This past weekend I was fortunate enough to race the 2012 River to River Relay. This 8 person, 80 mile relay takes runners from one side of Illinois to the other going from the Mississippi River to the Ohio River. The race was amazing. It boils down to a day of fun with your teammates while occasionally carrying the baton. I competed for team Has Beens, composed of good friends and former teammates varying in age. We placed second in the field of over 250 teams and I am still pretty pumped about it.
The course is quite hilly and makes for some challenging running, but the relay environment takes some of the normal race day pressure away. It becomes more about having fun and enjoying the time with your team. On the same note, you cannot help but want to run well. Each runner runs three separate times which can lead to some cramping up. I led off for us and had a stellar first leg. By that, I mean I had a blast. I raced in Superman briefs (that should illustrate the tone of our team) and after a very quick first mile found myself at the front of the pack. I built a decent lead over the next few miles and handed off in first. It was a great feeling. The crowd loved my uniform and as I climbed into our Transformers decorated van also adorned with animal horns and the race trophies of the past few years I felt nothing but pride. As the race went on we held to second place and considered ourselves the people's champs as throughout the entire race word of the Superman runner and the Transformers van team spread. We had so much fun that place or pace was irrelevant. It was great being with the guys and the antics of the van will likely become legend passed on to future runners of the Has Beens. The post race celebrations occurred in the small town of Galconda, IL where all the teams mingle, eat, drink, and be merry. A great way to cap off a great day of running.
The value to those reading this is that a team relay may be a great opportunity for you to get back to racing or to get out of a bad race funk. The relay environment makes gauging your efforts difficult as the leg lengths and intensities vary. The team aspect also replaces a relaxed feel of fun for the normal race day pressures you may feel. This gives you a chance to run based on feel, push yourself, and have a great time doing it. You can associate some positive feelings with racing which can carry over to your next "real" race. I would also recommend a relay for first time or beginning racers. It will surely leave you with positive feeling that will make you come back for more. I suggest that everyone tries at least one. I can definitely think of a worse way to spend a weekend.
