Spokane to Sawtooth Relay

Thursday, August 16th, we left for our 12 person relay that started in Spokane, Washington, and ended in Sandpoint, Idaho. We drove with the Sorenson's, and caravan-ed with the other team members up to Washington. We ate dinner with the team at a taco/burrito place (against my better judgement!) And then found our camping site and check-in for the race.We set up several tents and attempted to get some sleep that night. Marc and I both slept horridly, then got to be up before 6 so I could go volunteer up at the starting line.

With my knees and hips being as bad as they were, Marc took my first "leg" for me, and because I wasn't running, I volunteered with Geno to fulfill the requirement. My job was to wave vans up the hill to the starting line, and hold traffic when they started each new group of runners (6:30, 7, 7:30, etc). It was a really pitiful and unnecessary job, but what can you do? Our team started at 10:00, so it was a long morning before I saw any of them!
I compiled the pictures and videos from all our teammates and put together this little video. 
http://youtu.be/dY626nmLUzg

Notes from the race
*It was so HOT!! The heat was horrid and really zapped everyone off in the first round. It was high 90's, on the open asphalt, and no shade. We tried squirting people off with a squirt gun, and dumping water when we could. It was brutal.
* The part about the race that I love the most is the camaraderie among the van/team/other racers. Last year, the two vans did a lot more together and we really felt like all 12 of us were there to support each other, but I felt like this year it was just our van and their van and we happened to see each other at transition points.
*We could shadow on a bike at night so no runner was left alone in the middle of night and what a difference that made from last year! It was so nice having someone there. 
*Marc was a rockstar! He ran over 20 miles, 3 of his legs were in the high heat and his longest run (8 miles) he pulled off at 2:30 am!
*My first leg was sorely disappointing, knees started grinding 2 miles into it. I really didn't know if I had what it took to finish that leg and still run another one. The second leg, I taped up my left knee real good with KT tape and started off thinking I would go as far as I could then have to rely on the rest of the team to help run it for me. I started hurting right away but battled through it. I felt stronger and the farther I got into it, the more confident I got that I could actually finish it. I was pitifully slow, but I was moving (don't know if you could really even call it a jog) When I hit the 1 mile to go mark, I turned into an animal! I knew I could do it and it was so rewarding to be able to complete it myself.
*We were let down a lot by this race. The course wasn't what we thought it would be, we were supposed to have gone on a roller coaster in the middle of the night with the whole team and they took it out a few weeks before the race, there was no food at the finish line for us, and the volunteers were sparse where they were needed the most. I think we'll look for a 6 person relay closer to home next year.

We finished in Sandpoint, Idaho, camped in another campground then drove home on Sunday. A Huge thanks to my family for watching our kids! Couldn't have done it without you guys!