Great Midwest Relay 2007 - Race Report

The 3rd annual Great Midwest Relay race from Madison to Chicago took place on June 8-9th this year. The Great Midwest Relay is a run from Madison to Chicago that between 2 to 12 people cover 190 miles. This is my second year participating with the same great team. And yes, we aren't crazy people, there were 12 of us - which means fewer miles to cover per person. So here it is...GMR 2007.

The Team
Deena - Our Team Mascot!
Becca
Andy
Sarah
Danielle
Deidra
Pat
Jesse
Matt
Jim
Andrea
Jerry
Greg



Transportation
When not running, we had 2 large 15 passengers that were very skillfully decorated. The 'ladies' van (sorry Jim/Jerry) stayed nice and clean and not very smelly. Let's just say we never ventured into the 'boys' van.



How it works
With a 12 person team, each person runs 3 times. The length of each run varies between 1.8 and 9 miles. While one team member is out running, the vans drive to the next exchange zone to pick-up the runner and drop off the next runner. This is continuous process that starts on Friday and runs through Saturday until we end on the Chicago lake front.

Friday

Friday morning began with a flurry of activity for me. I went to our Masters Swim class at 6am. Following class, I headed straight to the grocery store to pick some much needed supplies - meat, cheese, bread, paper towels, etc...I scrambled to get home, send a few emails, wolf down some Cinnamon Toast Crunch and pack my bag for the trip. I had about 30 minutes to get through all that before the team showed up to pack the vans and head for the start.

At 9am the team showed up and we packed up the vans. This is always the exciting part - everyone is fresh, well rested, clean and excited about the race. This is before sleep deprivation, injuries and strange smells, but more about that later!! Typically when you bring together a group of 12 people, there is bound to be some chaos. But, for the second year in a row the vans got packed quickly and all supplies were accounted for. The vans immediately split into boys and girls and it pretty much remained that way until the middle of Saturday night.

The race starts at the Coliseum Bar off of John Nolen Drive. The parking lot was packed with large passenger vans, SUVs, Trucks and loads of crazy, excited runners. Both vans arrived and the decorating began! I must say, all who helped decorate did an excellent job! While all that fun was going on Sarah, Greg and I went and got us registered and checked in. It was kinda of a cluster, but lucky for us, they had some extra illumination supplies.

Becca was our first runner and she was excited and raring to go! The race starts teams at different times depending on pace. Our assigned start time was 11am. There was a ton of excitement at the start this year. The race had double the number of teams from the previous year. The gun went off and Becca was off.

As Becca started the first leg (5 miles), we all jumped in the van and headed to the transfer point. Usually when we get to a transfer point there is some time to hang out, stretch our legs, eat, use the bathroom and get ready to change up runners. At the first transfer area, Jesse and Matt had a Cheesy Poof Contest. The object was to stuff as many as they could in their mouths and still say 'Chubby Bunnies'. It was pretty hysterical. Check it out at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EB8IEIYdVAA

Becca and Sarah exchanged the bracelet and we headed for the 3rd transfer spot where Jim would start his leg. Fast forwarding to when we were driving to pick up Jim, we ended up taking a wrong turn and ended up picking up an English runner who had also taken a wrong turn. This guy had run close to an extra 3 miles! Poor guy! We got to the transfer area and Jerry was up next. Jim was coming in and Jerry was headed for the Porta John! Rather than a smooth handoff, Jim waited patiently for Jerry to finish doing his business.


Let's fast forward to my first leg, otherwise this could get really long! My first leg went from a small church in London, WI to Lake Mills, WI. It was a 5 mile stretch that was 98% on the Glacial Drumlin Trail. It was a hot run with little shade. I made the mistake of not bringing any water and definitely craved some for most of the run. I worked on catching a guy who was about 1/2 mile in front of me. I finally caught him around mile 3 and breezed on by. It was a good feeling! I then had to run through part of the Lake Mills Tri course. It's funny how I didn't really recognize any of it until I got close to the trail exit. From there I could see the people waiting for runners coming in. They looked so close, but were close to 1/2 mile away. I cruised in around 39 minutes. A good solid first run! I wasn't sure if I could keep that up for two more runs, but I'd try.



I was runner 6, so we still had 6 more runners to go before we got through the first rotation. During those next six exchanges, we had some peeing in the bushes, bloody ankles, runners almost being hit by a car and obscene uses of the foam roller. This is what happens when you turn a bunch of male runners loose on a two day race - they turn into 8 year olds again. At least it's entertainment!



My second run began after dark, around 10pm. This time I had 4.3 miles to go and had to run from West Allis through Milwaukee. I ran down S. Morgan Ave to Hwy 100. Hwy 100 is kinda like a 'hang out' for many teenagers and young adults on the weekend. As you can imagine that was an interesting experience - being honked at by random cars while trucking down Hwy 100 with a reflective vest, head lamp and blinking lights. My hamstring started bothering me about 5 minutes into this run, but amazingly I was able to keep up my quick pace. Once off Hwy 100, I hit the pitch dark Root River Parkway. This was exhilarating - running through darkness, with nothing but my light! I passed a few people which was nice and came flying into the exchange zone. 33:30 and I felt great despite the hamstring issue!

Now, it was time to sleep. Our Van contained runners 1-6. We drove ahead to our 3rd and final exchange zone to catch a little shut eye. It's tough though to really sleep in a van when other vans are pulling in and out. Runners are coming and going and most people have little to no respect for those of us trying to sleep. Such is life on the GMR.

Saturday

As we slept in our van at the 3rd major transfer area, we received a phone call from our other van. Jesse, our 11th runner, had pulled his calf and was out of the race. Our team pulled together though and finished out all of Jesse's legs.

We began the last 6 legs at around 430am. It was perfect because by the time our 2nd runner started it was nearly light out. It's always really nice running and waking up around sunrise!

My 3rd leg was 7.4 miles long and started around 715am. It was getting kind of hot at that point and was definitely sunny. I was really nervous about this leg and being able to hold up a good pace without killing my hamstring. Plus, I remember the pain last year on my 3rd leg and it wasn't pretty. I was expecting the same thing this year.

To my surprise, I had a great run. I was flying for the first 4 miles. I had some cramping issues with my quads. I drank water and slowed the pace down. I managed to recover and finish strong. I came in at 1 hour and 1 minute! I was so pleased! I thought I would come in around 1:10! What a great GMR for me! And I never got that 'post-marathon' feeling like I did last year. It was great.

We came in to the finish line at 2pm. 20 minutes faster than last year! Everyone was relieved to be done, but was cranky, tired, smelly, sore and just wanting to get home. After waiting for the Ultra Team to finish, we packed up the vans and headed back to Madison.

After a gas station stop and a 2.5 hour drive, we were back. Everyone unpacked their coolers, we divided up the remaining food and said our congrats and farewells. I think everyone just really wanted a shower at that point!

Another great year for the GMR and Deena's Dozen. We had a fabulous team that kicked butt and had fun in the process!

I'm not sure if I'll do it next year, but I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a fun 'team' race. It's a blast and very rewarding!