Reach the Beach Relay 2008 in New Hampshire
For my first running race ever, this one was quite substantial. Go big or go home, right? 12 people (team dRUNk), 2 vans, 32 hours, 210 miles, from the White Mountains of New Hampshire to Hampton Beach. Link to Reach the Beach website.
Heather and I flew to Boston on Thursday, Jim picked us up from Logan and we met everyone at his parents’ house in Hampton (near the finish line we would eventually reach about 40 hours later). Jim’s mom cooked us pasta dinner, we passed out, and woke up by 5 AM to pack the vans and leave by 6.
The drive from Hampton to the start (Cannon Mountain) took a little over 2 hours. Upon arrival, we took care of all administrative tasks and escorted our first runner (Evan) to the starting line. Off goes Evan, and after righteously decorating our vehicles, the other 5 Van 1 folks pile into their vehicle and follow him down the course to the end of the first leg and the first transition area, where he passes the baton (snap bracelet) to the next runner. This process continued – when one van finished, the other van switched in, and the first van drove to a rest point to eat, hang out, and (maybe) sleep a little.
Our team came in 331/355 overall with a team average pace of 9:28/mile (mostly due to Evan and Matt who both ran high 6s and low 7s). My personal stats: 6.6 miles at 9:57/m, 9.2 miles at 10:44/m (HEINOUS HILLS on this leg), and 6.8 miles at 10:18/m. Also, I ran in these shoes for most of the race, and took them off and ran barefoot for the last 3 miles of my last leg.
I know you’d rather scroll through pics than listen to me yap, so here’s a link to the photo album:
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Click here for a sweet slide show of all the photos
Also, here’s a sampling of good ones (not in order):
I used my GPS watch to record all 3 of my legs. Here are maps of them:
RTB leg 8: 6.6 miles, 9:57/mile, ascent: 983 ft., descent: 1083 ft.
RTB leg 20: 9.2 miles, 10:44/mile, ascent: 1342 ft., descent: 1243 ft.
RTB leg 32: 6.8 miles, 10:18/mile, ascent: 1007 ft., descent: 1084 ft.
After the race, we patched our wounds, took showers, and headed to Boston. Despite the lack of sleep and extreme exhaustion, we worked up enough energy to put down a bunch of pizza, wine, and champagne Saturday night, then hang out in Boston all day Sunday. Here’s a few pics of that.
We went to a Jazz bar/restaurant called Johhny D’s for brunch (steak+arugala+egg+potato quesedilla, blood orange mimosa in a parrot mug = awesome), got to see Kelsey and Matt from RIT, and Red Bones BBQ for dinner. Ordered way too much awesome meat, including 3 kinds of ribs + brisket and mac+cheese, etc. Jill met us there too, which was cool. Jim and I finished off the meal with HUGE glasses of straight Bookers bourbon. We added some ice to it (this one calls for it), and realized that it’s SO STRONG (127 proof) that ice actually sinks in it!
4 AM Monday morning came WAY too early, as Jim took Heather and I back to the airport. We landed, I got in my car, and drove straight to work.
I got Nominated for the Peace Corps!
Last Wednesday my regional Peace Corps recruiter called me up and offered me the nomination. The only details he could give are that if I go, I will likely leave in June of ‘09, and I will probably go somewhere in Africa. Now I’m faced with a heavy packet of medical paperwork to get filled out by my doctor and dentist, then waiting until the placement office gets around to sending me an Invitation. Until I get the invitation, everything (timing, location, etc.) is totally up in the air.
Shanks Ranch Texas Extravaganza ‘08
I flew down to Austin this weekend for another Ranch Reunion. The plan was to spend Friday and Saturday night at Tessa’s Grandma’s ranch with Tess, Colin, Brian, Maya, and Michael M. When Michael and Maya got there late Friday, Zach piled out of the car behind them, surprising everyone but Brian (his co-conspirator) – awesome!
Overall, we had a blast. We ate and drank a ton, played about 9283743 games of washers, swam, rode around in the truck, and listened to Brian play guitar and sing. These are some of the highest quality folks in the world, and it was a privilege spending the weekend with them.
A big THANK YOU to Tess and Colin for putting the weekend together!
I also got to hang out with my parents for a while on Friday and Sunday, which was nice.
There are so many pictures, I’m not going to post them within the story here. Here’s a link to the whole gallery:
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I will post this little guy though – here’s a video I whipped up of the weekend:
RATM / Anti Flag show at the Target Center in Minneapolis
This was an awesome kickoff to the weekend. Jim flew in from Boston on Wednesday, I met him and Heather at Nancy’s apartment downtown, then we headed to the show. Anti Flag kicked ass (I hadn’t seen them before, but Jim was very familiar), and Rage absolutely rocked.
They’ve gotten better every time I’ve seen them, starting with their reunion show last summer at Coachella, and continuing with the mud-pit extravaganza at Alpine Valley in Wisconsin last fall. The mud pit was super fun, but the performance this time was unparalleled.
Leaving the show, there were HUNDREDS of riot cops all dolled up in full gear and weaponry waiting for the ostensibly inevitable post-Rage mayhem to ensue. When it didn’t, they got antsy, and started egging on the crowd, calling them “pussies,” etc. Minneapolis’ finest, indeed.
We stopped by the Local on the way back to Nancy’s place for a Guinness and a Bushmills, then called it a night.
The next morning, Jim and I hit up the News Room for breakfast. Killer food there, and excellent booze selection, despite the shoddy service. I introduced Jim to the beverage I invented (I think – quick google search didn’t turn up anything) – the White Mexican! As you might imagine, it’s made like a White Russian, but with Tequila Blanco (your choice) instead of the vodka. It’s awesome. We decided since the WR is also called a Caucasian, the WM needed an alternate nomenclature as well. “Conquistador” immediately occurred to me. They were white, they came to Mexico, engaged in all kinds of violent behavior when they got there, and it starts with a “C” – sold.
NOTE (09/11/08): Talking to a dude at work, he has a friend that’s been making “White Mexicans” for years – “He makes them in pint jars and tends to get obliterated.”
Jim took the train to the airport at noon, and I hung out with Heather until my flight to Texas at 8. Stay tuned for the texas report coming soon…
MC