nearly missed a turn on the ill marked
trail but righted himself shortly. (Another theme soon to be repeated.)
Sat - 3:30PM
I chugged along, ran past this girl who was chatting on the cellfone while
running. I'm downing water like there's a prize at the bottom of the bottle,
so Van 2 stopped at mile 3 to replenish my water bottle (I used up most of
the water to pour it on my head to cool me down). It's VERY hot at this
point. Probably over 90 degrees out. The head wind was horrible! The 5.6 mile
leg seemed like 10 miles. I was pretty surprised that no teams blew past me.
Sat - 3:55PM
I ran to the exchange zone, just came in running 9:20 minute miles. I've taken
the crown as the biggest sandbagger (estimated 12 minute mile times pre race.)
Dan has just taken off on what has got to be the most brutal leg of this
whole race. 8.9 miles with 1200 ft of vertical climbing.
Sat - 4:45PM
We've pulled over to where Dan should be coming down off the hill. This is
the first place where we see the "Skirts" team. They're an all female
masters team from Santa Rosa. They're at the same intermediate stop
drinking some beers and cheering on their runner. She flys by saying
"... that's one f****** hard hill!" Poor Dan. Mike and I stay at that
intermediate point while the rest of them drive to the next exchange for Pete
to warmup. I call up Preetu and update her about the run. My sis calls
to congratulate me as well. Preetu is very proud of me!
Sat - 5:06PM
Dan's looking good as he comes around the corner. He's not even sweating...
But that could be due to the dry weather instead of uber fitness. Pete's on
the road now with a brutal trafficky leg through downtown then up a large
hill. Weather is still hot.
Sat - 5:45PM
We're marvelling at this guy who is just absolutely flying on this leg.
Pretty much sprinting up the final hill, I think we hear that he's doing
about 6:15 minute miles.
Sat - 6:06PM
John is running now, and it's a gorgeous country road. He looked to be in
great shape (he is a triathlete, so these kinda runs might be a piece of
cake) . We metup with Van 1, where Sri was warming up (with his wife
and kids cheering for him), John cruised into the exchange point and handed
off to Sri. Dusk is setting but the whole Petaluma valley is lit up and
just really rich with different shades of green and yellow. Some very scenic
countryside.
Sat - 7:00PM
We're driving out of Petaluma, and need to stop for some gas somewhere on
101. Heading down to SF, we're planning on crashing at Brian Lilly and
Jesse's places tonight for a few hours. They live in Noe Valley which
is pretty deep into the city.
Sat - 8:30PM
We've made it to the Jesse and Brian's homes and decide to grab dinner
around the corner at Noe Valley Pizza. It's actually really tasty
pasta/pizza place. After this we head back and take some quick showers
and try to get some sleep. It's about 9:30 by the time we get to bed. Ranjeet
calls up to wish me at this point.
Sat - 11PM
Sri calls and lets us know that Vincent should be finishing around 12
midnight. We're all really groggy (except Dan who has watched the Utah/Houston
game with Jesse and Amalia instead of sleeping). We pack up our stuff,
and rush out to the van where Pete looks like a zombie. John got
"shortcut" directions from Jesse, and we speed off to the exhange point.
We took a route through the Presidio and make it to the exchange point
about 15 minutes before Vincent arrives.
Sun - 12AM
Conrad's off into the darkness. We have to go find him along the beach,
but not before Van #1 repays our samosa generosity with a box of assorted
pizza. This is our first night run, but it's looking decently warm for SF.
Sun - 12:20AM
We park somewhere along the beach and give Conrad some water. There are
NO other vans at this intermediate point which makes us wonder if we're
at the right place. But sure enough a few runners start filtering though.
Later, Conrad tells us that there was some drug bust happening in his
path around this area. He was so focused on running that he didn't
recognize Pete trying to shove a bottle of water at him and almost ran
around him to avoid what he thought was the the "random vagabond on
the beach".
Sun - 1:53AM
Mike takes over at Ocean beach and starts running. His course takes
him through some residential streets and will end up at a Chevron station
somewhere. Near the end of the run, the topo shows a flat section.
Really, there's a valley between the two marked points.
So, Mike runs down the hill, then decides that this is too much downhill,
and turns around and runs back to the top to take a look around.
Convincing himself that this is the right way he starts back down the hill.
2nd time he's gotten nearly lost. Mike comes in. How was the run Mike?
"That was harder than I thought!" At this point we've decided that the
van's goal is to catch the Skirts team. They're only a few minutes ahead
of us and we're slowly reeling them in. So with window paint in hand, we
redecorate and write "Chasing Skirts" prominently on the van. Conrad is
convinced that we should dump the pizza as even the smell is making him
sick after all that running. But Mike and Dan both claim that they'll
eat some after their legs so he's stuck with the stinky smell of cheese.
Sun - 2:30AM
I get the green baton from Mike, and I'm on the road. This leg is on
Skyline and it's pretty dark. I had the headlight from Andrew, and to keep
me warm, John had given me his beanie. I was warmly dressed in layers, and
with a bottle of water in my hand, and my iPod singing "We are the champions",
I jog along, not too sure what pace I was running at. The Van passed me and
they didn't even recognize him. At the 2 mile mark, they hand me a bottle of
cold water, and they head off, cheering for me. This has been smooth sailing
for me so far, and I'm actually enjoying the run!! Its almost full moon, and
with hardly any traffic on Skyline, I watched a couple planes take off and
land at SFO. At the 4.2 mile marker, I had to run 1.6 miles on a bike path,
next to a lake. I got passed by one guy at the intersection of Larkspur Rd.
I arrive at the hand off, healthy and almost smiling, having completed my
longest leg, at 6.5 miles!
Sun - 2:55AM
Dan's on the road for a very short leg now. We're a bit concerned that
he's going to beat to the exchange point, so we motor over there ASAP.
It's only 4.2 miles an he does finish 28:32 which is a new PA Semi record
(6:47 per mile).
Sun - 3:23AM
Pete's taken over for Dan and his is also a relatively short leg at 3.7 mi.
Pete's not wearing long pants though, and it's getting cold. He's flying
downhill though, probably because he can't feel his legs. He finishes
this segment running 7:09 minute miles.
Sun - 3:49AM
Its John's leg now. In his own words "We're at 92 and Canada road right
now and I'm taking over for Pete on this segment. Temperature has dropped
significantly since we're right next to the resevoir. And I can see my
breath. The cold air is nice in that it freezes my lungs so I can't feel
the pain. I've requested that the van meet me at 3 miles (half way through)
just so I can mark the progress. Where is the dang van!!! They stop again
at about mile 4 to let me know that we're almost caught the skirts.
She's only 1:40 ahead of me with 1.9 miles to go. Woo hoo! Dig dig dig.. "
Sun - 4:48AM
When we drive to the interchange, Van 1 was no where in sight. We call them
a few times, and they were lost. John was almost in the horizon, and Sri
is not here yet. John nearly catches up to her at the exchange, literally
5 ft behind her. He holds up the arm band, and call out "SRI!" Nothing....
The rest of Van 2 is standing there saying "Sri's not here!" What should
we do? The volunteer is telling us just to send another runner down the road.
Nah we're too far ahead of schedule. This is cutting into our sleep time!
Grr... We're in contact with Van 1 and apparently they're somewhere near
Farm Hill road north of us. Sribalan eventually shows up, and starts running,
no warm up, nothing!
With that, we waited about 7:50 minutes but we're off to get some rest.
Sun - 5:05AM
We stop at a McDonalds for a quick pickme up. Giving Conrad enough time to
digest before his controlled fall the next day is key. Luckily McDonalds
opens at exactly 5 which means that we have the first batch of food made
fresh for us that morning.
Sun - 6:00AM
Van #2 makes it back to John's house and we make short work of the food and
shower. I crash on the floor immediately and apparently proceed to have a
few nightmares keeping Dan awake intermittently. I've no clue what happened
though. I love my air mattress.
Sun - 8:00AM
Somebody calls Pete and gives us a headsup that we've got about 1:15 til Vincent
is at the top of Highway 9 and Skyline. We quickly pack up and head out.
Up the hill we go.
Sun - 9:16AM
Vincent rocks up the hill and Conrad is just flying down the other side. There's
bitterness in the car about losing that much time to the Skirts but we
alternate between needing to dump time to avoid a DQ and racing to catch the
skirts. Meanwhile Conrad finishes in a new PA Semi record of 6:20 minute miles.
Sun - 9:55AM
Mike is out for his last leg. Mostly downhill he's booking along at a 6:48 clip.
How was that leg Mike? "That was harder than I thought." But at least he didn't
backtrack. I thought that we can pay our way out of an early finish, but we're
not so sure.
Sun - 10:28AM
I take off on my 6.5 mile run, leaving Boulder Creek, and headed towards Ben Lomond.
The guys in the van confirm that the organizers are very strict and that they
actually got DQed last year for finishing too far under their ETA. Smack dab
on the front of the Sandbagger Hall of Shame page they said. Shortly thereafter,
Sri calls us with the same information. The Skirt was just 100 meters away, but not
for long. Very soon, I could not see her, two more girls passed me (not that they
were flying, they looked tired too), and I passed a guy and a gal. This was certainly
the longest two miles I've ever run. I was thinking of asking Dan or someone to
perhaps run the last mile for me, if need be. My quads were burning, and the heat
was unbearable. I poured plenty of water on my head to keep cool, but that was
hardly enough. Two miles into the run, I saw Preetu, smiling, and cheering for me. She
had caught up with my van, and they were all yelling and screaming for me, and I
got a new lease of life, and another bottle of ice cold water. Preetu was the reason
I actually ran the last 4.5 miles. With half a mile to go, I spotted Leena, Ranjeet,
Sumati, Rishon and Karthik, who were clapping and cheering for me, with Preetu.
You guys are awesome, thanks for showing up, suddenly I got a burst of energy, which
was hidden someplace deep in my beer belly. I finally arrived, running just under
10 mins a mile. What a relief! Go Dan, its all yours.
Sun - 11:27
Dan has another Very Hard leg coming up. A brutal 6.2m uphill section. He takes
off right behind one of the elite teams and this other guy, a barrel chested black
guy who is ripped like a football player just sprints out and up this hill. He
must have passed about 20 other teams on that leg. We stop to support Dan on the
before the hill, on the hill and after the hill. Even though he claims to have
walked (which was faster than running he says) he's still going faster than I
can while fresh. Thanks for taking one for the team, Dan!
At this point, I stayed back with Preetu and the gang, played with Rishon with some
cold water, and I planned to catchup with the runners at the finish line.
John writes the rest of the blog.
Sun - 12:18
HOT. We're at the Quarry and it's HOT. Pete's got a significant climb in his
first mile and we've given him a hat to wear because of the sun. But he dumps
that after a mile as he's not use to running with anything on. In his own words,
"If I could run naked, I would." Following this uphill comes a massive downhill.
We stop a few times to give him some water and he's starting to cramp up so we
also deliver some Gatorade. It's a steep downhill to the next exchange point.
While the upper part is shaded, the last section is wide open and brutally hot.
Remember the Skirts? Dan almost had them on the hill, but the current gal is
just motoring down the decline.
Sun - 1:14
We talk about strategy in the car. We're still driven by two forces. One, can
we catch the Skirts? Two, how do we slow down to not get DQed. At this point,
I don't think we can catch the Skirts We could have, but that would have DQed us.
So instead, we decide that I'll walk the first mile, and then run the rest of
the leg. That should give us plenty of time to finish. Stopping a few times to
pick a lemon and some loquats, it's so hard not to run. The first mile drops
about 200 ft which makes for an easy segment. I make it out to the beach which
is about 2 miles out and realize the folly of my decision. This is gorgeous!
I should have run down here and just hung out at the beach for a while!
It's breezy and clear and scenic.
-- End of John' blog.
Sun - 2:05
Preetu and I arrive and meetup with the rest of the runners, from Van1 and Van2,
everyone is tired, and are ready for a beer, food, and SLEEP. Preetu and Vaddu (who
had arrived on the beach and met up with us) are ready at the finish line to
capture the Slugs crossing the finish line as a team. John arrives, and we have
made it. A good 29 hours after starting at Calistoga on the previous day, we cross
the finish line, team #153, having reached the goal!
A few photos were taken, we collected our medals (for completing the relay), ate
a bit, metup with Srivalli and Chethan who had driven down to cheer for me, and left
for home. Leena called up pass on wishes from Anjali and Amit. And where did we
celebrate the successful completion? Zeni, but ofcourse!
199 miles
29 hours (averaged 8.45 mins a mile)
2 hours sleep
Aches, pains and blisters
50th placement
A goal achieved.
Will I do it again next year? For sure!! Maybe I can convince the gang to start training
and do it in 2008!
