Lake Winnipesaukee Relay

Y0u may recall earlier last month I thought about taking on the Lake Winnipesaukee Relay all by myself: (Click Here to refresh your memory). Well, given the cut-off time, it would have been next to impossible for me to make it to where I needed to be when they closed certain sections of the course. (Even though my projected time would be faster than some teams that finished last year, they way the relay is run is that if a team has not made it to the exchange point by a cut-off time then they send the next runner on anyway and simply add the time it takes for the "slow" runner to make it to the exchange to the cumulative time at the end.)

So I decided to make it a two-person team. I approached my friend Dean Karnazes about possibly joining me on this excursion this past weekend and his eyes lit up at the idea. He said if his schedule was free he would definitely do it with me. As fate would have it, he is running one of the North Face 50 milers on the exact same date. Ergo, no Dean and Dane running team.

As I lamented my poor timing to my friend Katie, she said: "I'll do it." Voila. Team 270 lbs of Running Fury was born! (name subject to change: please feel free to make suggestions).

So in late September, when other teams of 5-8 people are tackling the 65.1 miles of tough hills, Katie and I will be running mano y womano (I took German, sorry) trying to take out as many teams as possible. Special thanks to the North Medford Club for allowing us to run as a two-person team and for giving us a break on the registration fee. Much appreciated indeed.

Divvying up the legs, I will run more legs of greater mileage but Katie's are probably harder in their overall difficulty. But there is very little else we can do in order to split them up evenly and not kill us both in the process. Here are Katie's legs, whose elevation I mapped out on runningahead.com.

Leg 2: 11 miles: (480 Up; 1,009 Down)

Big downhill; lots of flat; Click Here for Image

Leg 5: 10.8 miles: (652 Up; 537 Down)

A couple of Monster hills (I actually feel bad making anyone run this); Click HERE for image.

Leg 7: 8.5 miles: (592 Up; 506 Down)

Big rollers punctuated by HUGE Uphill finish (Sorry again Katie); Click HERE for image.

Total mileage: 30.3
Total elevation Gain: ~1,725
Total Elevation Loss: ~2,053

My legs:

Leg 1: 10.7 Miles: (1,052 Up; 758 Down)

Long start of rollers, Big Uphill finish; Click HERE for image

Leg 3: 9.3 Miles: (1,041 Up; 851 Down)

300 feet in .5 mile to start. Dear Lord; Click HERE for image

Leg 4: 4 Miles: (145 Up; 256 Down)

Screeching Downhill; Slower Uphill; Click HERE for image

Leg 6: 6.4 Miles: (252 Up; 308 Down)

Big Hump in Middle; Click HERE for image

Leg 8: 4.4 Miles: (618 Up; 458 Down)

Three separate Hills to Finish; Click HERE for image

Total mileage: 34.8
Total elevation Gain: ~3,108
Total Elevation Loss: ~2,631

It looks daunting indeed and I am actually quite happy I won't be trying the whole thing myself.

Oh yeah. If I win the lottery to be the one Lucky guy to run the Maine coast all female half-marathon, Katie and I will be doing that the next day too. Slowly.

Stay tuned for more details.