A half marathon relay? Yes please!

 

A half-marathon relay? They do exist!  In October 2019, the running family (sans Ricky) completed the Steam Train half marathon relay.  

Race day packet pick-up felt a bit disorganized.  Packet pickup signs were limited and there was a lot of inquiry: is this where we go to pick up our bibs?  Not only that, the lines moved a bit slow and caused Mo to worry about Angie missing the start and him to think we would not make it on the train.  Apparently the race coordinators did not expect a large race-day crowd.  Needless to say, we picked up the packets close but not super close to the start of the race.

I'm guessing I need to take a step back here to describe the relay.  The race starts at in Essex at the station for the steam train (this is a touristy thing and also where you can catch the Polar Express), with the first half of the race and relay point at the Landing in Deep River, CT.  This portion of the race is roughly 8 miles and the least hilly.  The back portion of the course is hilly and traverses through neighborhoods surrounding the landing area and circling back to the track.

Course Map for the half marathon and relay.

Mo, Brent (support crew) and I took the train up to the landing an waited for our team members to meet at the relay point.  Mo and angie took off - taking first place for the mixed gender team.

Mo and Angie are faster than a train!

Tracy was not too far behind.  She carried the weight of the run since she is also fast.  We came in 6th with the female-only teams.

Great pace thanks to Tracy!

This race was significant and was the impetus which made me see a doctor about breathing issues.  Angie and Tracy wanted to run over 13 miles, to the three of us ran together for the end of the race.  The humidity was not unexpected for the day and life on the east coast, but bad enough for me to have upper airway wheezing.  And this wasn't just I can hear it myself wheezing - some of the runners asked if I was okay.  I felt no worse than usual and stopped when I felt I could not breathe and had an elevated pulse. I just took a walk break like I would normally do.  No big deal, except this time I was running with a medical professional and the group matriarch.  Both Angie and Tracy: you need to see a doctor, you're wheezing.  This was the race that made me accept that I might have exercise-induced asthma. 

The purple people eaters (Jenn and Tracy) finished the half marathon before the train made it back to Essex. Woot!!!  But not only that, my friends helped me see why I feel so winded when running.  Overall, it was a great fall day and I look forward to running the race in-person after the pandemic restrictions are eased.