Cascade Lakes Relay 2011: The Hardest Thing I have Ever Run.

The photos are a joint effort by VAN 1, I know who took some of them, others I don't recall. As well as runners, they are great picture takers too- it was a very talented bunch.

What is Cascade Lakes Relay ???  CLR is a relay that goes from Diamond Lake to Bend, Oregon- a 216.6 mile relay race in which you have 2 vans of 6 runners each. You pass a snap bracelet through all the runners in van 1 and then through van 2  each runner will have 3 legs to complete and the distances can be varied, the terrain is always different and it is almost always at an elevation of 4,000 ft.

I don't quite know how to start this one. I feel helpless in using words to explain all that this relay meant to me, or how it challenged me, or changed me. Going into it I was clueless as to how difficult it would be, and pretty stupid in my training- I haven't run over 8 miles in, well maybe 4 months. I just thought I would run 3 chill legs of 7.5 miles, 6.5 miles and 7.5 miles, and I figured the pace I had quoted the team captain even would give me a little cushion to not worry in the least and just enjoy the run. I was very wrong. It was still very fun, and I miss it now- most of the ladies and I were strangers when we started and true team mates when it was done.

GO RED CAPES!!! Our team was The Just Us League- we wore capes, and it was fun.

I started my first leg of the relay-leg 3, in the heat of the day and at about 4,000ft elevation and no gain during the run to speak of. I didn't have my Garmin (running watch) so I wasn't sure as to how far I had gone or what I had left. I probably dumped a gallon of water on myself and wished I had more. It was miserable and I kept feeling really slow- but at the end of it I was right on pace. I realised then that there was no way I could keep that up for the next two legs- that realisation was gut wrenching. You see, being lazy when you are only running for yourself is different than taking it easy when everyone else is working really hard. I knew I had to give it all I had and that that wouldn't be much, and I was worried it wouldn't be enough.

See below for during and after. During the smile is genuine, the second shot has me questioning my sanity.  The look in my eyes can be translated "I can't go another step and I am only 1/3 of the way done. Can I cry now?"

I loved the team. I really wanted to help them, and knew they were there for me as well. It was an amazing experience.

The scenery, well- look for yourself. It was a gift from God. He is such an artist.

 

After we all had run our first and second legs we spent the night sleeping in La Pine at the local high school, in the gym. Runners were coming in at all hours of the night while their van 2 was running, they were also heading out at all times of the night. Clanking happening, alarms constantly going off...it was an adventure in sleeplessness. We got there at 2 am, left around 5 am- I don't think I slept for more than 1 hour. It was nice to lay down though.

I was again the 3rd runner from our van and at this point I didn't know if I could actually run. My stomache felt like I had swallowed rocks mixed with air bubbles, my legs were not moving well, I was hungry and natious all at once. My little toes were numb and in pain intermittently. It was sure to be fun. I took off and was feeling pretty good for the first 2 or 3miles but then the last 4.5 miles of my run just were a climb, it wasn't even a steep climb, or much gain, but I was hurting. After I had already run 2 other legs, my own legs had nothing to offer and I started to falter.

I looked up ahead and saw the van stopped in the middle of the road. As I ran by Janine jumped out (the same runner who had just handed off to me after completing her last leg) and said, " I am going to run with you, unless it makes you feel bad-then I won't".

I can still barely talk about this leg. My last leg, and where my friend Janine Arthur gave me so much more than she knows, so much more than 4 extra miles she didn't have to run.

You know how some things really speak to your heart, this did it for me. Janine is not  my hero because she is a great runner, or because of her dedication to her training- which was why she was a hero of mine before, now she is even more a hero in my book because she had already done her duty,  because she has nerve pain in her feet and quite possibly could have been in more pain than me--and still she stuck with me, I don't have words of gratitude that could express how that spoke to me. She already had run her race and then she helped me run mine.  She didn't ask me if she could run with me, she knew I needed it and she just did. A true friend is something rare these days, and I have one.

I finished my leg, stride by stride and then I was done. I passed the baton snap bracelet on to Heather, and she passed it on to Natasha and then Olivia did her crazy climb leg (notice the smile on her face, she is a trooper!!).

Once we were down to the last leg we awaited our last runner close to the finish, and then we all crossed that together. It was amazing. We did it!!!

We took 2nd place in the women's division and arrived the 34th team out of the 175 including all male and co-eds. I don't think I'll be able to resist it next year, it was a true adventure.

We ran 216.6 miles in  30hrs. 51min. and 10sec.

Yeah for Team Just Us League!!! GO RED CAPES!!!