Reach the Beach Relay

Last Friday and Saturday I had the pleasure of running Reach the Beach, a 200-mile relay race, with New Balance’s media and PR team, Girls Run Beta.

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This was my second time running Reach the Beach with New Balance, the first being as part of Team Off Balance in May of 2012.  (Leg 1, Leg 2, Thank You, The Gear)  Going into this year’s Reach the Beach, I was worried that it wouldn’t compare to my previous experience.  For months after the race, Team Off Balance sent random emails and text messages to each other filled with inside jokes and memories. We comforted and supported each other through tough runs, danced to Call Me Maybe and ate more bananas than one can imagine.

Now having had more than 72 hours to reflect on this year’s experience, I can say, without a doubt, that it was an even better race weekend. Instead of doing a leg by leg recap, I am going to share a reflections recap.

Reach the Beach finish line

Before jumping into the reflections, here is a summary of Reach the Beach and Ragnar Relay races so you can understand what we experienced.

  • Reach the Beach is a 200-mile relay race that lasts anywhere from 24 to 35 hours depending on your team’s pace.
  • Most teams are made up of 12 runners, each of whom will run three legs. Legs can range in distance from 2.5 miles to 9 miles depending on the course.
  • Legs are categorized easy, medium and hard based on elevation and distance.
  • There are, however, a few ultra teams who have as few as four runners who each log 50 miles during the race!
  • The runners separate into two vans. When one van is “on” or running the other van is either eating, resting or relaxing.
  • There will be someone from your team running at all time, including during the night.
  • Runners finish their legs in assigned transition areas where they hand off the slap bracelet to the next runner.

Three years later, three years stronger: Three years ago, I was a nervous runner who was very unsure of my abilities and whether I would even cross the finish line. This time around, I was the experienced runner who was able to motivate and support each of my teammates. Only two of the twelve runners had previously run a relay race, and therefore, we leveraged our experience to help ease fears, answer questions and support the newbies. Over the past ten years, many people have mentored and coached me through my running journey, and it felt wonderful to start finally returning the favor. Hopefully, I can serve in a similar capacity for readers and friends who decide to conquer their first relay race!

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New Hampshire is beautiful.  While the race name was the same, this year’s race course was very different from the Reach the Beach 2012 course that ran through Massachusetts instead of New Hampshire. As our van drove from Boston towards the start line in Bretton Woods, our faces were glued to the windows. The lush landscape, rolling hills, and panoramic views were a refreshing change from the Boston and New York City paths where we each logged most of our training miles. During the 30 hours of running, the course took us through rolling countryside, along shimmering lakes, over babbling brooks, past 18th century New England towns, through farmlands and cow pastures, and finally to the coast. If you decide to do a Ragnar or any other relay race, take the time to review the course as the scenery helps take your mind off the pain during tough miles.


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Supporting others is the best way to pass the time!  Finishing a relay race of this magnitude isn’t easy. Every runner, regardless of their ability, will have a tough mile emotionally and mentally. Luckily, with over 500 teams on the course, there are constantly other vans and runners passing you or lining the roads. Unfortunately, they didn’t all get the memo that Reach the Beach and relay races in general are more fun when you support EVERY runner, not just your team.  When we weren’t running, we were cheering. In fact, most of us grew horse by the end of the weekend from cheering so much. Our van fully embraced the cowbell and airhorn provided to us by New Balance. Air horn novices quickly learned that it is best to blow the air horn once you pass a runner, so it doesn’t scare the shit out of them. Sometimes the runners would wave excitedly, thanking us for the support and other times they would just continue running. Regardless of their response to our cheers, we kept cheering and using mantras like “you can do this” or telling them how awesome they looked. Our radio was permanently turned to the highest volume so runners could enjoy our jams just as much as we were.  When runners within our van were running, the support rose to a level I’ve never seen before. We averaged two support stations per leg on the course, pulling to the side of the road to hand the runner their beverage of choice (NUUN, coconut water, Gatorade, or plain water) as well as checking in with them. No one on our team ever felt as if they were running alone, even during the night legs.

Embrace the night. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d enjoy my 6.4-mile night leg. In 2012, even the experienced runners in my van feared the night leg and finished saying that they couldn’t stand the quiet darkness. I finished my leg wishing I could double the distance, having thoroughly enjoyed the crescent moon, bright stars and peaceful roads. I listened to Whitney Houston’s greatest hits and logged sub 9-minute miles through the rolling hills and darkness. Instead of fearing the dark, I embraced it. I took the time to enjoy the bright stars and crescent moon, I used my headlamp to illuminate not only the road but also my surroundings, and I enjoyed the surprise of the path. I had no idea when a hill would begin since I couldn’t see more than ten feet in front of me. As a runner who is still working to improve my mental game, not knowing what came next helped me have a better mindset and not waste time fearing the hills in advance.

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Push yourself: Other then the New York marathon, this race had more crowd and team support than any other race I’ve run. But beyond the typical crowd support, this race also provides team support 24 x 7 from the other people in your van. This camaraderie and atmosphere helped many of our runners complete distances they previously thought impossible. Even though three legs can seem grueling, and the distance adds up due to the lack of recovery, the support of your teammates will help you push past walls and tough miles.

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Eat wisely: This year, I avoided mindless snacking and scary diner meals instead choosing to eat only when hungry and only foods that I knew wouldn’t upset my stomach. I finished the weekend without any stomach issues and felt like I fueled perfectly for my 20.4 miles. Our van ate two meals, Friday breakfast and Friday dinner, in restaurants. Friday morning I had one egg and one blueberry pancake while Friday night I had a grilled chicken burger with a baked potato for dinner. I avoided coffee, fried foods, spicy food and candy both in the restaurants and our van. My van meals included two mini cinnamon raisin bagels, an apple, some pretzels, almond butter, and two bananas. Trust me, during relay races, the last thing you want is to sprint to the port-a-potty due to a mystery diner meal or one too many handfuls of candy. Pack your regular pre-run food if possible and take a few extra minutes during restaurant stops to evaluate the menu and feel free to ask for menu substitutions. A 200-mile relay race gives you some room to be a “difficult customer.”

“We start as a group of strangers, we finish as a group of friends. Running will do that to you.”  Sashea included this quote in her recap, and it summarizes the weekend and experience perfectly.  This year, I climbed into the van barely knowing any of my teammates. I’d met Evann briefly during two separate workout classes but otherwise did not know anyone else. By the end of the weekend, I walked away with eleven new friends who supported me through sweaty sports bra changes, 90-degree runs and side of the road bathroom stops. I actually enjoyed sharing this experience with strangers more than with good friends as we had plenty to talk about the entire weekend.  If I did this race with family or close friends, I think we may kill each other.

Come back this Friday for a Reach the Beach themed Friday Favorites post that will include my suggested Ragnar or relay race packing list, a review of my favorite gear from the weekend and a fun giveaway. 

Thank you again to New Balance for sponsoring an incredible weekend and providing me with this opportunity.

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Reach the Beach Runner #12: Leg 1

It’s a rainy Tuesday in New York City and I’m still in denial that the weekend is over. Running Reach the Beach with Team Off Balance was something that didn’t happen overnight. In fact, the first emails started circulating back in January! That’s four months of anticipation, planning and emails that all culminated in 31:47:24 hours of running 200 miles through the ski resorts, back roads and beach towns of Massachusetts.

I had great intensions of posting this last night, but I had a last minute opportunity to attend the 40th Anniversary FiFi Awards at Lincoln Center. Having never been to Lincoln Center before, the night was amazing! Jane Lynch, the master of ceremonies, was hilarious and it doesn’t hurt that our number one fragrance launch of last year, Gucci Guilty PH, went home with some awards! IMG_2547

It was a wonderful night of celebrating but I don’t think wearing 4 inch heels helped my sore legs at all.

Sorry, now that I’m done with that tangent, let’s get back to Reach the Beach Day 1!

We were able to sleep until 7am on Friday as we didn’t have to hit the road until 8:45. The group gathered in the hotel’s restaurant for a hearty breakfast of champions. While I knew I wasn’t running until far later, I still didn’t want to risk it by eating anything to heavy. Therefore, I had a piece of toast with peanut butter, a small portion of scrambled eggs, and lots of fruit.

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*Photo courtesy of Tina

When we headed out the vans we were greeted by the most amazing weather you could imagine. The sun was shining, blue sky abound and the temperature was a perfect 70 degrees! Since I missed the van decorating on Thursday, it was exciting to see the vans in all their glory for the first time! I loved the fun sayings covering the vans’ windows.

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Getting us all loaded and in the vans was a bit of another story. It was kind of like hearding cats as we were all so excited that getting into the van was the last thing on our mind.   Eventually we got our acts together and sorted through all our gear making sure that our running clothes for leg 1 and food was most accessible, while storing everything else in the back and under seats.

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We headed to the start of the relay at Wachusett Mountain, a ski resort about 20 minutes away from our hotel. IMG_2449I was immediately overwhelmed when we pulled into the lot and were surrounded by at least 60 other vans and teams of women, men, and ultra teams who were prepared to run more than 26 miles per person in the next 24 hours! Before we could get separated, our photographer snagged us for an official team picture, filled with smiles and clean hair versus the sweat and muck that would grace our finish picture.

IMG_4816 (640x480)Luckily, Reach the Beach is very organized and wants everyone to have a safe experience. Amongst the chaos of the race start, they organize the area into four clear stations which teams must go through before they can start.

IMG_2450 IMG_2452 The safety check is where they ensured that we had proper night running gear such as headlamps, vests, and flashing lights which are required to be worn by runners from 6pm to 6am, regardless of how much sunlight is shining.

Photo via Tina

After safety we were able to pick up our bibs which featured our team number and our individual number which would coincide with the order which we’d run for our team. Team 96 and runner number 12 meant that I’d have lots of fun but be faced with the most anticipation of anyone on our team! Early in the planning for Reach the Beach when Tina requested our input regarding legs I knew I wanted to be the last runner. After reading so many relay recaps, I thought it would be fun to be the final runner everyone cheered through at the end and if I know anything about myself it’s that I’ll always finish a race, which made me a dependable number 12 choice.

IMG_2456Sadly, Melissa was in Van 1 which means that this is one of the few pictures we shared together before we went our separate ways!

We headed out to the lift area for a few more team pictures and a New York City picture before the action started. IMG_2457

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We were able to spot Gia who was on another relay team for some last minute motivation and a quick picture before heading down to the start.

At 10:20 Gretchen toed the line and headed straight up the mountain for her rigorous first leg of the journey. This is the shortest leg of the entire relay but also straight up the ski slope!

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Then the waiting began for Van 2. We had five hours or so before our first runner, Tina, would kick off the excitement for us. We spent the day lounging on grassy knolls, sipping Dunkin Donuts iced coffee, eating lunch at Panera, and getting to know each other better. I really enjoyed having this time as this was my first chance meeting our team mom and epic driving, Monica, and fellow blogger Elizabeth.

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PhotoIMG_2466 Our last spot allowed us to cheer runners heading into the last half mile of leg 6 right before they transitioned to runner number 7 of Van 12. It was a blast seeing all the different types of runners. Before long we headed up to the hill to watch for Sarah who was going to be blasting through the transition area within minutes. This girl may have been worried about her first relay but you would have never known. She was smiling ear to ear when she ran through and even had energy to bust out a burpee post transition!

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This is when the real adrenaline started. For the next few hours our van would drop the runner off in the transition area, cheer her on as she started, meet on the side of the road around the half way point with water and motivation, hop back in the van and get to the next transition point to cheer the runner through their sprint to the transition. One thing that I didn’t realize was that there were no aid stations along the course. Therefore, having the van along the course was really important especially during the hottest and darkest parts of the relay.

IMG_2471 IMG_2473 201205202240.jpgIMG_2476 IMG_2480 IMG_2489 Before my run I fueled with half a New York bagel which I brought from the city, some nut butter and half a banana.

IMG_2483 The wait was finally over and it was my turn to experience the relay! After waiting all day I was super excited and knew that it’d be a wonderful leg as it coincided with sunset! In fact, we realized that I’d have the chance to run at sunset, sunrise, and the finale. Not too shabby!

Leg 12 was 6.01 miles and would take me through a few small towns and into Hopkinton State Park.

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Luckily, the run was just as gorgeous as I’d hoped!

 

The run itself felt pretty good since my legs were so anxious to run. The hills were an expected challenge but I just kept pushing through them knowing that my team was waiting on the flip side. I had the great fun to run with a fellow blogger from Team Vansome for about 2 of the miles. We chatted about the relay itself and our preparations. Going into the state park in the pitch black made me thankful to have her by my side though it was fun to crank my legs up into full gear and sprint the final quarter mile to pull ahead. Call me competitive but that final sprint is my favorite part of any race!

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