These were the words that started me along the path to run in the 1998 The Relay. Little did I know what a huge commitment I was making at the time.

It sounded like a lot of fun. Driving around with some friends, sharing some jokes, lots of waiting around. I decided to bring a book and my beach chair. That way, while I was waiting around for the runners to come in, I could just sit back, maybe catch a ray or two, and relax. I even brought along my camp stove to make some hot chocolate during my long waits at night.

I figured I'd drive both vans. That way, none of the runners would have to drive. I might have to have one sleep session during the night, if I didn't catch enough sleep during the cat naps while waiting for runners to show up.

At least that was the plan.

The day started off nice. I arrived at the SEI parking lot around 6:00am, and parked in the safest spot in the lot, right next to Shawna's Trans Am. The drive up was pleasant, and we arrived at the starting line around 9:30. Two and a half hours before out noon start. No problem we thought, we'll check in, grab some lunch, and come back for our start. Well, during check in, we hear out team name announced at the 10:00 start. I ran over to the announcer, and asked if she had just listed the 10:00 starting teams. She said yes! They had moved us up to 10:00 and not told us!!!

If I've learned anything about foreshadowing, we should have just left and gone home right then.

Guntram, our first runner, jams back to the van, while I grab the video camera to try and take his picture. Someone else on the team talks to the announcer, and she says we can delay until the 10:30 start. Phew! A 30 minute stay of execution. But, that leaves out 90 minutes that I had scheduled in my head. During that 90 minutes, I was going to look at maps, talk to runners and see what they want during their runs. Well, that time is gone, and now I've gotta wing it!

Meanwhile, Van #2 is running around. Something about a lost key. I'm glad I'm not in Van #2.

At 10:35, the starting gun goes off, and Guntram takes off! Woo hoo! The race is on!!!!

Now what? We all go back to the two vans. Apparently van #2 has found the keys. I'm still glad I'm not in van #2. So, while Guntram is out running, we are all kinda kicking back, looking around, and trying to figure out what to do next. It finally occures to us that hey! we need to get to the next leg. So, we finally get everyone who needs to be in van #1 into the van, and take off.

Unfortunatly, we zig when whe should have zagged, and took the wrong road to find Guntram.

If I've learned anything about foreshadowing, we should have just left and gone home right then.

After hanging a U-turn near the Calistoga Police station (I think) we get back on the road.

We pass Guntram out on the road. What a rush it is to see the team runner out there, running. We drive on ahead to drop off the #2 runner, and turn around to cheer on Guntram. After he passes us, we drive on ahead to cheer him on again. We finally get to the next leg, and have about 3-5 minutes of waiting before he comes in.

Wait a minute, what about my book?

What about my rays?

What about my hot chocolate?

It looks like it ain't gunna happen. The previous routine is repeated 5 more times. The time is getting close to 3:00 in the afternoon. None of us have eaten all day, except for the Costco muffins, apples, and banannas. We are all so busy keeping track of where the runner is, and where we are, that none of us stop to eat anywhere.

Oh yeah. During this leg, I learn that I get to run leg #16. An easy 5.5 mile jog. I smile with anticipation.

Around 3:00, we approach the first Van Exchange. The plan was for me to change over to van #2, while van #1 showers, eats, and rests. As we pull in and talk to van #2, I look at Shawna and say, "There is NO way I can drive both vans with this schedule." She understands and takes off to try and catch up with Phil, who was long gone by now.

Mmmmmm Spagetti was served at the van exchange. Red spagetti sauce will sometimes upset my stomach, but I don't have to run for *several* more hours. Should be no problem.

After several people shower (thank god!) and we eat and rest, most of us feel alive again. We make a mental note that food is good.

We drive on ahead to the next van exchange. Traffic was horrible, and there were thoughts that the runners in the other van would beat us to the exchange. Thankfully, traffic cleared up, and we were then several hours ahead.

The van exchange is near the top of a hill, out in the middle of nowhere. The unfortunate thing about this is that we have no cell phone coverage. That means that van #2 could come at ANY SECOND! Well, I get on a public telephone, and call them up. They are still a while away. Phew, thats a relief. We all get in our sleeping bags, and lie down in the grass, just as the sun sets.

Unfortunately, I didn't note the time I called van #2, so I knew we had plenty of time, but I didn't know exactly how much. So, as I lie in my bag, I worry that we will miss the exchange. This bit of sleep is very similar the the sleep I got on Thursday night. None.

After about an hour of being horizontal, I get out of my bag. There is just no use trying to sleep. I try to be quiet as I get up, and the other van members all sit up as I get out. Apparently they were sleeping just as soundly as I was.

This is not a good sign. I break out my peanut butter and jelly for sandwiches. I remember that food is good. I'm not that hungry, but I eat one anyway. Later, I remember that I left the food on the picnic table when we left.

It turns out that I wake up over an hour before Shawna makes it to the line. Since we are out of phone contact, we are all on edge. The road is very narrow and very windy and very very dark. Does she have a vest?? Does she have a flashlight?? We don't know.

After a time slightly less it takes to read War and Peace, van #2 finally comes in, and it turns out that Shawna is still a long ways away, about 30~40 minutes. We learn that she does have reflectors and a light. This is good. Now Guntram can get ready for his 2nd 10k of the day.

When Shawna finally does show up, we all gasp. It is obvious that this leg took a lot out of her, and she didn't let it get the better of her. She had attacked the leg with everything she had, and she had won.

This turned out to be my inspiration for my run.

As we took off after Guntram, we noticed something different; it was dark. Spotting runners in the daytime was easy, but at night it was next to impossible. That made the job of driving that much harder.

The next few legs went easily. I still wanted to stop and have my hot chocolate and my book, but it was obvious that wasn't going to happen. Suddenly, I realize that I have to run the next leg! My adreneline started pumping. What was my leg like? I know there were no hills, but was it in the country, or a city? Maybe it would be a nice run by the bay, that would be nice!

As we pull into the parking lot for my leg, half of the van heads for Safeway and food. I wish I could go in too, but I've got to get ready for my run. We don't know when Geri will be in. Her 10~12 minute miles were looking more like 8 minute miles when we caught up with her at mile 3. And the second half was downhill, so she could show up at any time.

The handoff point was near a residential area. There was a house across the street from the handoff location. They called the cops on us because of the noise. The police showed up and talked to the people in charge. They tried to tell us to be quiet, but if you've ever had to deal with 40 runners who have been running for 12 hours, then you know that he had no effect on us.

Suddenly, there is Geri. She stops, and I take her flashlight, while Guntram transfers the blinky red light to the back of my shorts. And I'm off!

Woo hoo! I'm running in The Relay!

I'm stoked. I'm following this woman who has a 2-way radio. She is talking to the people in her van. Apparently, they bought it at Costco, and its working great. I make a note that next year (please note that at this point, there still is the possibilty of running again next year) our team should get one of those. I ask her if that thing played Metallica, or some other great running music. Unfortunatly, it didn't.

Ok, so I'm out, I'm feeling good. My run has 3 turns, one that is 2 miles out, one that is 4.5 miles out, and one near the end. In about 20 minutes, I come across the first turn. 10 minute miles. A little faster than I anticipated, but I should be able to run that fast. Unfortunatly, the run thus far is on sidewalks in the dark. Now, if you've never run sidewalks in the dark, well, let me tell you, it ain't easy. At every driveway, I had to make sure not to do a header as the sidewalk dropped down and then raised back up. I couln't get into the zone and just put one foot in front of the other.

The van (with Guntram driving) passes me by, as I give them my jacket, they cheer me on.

At about mile 2.5, I start to get tired. I hadn't trained at all for the run, and the last time I had gone more than 2 miles was over 2 months ago. I figured that it was mostly mind over matter anyway. So, around 2.5, I feel like walking. Then, I think of Shawna, and how she looked at the end of her hard leg. It was obvious to me that she didn't give up, and she pushed herself as hard as she could. We were all part of the same race, so I couldn't just give up and walk because it would be more comfortable. So I pushed on.

Then I remembered the spagetti I had for lunch. (No, it doesn't taste better the 2nd time!)

Then I remembered I forgot to go pee before my run

Then I remembered I hadn't gone #2 all day either.

So, here I am at 11:00 at night, running through a strange town, and I had three bodily functions all wanting to come out at the same time.

I knew I should have gone home this morning.

Everytime I wanted to slow down and walk, the van was always parked just ahead, cheering me on. I couldn't walk with them in site, so I'd jog by them as best I could.

Every now and then, I'd hear other runners come by and pass me. Now, I'd expect them to say things like "hows it going" or "how are you doing." But they were saying to me "Are you alright?" Man, I must have looked baaaad.

Finally, after 62 minutes, I see the exchange point. Woo hoo! Fortunatly, its next to a round table pizza. I make the pass off to April, and hit the rest rooms. Woo hoo!

So, I made it. Now, all I have to do is drive.

Guntram is still driving, and I find a seat near the back of the van. It's starting to feel very comfortable. Its near midnight, I've been up since 5:00am. I've had a costco muffin at 8:00, a plate of spagetti at 3:00, a PB&J around 9:00, and thats it. Food is still the farthest thing from my mind.

As Curt runs down through Sausalito, we notice how clear it is. There is no fog out. We see the City across the bay. What a beautiful sight! I take some pictures that don't do it any justice.

Guntram drives us into the next van exchange, as Curt runs over the Golden gate at 1 in the morning. What a rush! We meet up with van #2.

They had the same sleep experiece as we had previously... none. At this point, I'm having problems keeping my eyes open, so I know how they are feeling, and they have 6 hours of running to do. This can't go well.

We decide to head off to Canada college for some shut eye. I don't know how, but Guntram ends up driving. I don't remember how that happened, after all, wasn't I suppoed to be driving? I was very tired, and was glad that he took over. (Some driver I turned out to be, huh?)

I fall asleep in the back of the van. For those who know me, they know that I don't sleep sitting up. I was so tired, that I just fell asleep. When I woke up, we were driving around, looking for a food place, a safeway I guess. Well, as luck (?) would have it, we pass by a Jack in the Box. April starts getting excited about the prospect of having some of Jack's breakfast sandwiches. Well, 4 out of 6 of us had never heard of them, but by this time, they could have given me Hagus and I wouln't have cared. So I put in my order for 2 of them little guys, cuz as April says, "They are too small to eat just one!" I wish I had a video camera for the van and for the drive through worker at this time. Picture this, its about 2:00 in the morning, a big van drives up to the speaker, and we order:

"11 Jack's breakfast sandwiches please."

"Will there be anything else?"

"No."

The sandwiches show up, I look at mine, and wait until morning before I can look at it again. My stomach hurts (gee, I wonder why?) and I'm dead tired. We finally make it up to the gym, where 100 or so people are camped out on the floor. We put down our sleeping bags, and I put my phone right next to the pillow. This is one wake up call I'm not looking foward to. As I wonder if I can fall asleep with all the other people around, snoring and talking, I fall asleep.

The next thing I know, some asshole's phone is going off. I wish he would get it. Then I realize that its my phone. Shit! I reach over, answer it, and get under the sleeping bag so as not to wake anybody else.

I'll try to transcribe the phone message as I remember:

"Hi Richard, this is Shawna"

"huuuuuhhh. Hi Shawna. Hows it going"

"Bad. I'm puking. Phil is out. Geri is out"

"Oh shit"

"Yeah, they had to split up my leg, with three runners each running two miles."

"Oh shit"

"Yeah"

"Where are you?"

"Starting leg #24" (Our van starts leg #25)

"Where?"

"Starting leg #24"

"Where is that?" (I'm not doing numbers right now.)

"At the corner of highway 92 and Canada road." (I hear the words Canada and corner. I'm thinking they are already at the exchange point, waiting for us)

"Oh, so you are almost here?!??"

"Yeah."

"So, how are you doing?" (Morning are NOT my strong point)

"Not good. I'm puking"

"Oh man, thats not good. So, what are we doing?"

"It's bad. I'm puking, and Phil is out."

"Hmmm. Well, we'll figure it out. Take care Shawna"

"bye"

So, I wake up Dirk, and tell him the wonderful news. I then tell him to go and find Dirk, once again showing that mornings are not my strong point.

At that point, I feel tired and sick. I want nothing more than to sleep another 10 hours and then wake up to take a nap. The rest of the team feels the same way. Dirk decides that when the runner comes in, we'll have a pow-wow and discuss where we want to go. We are 2/3 of the way done with the race, and the hardest third yet to go. I'm all ready to give up at this point. Words don't describe how horrible I am feeling. If you had told me that I spent the previous 12 hours drinking shots of tequila and eating Pork Rinds, I would have belived you. I felt that bad.

So, Dirk and I (and maybe others too?) go down to pick up Paul, the runner coming into the exchange. After getting lost, we make it down there. I have to park far away, so Dirk takes off running towards the exchange. As I walk down, I see Paul. What is he doing here? He tells me that he just saw Dirk, and Dirk took the baton and started running??? Huh? What about our pow-wow? I see Phil pull in behind us, and he says that he feels great, and that he was *out* running Shawna's leg.

Once again showing that morning are not my strong point. So, we have to grab Guntram, and the rest of the van for this series of legs, and find Dirk. The race is on again!

I try to conceal my excitment.

I look around, and find my Jack in a Crack breakfast sandwich. The egg has gotten cold and hard. Mmmmmmmm. I take one bite, and feel life rush back into me. Could it be that I feel sick because I haven't eaten? I take another bite. A little better. Damn, this little breakfast sandwich is saving my life. Unbelievable!

Because our team was short of runners, I volunteered to do another leg. This one was classified as 3 miles and Very Hard. I said I'd do it, but I would walk all the way. I looked at the map, about a thousand vertical feet in 3 miles. Oh fun!

Because I had to run that leg, I didn't finish my breakfast sandwich. I had learned my lesson the day before with that yummy spagetti.

I took off on my 3 mile uphill leg jogging slightly. Hey, this isn't too bad! It's mostly flat, with a gentle uphill. I'm going slowly, and I notice someone else walking/running. I start walking and we start to talk. Her story was very inspirational.

She told me that she woke up one day, I think it was her 40th birthday, and was tired of being >200 pounds! She went down to Jenny Craig, signed up as a lifetime member, and started to use walking as an exercise. Well, that was 8 years, 4 marathons, countless relays (TheRelay and the Hood to Coast near Portland) ago. She told me that she had torn a muscle in her leg, so she wasn't competing. But she really needed the exercise, so she was doing this leg for fun!

Anyway, she was in much better shape than I was, and I had to stop and walk while she continued. She did have much higer modivation than I did; she had a margarita waiting for her in the van. Again, I make a mental note of how to make next years run better! (next year?!??)

It turns out that the first mile was the flattest, and then it got hard. I huffed and puffed my way up the hill. Vans were not allowed on the road, but a few snuck by and offered me drinks (H20 only, no margaritas!) The support of all the teams was outstanding. I told my team that it would probably take me an hour to make it to the top, so you can imagine my surprise as I crest the hill and see the transfer station at only 50 minutes into my walk. Woo Hoo! I jog down and see Brian. He has this look of disbelief on his face. His first comment to me was something like:

"Damn, you are early. Curt is on the crapper."

You know, there are times to make jokes, and there are times to be serious. Unfortunately, he was serious.

So, I finish my leg in 50 minutes, but have to wait an extra 10 minutes at the transfer station while Curt finishes the paperwork and stretches. Curt more than makes up for the missed transfer by absolutly spanking the rest of the hill, doing a similar 3 miles climb in 40 minutes.

So, thats it for van #1. We pass the baton off, and we are done with the relay. All we have to do now is hope that van #2 can finish.

What a huge exercise in trust and teamwork! I mean, we are done, finished. We (van #1) have finished our commitment, but the goal has not been achieved. The only thing to do is meet them at the finish line.

So, after a breakfast/lunch break at a Mexican restraunt, its back to the SEI parking lot, where we empty the van into our cars, and head home for showers! Back home, I shower, and eat a little bit more. I have some caffine, which I realize I hadn't had in about 48 hours.

I start getting nervous, and a little guilty. I'm at home, clean and relaxed, while the runners in van #2 are out busting their butts on the last few legs. So, I decide to head down to the finish line. Now, my original place in the team was to drive and document the trip. However, my role changed somewhat, as I ran two legs of the race as well. I wanted to cross the finish line with the team, but I decided that it would be better to document the finish with pictures. Before the race started, many team members expressed that they wanted pictures of the finish, so I didn't want to let them down.

I waited around the finish line for about 20 minutes, until I got a call on my cell phone. Shawna was still about 45 minutes out, so I had some time to relax and enjoy the sun (finally!)

At the appropriate time, I wondered down to the finish line, and got my camera all setup. After what seemed like eternity, they all showed up around the corner. I put the camera on continuous mode, and took as many pictures as I could of the team crossing the finish line. Woo Hoo! They did it!!! We did it!!!

If you would have told me that morning that we would finish, I would have laughed in your face.

Some how, we all managed to keep it together through the rough times, and pulled through to finish a 193 mile race in 29 hours 35 minutes.

Something I'll remember for the rest of my life, but I may forget just in time to run it again next year.