Sawtooth Relay 2011

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Autumn and Jennifer had been planning to run the Sawtooth Relay for months. They were a little nervous about how to train for two separate runs in less than twelve hours, but the fact that they had just trained for an ran a half marathon aided their race fitness. They registered a team of six with an estimate of 10 minute miles. That had them starting at 3am. Ouch. The Race started Friday night at midnight, so Jennifer and Autumn drove over Friday morning. Kal and I flew over in his plane after work. As it turned out, we landed as they were struggling to finish putting up our tent for the night in gusty conditions. It turns out that it was a little "three stooges", with the tent actually ending up on the runway at one point.


The Sawtooth Mountains are rugged, even in the fog.


Kal and I made it in just as the cloud  closed in around us.


Off we went to have dinner with the team. Kal just couldn't be stopped!


How'd he get here too?


The intrepid racers. Special prize for the person that can tell me what "intrepid" means without a dictionary. Seriously. I don't even know what it means.


Here's my part of the hilarity. How to get a queen size air mattress in a tent...


How many guys does it take...


I think we have a hotel room!


Yep, clock says 2:55am. That's mountain time. So, we woke up at 1am. Actually we'd all been up on and off for hours. We were only a couple hundred yards from the start and they were announcing teams and starts every 15 minutes from midnight until 9am. Kudos to these gals for making this happen!


Autumn had leg 1. Here she is glowing. Vests and headlamps were required until 6am.


Sadly, this is the best shot I could come up with of Autumn running the entire weekend...you see, I went back to bed and slept until 7am. We broke camp and I drove to catch up with the runners while Kal took the plane to the finish. But I slept too long and missed both Jen's uphill leg and Autumn's downhill leg. I was bummed. But they both kicked butt, which is what really matters.


Meanwhile they were supporting each other and making the exchanges like a well-oiled machine. Go Jen!


Water for Elizabeth...


Go Elizabeth, Go!


Jen and her well-earned Coke.


The pass off to Alyssa!


Alyssa kicking it into gear!


Alyssa, glad to be done! Did I mention she has a newborn daughter that she is feeding as she races? Beat that!


Go Nancy! Only 6 miles to go...


Then it was Angela's turn. Almost there!


Passing the bracelet off one last time to Jen so that she could bring it on home!


Go Jen, Go!


What the heck were we thinking?!?!?!?


The relay was a great success, the team worked together so well. I hear that next year is already a go. What great chemistry! The after party was fun and then everyone took a nap. 3am is way too early to start. Next year they need to claim a much faster time so that they can sleep in! Great job girls, we are all VERY proud of you!

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