RAGNAR RELAY: LOS ANGELES - DOMINATED
Ragnar Relay: Los Angeles
The way it worked:
177.8 miles (minus 32.1 that had to be shuttled due to course changes)
Two 15-passenger vans
Twelve runners per team (we were a few runners short, so some folks ran extra legs)
Runners 1-6 in Van 1, Runners 7-12 in Van 2
We were Team 98: "Relay Relay Ridiculously Good Looking"
Our team:
Runner 1: Sonia
Runner 2: Alex
Runner 3: Meredith
Runner 4: Meredith
Runner 5: Theresa
Runner 6: Rob
Runner 7: Raul
Runner 8: Sub spot
Runner 9: Andy
Runner 10: Katie
Runner 11: Gionne
Runner 12: Scotty
Our schedule:
FRIDAY
7:00 AM - Wake up in West Hollywood, CA
9:00 AM - Pick up two 15-passenger vans from rental car location in Beverly Hills, CA
11:00 AM - Pick up 3 other runners, drive from Sherman Oaks to Santa Barbara, CA for race start.
12:45 PM - Meet the other 6 runners of our team at the start line in Santa Barbara
1:00 PM - Runner 1 from Team 98 starts the relay. Van 1 follows her. Van 2 goes to have lunch.
4:00 PM - Runner 6 hands off to Runner 7. Van 2 starts the course, Van 1 goes to the next major checkpoint to rest.
7:30 PM - Runner 11 hands off to me just north of Malibu, CA. I run 6.9 miles down the PCH (CA-1) at sunset. It's silent, exciting, and absolutely beautiful. Around 7:50 PM, my flashlight dies...I run in the dark until a CHP patrol car decides to follow me in, illuminating the highway with its spotlight and clearing my path by blocking traffic. Thanks, dudes (their presence absolutely made me run faster - partly because I didn't want to seem weak in front of the cop, and partly because I heard you're always supposed to run from the police).
8:11 PM - I arrive at the major checkpoint in Leo Carrillo State Beach in Malibu. Our team dances, has dinner, rests, watches Eastbound and Down, and tells riddles.
10:30 PM - Van 2 drives to next exchange point at the Santa Monica Pier.
Midnight - Runner 7 starts the second half of the relay from Santa Monica.
SATURDAY
1:30 AM - Runner 9 is to begin his 2nd leg of the relay in Manhattan Beach, CA. He is wearing tights. A drunk girl (who will never be married or trusted around her friends' kids) talks sh*t about Andy's outfit. Before we can respond, she slips and falls down Manhattan Beach Blvd, landing in a spread eagle sprawl in front of a large group of people. One by one, we walk by her. Three guys outside of a bar ask if we know her, to which I respond "F**k that b*tch." I realize this goes against the southern gentlemanly chivalrous way I was raised, but...eff that bee for reals!
3:45 AM - I take the baton from Runner 11 in Torrance, CA. I run my 5.3mi leg as fast as I can and pass 17 other runners on the route.
4:14 AM - I arrive at the checkpoint in Cabrillo Beach Park, San Pedro, CA. Van 1 resumes the course. Van 2 goes to rest.
5:05 AM - Van 2 stops at Harbor House Cafe in Seal Beach, CA for breakfast.
6:15 AM - Van 2 arrives in Huntington Beach, CA to wait for the arrival of Van 1. I lay out my goose down comforter in lieu of not having a sleeping bag.
6:30 AM - I close my eyes to go to sleep.
7:15 AM - I wake up.
8:00 AM - Runner 7 starts Van 2's final leg of the relay.
10:40 AM - I join Andy to run the last 4 miles of his final leg with him - he ended up with a 10.2 mile route, the longest of the relay.
12:50 PM - I begin the 36th and final leg of the relay. We're in Laguna Beach. I'm dressed as a ghetto superhero - a child's Batman mask, a child's Harry Potter cape, black Under Armour tights with an XS blue Speedo over them, and yellow latex kitchen gloves. Another team starts to tell me to lose the tights and just run with the blue Speedo. I find out later that the instigator from that team may or may not have been Kelly Kapowski. True story.
1:11.26 PM - I cross the finish line at Salt Creek Beach Park in Dana Point, CA. The entire team runs the last 100 yards together.
3:00 PM - Team dinner.
6:00 PM - Drive back to Sherman Oaks to unload the van.
9:00 PM - Return the vans to the rental car location in Beverly Hills, CA.
10:00 PM - Take my first shower in more than 36 hours and after running nearly 20 miles.
11:30 PM - Sweet, sweet sleep.
In total:
Santa Barbara to Dana Point
177.8 miles (minus 32.1 miles omitted from the course) = 145.7 miles
20 hours, 22 minutes, and 26 seconds
3rd place in our class/category
19th place overall
I leave you with me talking trash to the world after my second leg completion at 4:15 AM...
**
(first posted at scottycrowe.com).
