Lake Tahoe Relay Race Report: Part Deux

Instead of writing about the rest of the Lake Tahoe Relay, I videoblogged it instead.I recount the rest of the race, Legs 3-7, here (click on "watch in high quality" under Views).

Lake Tahoe Relay Video!

Okay, folks, I know I'm way behind in debriefing you on the rest of the Lake Tahoe Relay held last weekend. But I just spent an inordinate amount of time making this little music video of our race experience, so this will just have to suffice for now.

During this Intermission ...

It's 11:15 p.m. and I've spent the past 90 minutes unsuccessfully downloading a bunch of photos from the Tahoe Relay. Very frustrating. Now I'm way too tired tonight to write about the race.

So in this brief interlude, enjoy some photos of our team, the Band of Outsiders. In the photo above, I'm trying on Peter's sunhat that he got in a shopping trip in Reno, on the way to Tahoe.













Here we are on our pre-race hike to Eagle Lake, on the edge of Desolation Wilderness.














Here's all but one member of our team (the Taminator) at happy hour the night before the race.















Here I am on the start of my ill-fated Leg 3.

Tahoe Relay Race Report: Part I

My, but we're a good-looking bunch. Here's the Band of Outsiders 2008 - sans one team member - the day after we ran the 72.5 mile DeCelle Memorial Lake Tahoe Relay race.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's recap this race, shall we?

Leg 1: E.'s nephew, B., ran this flat, fast and early-morning (read: cool) leg this year - a reward for running tough Leg 6 last year. But he almost missed the start because he had to use the facilities at the local McDonald's.

So when the starting gun sounded, none of us actually saw him run across the start line. But the timekeeper did, because B. clocked 1:30:41 for his 9.6 mile leg. That's an average of 9:27/mile.

Not bad for somebody whose idea of training is thinking about running. B. calls it 'visualization.' Very zen.

Leg 2: Two days before the race, K. pulled out of the relay because of a torn meniscus. That left me 48 hours to find our 7th team member. With the help of the race director, I got a ringer: Tami, or, as we like to call her, 'The Taminator,' for the relentless way she ran down and passed opponents.

She was all business. She didn't want to hang out with us the previous night for drinks and dinner. And she didn't want any water, Gatorade or GU during the race (teams had to assist their runners).

Tami just wanted to run.

And boy, did she ever. Leg 2 is the second-toughest leg of the race - very, very hilly. But when she ran by us at about Mile 4, head up, shoulders back, and legs churning, she flashed 8 fingers and growled: EIGHT! That meant that she had already run down eight other runners.

By the time Tami finished, she had passed at least 21 runners. Her time: 1:08:56 for her 8.2 mile leg, average pace 8:24/mile.

Legs 3-7: That's tomorrow, folks. Time for bed here in La-la Land.