RUTE 2009 Race Report (Team Beauty and the Beasts)
Intro (Dan reporting): 65 mile relay race, 5 team members, ten legs of varying difficulty and lots of fun climb and plunges. The route went from Summerland, south of SB (Toro Canyon Park) along the mountain ridges of Camino Cielo, above SB, down to Solvang and finishing in Nojoqui Falls Park.
Team roster (L to R): Dave, Kary, Brian, Drew, Dan.
I saw some of the buzz around this race last year, I really wanted to do it, but didn't have enough time to form a team, I threw my hat in the ring as an alternate, but all the teams were full, I vowed that next year I'd make it happen.
Many months before this race I start floating the idea with various runner pals, from the start I wanted to have a mixed team, so I had both the guys and the gals on the list. I settled on Dave, Drew and myself pretty quickly and through some arm twisting got Brian on board. Finally rounded out the team with Kary (Celine had heard she was doing SB9T solo, a 35 mile race w/ 11,000'+ climb and I promptly snatched her up).
We had enough time (enough rope?) to get trained and we did - Drew starting from blank slate to 15 mile mountain training runs at the end. David going for his first trail running (and trail falls) in the mountains. I had a great time doing the group training runs, getting a feel for everyone's pace and strengths. Along the way I also decided to run the Catalina marathon (4,000' climb) and of course got Dave into that too. The marathon was a month before RUTE, but we figured we'd recover in time, or pretend it was just a nice loooong training run before the relay.
We did some pre-race logistics, figuring who was in what car, support along the way, etc. I threw together a geeky spreadsheet of the legs and runners. I thought we were all TOUGH ENOUGH, so no one was looking to just 'finish the distance', we wanted everyone to run hard and stretch for their personal best. We made some quick estimates of our push times for each leg and came up with a 9:53 stretch goal.
The day of the race rolled around very quickly and we were off...
Legs 1,2,3,4,4a (Brian & Kary, Brian reporting)Kary was smart to draft a friend and marathon runner to SAG for us. We could focus on the race and not deal with car logistics.
We showed up a few minutes before the start with Dan, Dave and Drew welcoming us with surly grins. Wondering where we were, they were worried that one of them may have to run the first leg in jeans and regular shoes! It was great to see the team spirit at this early hour.
Assisted with a downhill start, I ran the first four miles at approx 7 min pace. The climbs up San Ysidro and Mountain were tough but managed to finish at 7:48am. Kary picked off runners up Gibraltar, finishing the 10.5 miles leg 2 and 3 with 2800' vertical at 8:33 pace!
I had two 500'+ climbs up La Cumbre and Cathedral peaks. I vowed not walk. On the second climb, the peak was covered in fog. I vaguely remembered the altitude and could track progress by my GPS. It was a relief to summit.
Cruised down to the Painted Cave hand off averaging 8:25. The slow uphills were offset by sub 7's on the downhills. Kary covered the last two miles in 11 minutes. The woman is a machine! We finished the first 28 miles at 3:49 approx 35 minutes ahead of goal.
Leg 2 (Kary reporting): I was ready to RUNNNNNNNNNN! Brian came in smokin' fast and off I went. I remember during my drive of Leg 2 with Dan earlier that week being saddened by all the fire damage and thinking it was going to be a somber run ... however, I was so excited and focused on running that I barely remember much of what I saw during that leg ... I am definitely grateful to the positive words shared by the man driving the gold-colored VW van and was incredibly surprised to see my good friend, Terra, and her daughter on the side of the road cheering me on ... Yeah! As I turned the corner to start leg 3, I did wonder whether running these legs back to back was such a good idea ... MMmmmm.
Leg 3 (Kary reporting): Ahhh, Gibraltar ... I could see my route ahead of me, along with several runners. I felt good and think I smiled the entire run ... I was elated to hear the cheers from other teams ... the words of my friend Lori played in my head "You are fit" "You are fast" ... Oh yeah! When I drove this leg I thought I would remember the different mile markers but did not ... I knew there was a good climb after Flores Flats and indeed, it was ... I was excited to see Brian and Nichol at the hand off ... Yahoooooooo!
Leg 4a (Kary reporting): I think I am really running fast, I am running fast, I am going to fall really hard, I better slow down, I am still running fast ... there is 154 ... there is Dave ... GO DAVE!
Quick interruption (Dan reporting): Through these first legs Dan, Dave and Drew started to get reports of how much our team was ahead of our stretch goal, we were getting pumped for our legs and to keep pushing the pace. It was great to stay in touch with the whole team txting and calling in race reports. Next year though, we'll do a big party van with a masseuse!
So, Dave went up to his spot ahead of his scheduled time and Dan and Drew headed over to their legs early too. We were all getting jittery and ready to race. (There was supposed to be a shuttle for Drew's leg hand off spot, but that was a trick on us newbies and we had to drive ourselves up to the spot, bringing along other newbies who were tricked too.)
Leg 5 (Dave reporting): Got to my hand off location early cause I didn't want to miss Kary, and the anticipation was killing me. Good thing cause Brian and Kary blazed legs 1 through 4. Way to go, about 35 minutes ahead of our goal. After seeing Brian off in the morning and then having to sit around made me super anxious to run, so when I got the hand off from Kary I was off and racing.
My first leg was 4.7 miles through a mountain community all on a paved road. The climb was pretty tough averaging about 250ft per mile. Brian and Kary's fast pace on the first four legs put me in position to pass some of the other teams. This really helped me because I really feed off picking off runners in front of me and I wasn't sure how many other runners I would see on the course. By mile 2.5 I caught up to two other teams at the steepest part of leg 5. It was great to see other runners because my lungs were already burning and I hadn't even completed mile 3. Things settled in after mile 3.5 when I was able to get my breathing under control and had picked up another runner in my sights. Even with my breathing under control I felt like I might be pushing too hard. Got to the end of my first leg in 37.5 minutes, under 8 minute miles. I was really happy with my time, but I knew I needed to back off if I was going to get through my next leg. Sachi helped me on my first leg providing aid and support. Thanks Sach, you're the best, luv you lots.
Leg 6 (Dave Reporting): Leg 6 is a long 9 mile trek from the Gun Club on West Camino Cielo to Broadcast Peak, all on a dirt fire road. The total elevation climb on this leg was about 1250ft, but lucky for me it starts out with a mile of downhill. The downhill gave me a great chance to rest up for the rest of my climb to Broadcast Peak. Unfortunately I didn't take the opportunity, because one of the teams I passed on my previous leg blew by me on the downhill. He was a fresh runner and he was really, really fast. I tried my best to keep up but by mile 2 of leg 7 my efforts on my previous leg were starting to catch up. I gave up the chase and started to settle into my own pace.
My mother's boyfriend Jim was kind enough to provide support for me on this leg. Because the leg was all dirt fire roads he rode his mountain bike to provide support. Unfortunately it was easier for me to climb the hills than Jim so I lost support for about 2 miles. I was starting to wonder what happened to Jim when all of a sudden a truck passed me, stopped in front of me and Jim popped out. Jim passed me my water bottle and told me I was on my own. I thanked him and I was off to tackle Broadcast Peak. Some people might have worried about getting aid, but I knew the Lord would provide. As I approached the last crazy, crazy climb to Broadcast Peak I had only checked my watch once and I knew I was making pretty good time.
After I passed the first set of TV towers and came around to the back of the mountain to see the last insane climb I notice another runner. I hadn't seen another runner in 6 miles and I was dead set on catching one more team. This was just the motivation I needed to get me over the hump. I passed the runner just before the 2nd set of TV towers and pushed my way to the end of my leg. Man was I happy to see Dan and Drew. You could see the pain on my face. I finished my two legs approximately 13.7 miles in 1 hour 58 minutes and 31 seconds (approximately 8min39sec miles). Congratulation to the team and their spectacular efforts, and a special thanks to Dan for making this all happen. Dan is my motivator.
Leg 7 (Drew reporting): In driving from the end of leg 7 to the start, we found out that this leg was about 6 miles (as opposed to the scheduled 7), so David was running an uphill mile at the end of his leg (ouch!). Once we got to the hand off spot, we could see the runners come into view about 1 to 2 minutes before their hand offs. Over a span of about 20 minutes, several teams completed their hand offs. Because of the great performance by our first 3 runners, I was pretty nervous while we waited. Sooner than expected, a runner appeared around the bend, and I asked Dan if it was David. Dan said it wasn’t and then as he got closer, we realized that it was David, and he was working HARD!! I quickly moved into the road for the handoff and as he slapped my hand (with a maniacal look on his face), I took off down the hill.
I ran on adrenaline for the first half-mile or so, neglecting to start my stopwatch. Dan and Dave drove by (they might have offered water) and then about a mile and a half out another car pulled up behind me. I moved to the outside shoulder to let them pass. They passed safely, my foot hit a root, and I quickly fell into the road. Luckily, I did a shoulder roll, so the only thing to be scraped was my right elbow, and I was none the worse for the wear. Pretty soon after, I felt a tightness in my right calf. I thought it was a cramp, but it ended up being a muscle pull/strain. Those don’t go away, but you get used to them. So, with my adrenaline gone, I settled into a steady pace. The view to the left was great, with the ocean visible most of the time.
Over the span of the first few of miles, I was passed by 3 relay runners, who quickly disappeared into the road ahead. On Dan's advice, I tried to run as the road presented itself, going more quickly on the steeper sections. Good advice. I chased a solo runner for a few miles and eventually passed him with about a mile to go. It was nice to get into the shade so I could shed the bandanna. I had no idea how far I had to go (since I didn’t start my stopwatch), then suddenly I came around a turn and saw people up ahead. People cheered, I hit Dan’s hand, and he took off. Felt good to be done with the leg, but I was still pretty worried about the calf.
Leg 8 (Dan reporting): Nice hand off from Drew, who came charging in looking fast and still pretty fresh. The race adrenaline and big downhill on this leg took me over and I ran fast, 6:44, 6:44, 7:07 for first three miles, 7:30 average for first leg and faster then my stretch goal. It sure was fun to fly the down hills - run the terrain. No one was going to pass me on this part of the race! When I hit the leg 9 hand off my calves were hurting (I strained them) the price to be paid for pushing hard down the hill. Seeing all the cars and fresh runners getting ready for hand offs at leg 9 and knowing that I was not stopping was a bit challenging, but I had no doubts about pushing on for team B&Bs.
Leg 9 (Dan reporting): This leg was tough for me, I had no problem with the distance, I can cruise a half marathon in my sleep, but the hard burn on leg 8 slowed me down. I banked some time with that leg, so overall I knew I would still do OK. A few of the fresh runners who started on leg 9 passed me, looking, well, 'fresh'. I did run out of water with about 2 miles to go, but luckily one of the support vans stopped and asked if I need anything I bravely waved him off then, said wait, I need water! He filled up one of my bottles, which gave me a nice mental and hydration level boost. I think this is the same gold VW that Kary saw, nice to get support from other teams.
I was soooo happy to see Drew and David at 10. After burning my legs on the downhill of 8 I had to put everything into 9 to get through it in decent time. I tagged Drew's hand for his turn on the last leg and he was off.
For the total of both legs, I hit my 'good' goal, but missed my 'stretch'. Likely if I went out slower, I could have gotten pretty close to the stretch - next time. Still it sure was fun to
fly those downhills, that's hard to resist. Woohoo! I was done with my legs and now it was all up to Drew to finish us in style.
Leg 10 (Drew reporting): After we sent off Dan, David drove me to the last hand off point, which was great, since he took me from the finish line to my starting point for leg 10. This was important because I got to see the wicked hill that made up more of leg 10 than I expected. While we waited for Dan, a female team served as entertainment with their dancing (Thank you shout out to them!). I just kept thinking, “I don’t want anyone to pass me this time.” Eventually Dan came in looking like he’d given EVERYTHING he had! [Nice Job!!]
I started off with a limp to my gait (trying to warm the calf) and knew the hills were coming. Dan and David offered water on the hill and then again at the top (which came not a moment too soon). When I came to the point where I could see the finish, I heard the encouraging shouts and tried to accelerate. I don’t know how well that went, but when I got close and was joined by the whole team and (especially!) all the kids for the last part, everything felt great!
Finish time: 9:02, we killed our stretch goal of 9:53!What an event. Couldn’t ask for better teammates. Fast, tough and supportive. 15th place, top 50%. Next year faster and top 10?
Post race dinner (Dan reporting): we cleaned up and had an awesome meal at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse with the spouses. Ruth's had their recession special menu going, soooper yum, desserts on the house for the runners and awesome beer mugs inscribed with our RUTE 2009 team logo and roster from Celine!
Awesome supporters (Dan reporting): Families and friends, making race $hirts, race mugs, time for training, support during the race, refreshments afterward and gathering to celebrate with us at the finish line. They rawk and we LOOOOVE them!
Summary (Dan reporting): Now when I look up at the mountain ridges going from Summerland, above Santa Barbara, down to Solvang, I feel like we
own those ridges. We ran them all, we ran them hard. Damn proud of our team. Looking ahead to next year and new PRs!
Overall RUTE 2009 Race Results
Rough Splits
I like the nice build up to beat the stretch goal, perhaps a little less sandbagging on the stretch goals next time :) Of course I love us beating it by 52 min for our first time, so it's fine. As Brian said, we hit the top 50% of the field which rawks, and this was a damn competitive field. Congrats to Beauty and the Beasts!
GPS / Elevation for legs 1, 4, 8&9
