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.
