K + 2(K) = 13.1

This weekend I ran the CHAD Half Marathon Relay with friends Katherine and Kathryn (hence our relay name. KKK was not really a good option so we went with the K + 2(K). Despite the rain (thanks to hurricane Hanna), it was a great weekend.

I hadn't done a lot of exercise this week so I was little worried. I'd run 2.9 last Saturday and went out for another 2.9 on Tuesday with John, but only made it two because of some sharp muscle tightness. I also didn't make it to TKD this week because of our school's open house night. So I was a little weary about going into the race this weekend.

This is the first race I've done with an afternoon start time. I headed up to my brother's house in Hanover Saturday morning to meet up with everyone. It was raining right before I left, but then cleared up. The day was humid and warm with no sun, but it looked good for running. Along with my relay team, my brother was running on a team with the husbands of my two teammates (team name: Two guys and a couch). Also, my brother's friend Sean was running the full half marathon.

We all drove in to the Dartmouth campus and set up home base in my brother's office. His office is right next to the Dartmouth green - right where the start/finish and the relay handoffs all were. It was very handy, especially when it started to rain 15 minutes before the start of the race. It seemed odd to be running so late in the day. I'm not sure I liked it. It gives you too much time to think.

I ran the first leg, 2.8 miles (the shortest distance and the flattest!), with Jeff from Two Guys and a Couch. I left him at mile 1, trying to keep a 10 min/mile pace. I held that pace until mile 2 and then I hit a hill. It wasn't a particularly large hill, but the incline seemed to go on forever. The hill wiped me out and my pace slowed to a crawl. I picked it up when I rounded the corner to the last 100 yards in my leg and passed our bracelet baton off to Kathryn. Kathryn had the longest and hilliest leg of 6.5 miles. She cruised through and looked really strong at the handoff. She passed the baton off to Katherine in the middle of the green and Kathryn brought our team home with the last 3.8 miles. Throughout the race the rain kept coming harder and harder and it cooled off quite a bit. Our official time was 2:25:54. We were pretty excited about breaking 2 and a half hours. Two Guys and a Couch finished in 2:06:03. Sean, who ran the whole thing, whooped us all with a time of 1:56:29.

After partaking in the after race BBQ, we headed home for some excellent pizza and brownies. I had a great time and hopefully we'll be able to do this race again another year.

Here are Kathryn, Katherine and I (aka K + 2(K) = 13.1):