Wild West Relay

I participated in the Wild West Relay running event a couple weeks ago. The WWR is a 200 mile relay run from Fort Collins to Steamboat Springs in Colorado. There were 12 people and two drivers on my team, traveling in two Suburbans.  The route is divided into 36 legs with the first Suburban handling Legs 1-6, 13-18, 25-30; and Suburban No. 2 responsible for Legs 7-12, 19-24, 31-36. I had Legs 9, 22, and 33. The organizer designated my legs as hard, easy, and hard; respectively. The first leg was 3.5 miles-almost entirely uphill; climbing from 6300 feet to 7000 feet.  I put in a good effort and finished with an average pace of 9:30 minutes per mile.  After that I took my seat in the Suburban and rested, cheered, and ate while we followed the rest of our runners in our Suburban.

Suburban No. 2 Crew

Scenery

My First Leg

Working Hard

Once the six runners in my Suburban ran their first leg, Suburban No. 1 took up the baton and my Suburban drove to the next exchange point at Woods Landing.  A fifth wheel trailer was there waiting for us to use while we waited about four hours for the runners in Suburban No. 1 to finish their second legs.  We had a nice spaghetti dinner at the cafe/bar, and then tried to get some sleep.  The fifth wheel had enough beds for everyone and should have been a great place to get some good sleep.  Unfortunately, the heat in the trailer and an impromptu screening of Batman, The Dark Knight prevented me from getting quality sleep.  Eventually, I gave up on the trailer and drug my sleeping bag outside to lay down in a grassy area near the creek.  It actually worked out really well and I managed to sleep for 30 minutes or so.  Soon enough, Suburban No. 1 rolled in followed by their last runner; and my Suburban started on its second Legs at around 10:00 pm.  For our second Legs we had to wear a headlamp, reflective vest, and blinking red tail light for visibility.  My second leg started around 1:00 am and was scheduled to be an easy 5.8 miles of mostly downhill, descending from 8401 feet to 7934 feet with a 300 foot climb near the beginning.  The terrain was grasslands and scrub brush.  Near the beginning of my Leg I saw a meteor shoot across the sky, and heard an animal making a haunting bellowing sound that I later learned was a moose.  After a quick climb I cruised the descent, then pushed really hard on the flats and gradual climb to the finish.  I finished with an 8:27 min/mile pace.  Then I was back in the Suburban waiting for the next stop and a chance to sleep.

My Second Leg

The fifth wheel trailer was waiting for us at Walden where we had another 4 hour rest before it was our turn to run again.  I crawled into my bunk and was asleep in no time at all.  We woke up around 7:30 am and after a quick breakfast of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, nuts, and dried cranberries we were driving to the next van exchange. My last leg involved a 500 foot climb near Rabbit Ears Pass, and a 800 foot descent along Highway 40.  It was a difficult run and I had to push myself to keep up a good pace; descending is pretty hard on the legs.  I finished with a 9:06 min/mile pace.  Back into the Suburban one more time.  Once our last runner started we drove to the finish at the middle school in Steamboat Springs.  We waited for our final runner and the whole team crossed the finish line together.  Our overall pace was 9:49 min/mile for nearly 200 miles.

My Third Leg

Finishing My Third Leg

Happy to be Finished Running

Entire Team at the Finish Line

After the finish, we devoured the post race barbecue and collected our finisher medals.  That afternoon, a few of us decided to go tubing on the Yampa River in Steamboat.  The river runs through town and is very popular place to relax and enjoy the outdoors.  Later on we met up for a team dinner before we went our separate ways.

The team aspect of the event made the experience very enjoyable.  The team atmosphere was very supportive and encouraging, much different from triathlons where you have to suffer on your own.  The most challenging aspect of the event is the logisitics of trying to sleep and eat in a van in between your running legs.  It's deifinitely worth doing if you can find someone to help with the logistics of providing vans, food, etc. for your team.