Run Away to the Bay Race Report

Probably my favorite picture from the day. Celebrating with beer.

 

Why drive from Oshkosh to Green Bay when you can run it with friends?

For the second year, I got to do Run Away to the Bay, a 55-mile relay that starts in Oshkosh and ends along the river in downtown Green Bay. My friend Myriah asked me a few weeks ago if I’d like to be part of her team along with her husband and sister-in-law. I was game.

 Getting ready to run.

Myriah ran the first three legs (about 16 miles) and our teammate Tania picked up the fourth leg.

Then it was time for me to run.

I had 3.4 miles from a park in Menasha to Darboy Community Park, which is literally blocks from my parents’ house. So it’s a stretch of road I know well, and run often when I’m at their house. Plus, about two-thirds of it is actually part of the Fox Cities Half Marathon route, and we all know that’s one of my favorite races.

The run itself wasn’t too exciting. I battled some nasty cross winds for a bit, but kept a fairly consistent pace. I slowed to a walk for a moment, mostly to get some water in me, but I could spy a dark-colored SUV parked up ahead at the next intersection. Thinking it was my teammates (it was), I started running again. About a mile later, I was coming into the exchange zone at the park and handing off the slap bracelet to Josh.

Done with my first leg.

 

Now I’d have 18 miles before my final leg. At first glance, that sounds like a pretty decent amount of time. And in most cases, it would be. Not with Josh. The dude is fast, pulled off like 7 minute miles.

Pretty soon I found myself at a winery somewhere south of Green Bay, waiting for Josh to hand off that slap bracelet so I could run my final 4.6 mile leg.

Not going to lie. This leg was tough.

By this time, it was starting to get a bit toasty. There weren’t many clouds and even though I was running on a tree-lined trail, there wasn’t any shade. And of course, the wind disappeared. I made sure to keep myself hydrated and refilled my handheld when I came upon my teammates along the trail.

I kept putting one foot in front of the other, walked when I needed to and let my music get me through it. For the final two miles I just kept hitting repeat on my iPod and listened to Fall Out Boy’s new song, “My Songs Know What You Did In the Dark (Light Em Up)” over and over and over again. What? It has a great beat and it kept me going.

Finally I came to the exchange zone and handed off the bracelet to Myriah. Two legs later and our team crossed the finish line on the City Deck along the river in Green Bay in just shy of 8 hours. Then it was time for food, beer and laughs with friends.

 Finish line party!

It was a good day.