Tahoe Relays 2009 - Yeah, baby!

Pam, Carrie, Michelle, Ashley, Katie, Brooke, Mo, Tiffany, Teresa, Megan and Marisa all arrived at the Colorado Ct cabin on Friday night to start a weekend of Impala filled fun. Camp took place in South Lake Tahoe which is located at an elevation of 6200 ft. Friday night was spent organizing the logistics of the relay plus making and eating pasta dinner for eleven.

Saturday was relay day- which involved 7 legs around the 72 mile around lake. Mo drove car number one filled with Marisa, Pam, Brooke, Michelle and Megan which went to the start line to see things get started. Teresa drove the second car with Carrie, Ashley, Katie and Tiffany – they departed shortly after 7 from the house and provided support for the first leg of the race. The two cars worked in a tag team effort throughout the day shuttling the runners and provided support to their teammates.

Marisa ran the first leg (9.6 miles) and had escorts (or some might say an entourage) the whole time – Brooke ran the whole leg with her and Teresa jumped in for about 4 miles of it. Marisa averaged 7:20 pace for her leg and put us in a good position to start out the relay.

Michelle ran the second leg (8.2 miles) which had the greatest elevation gain of the day (1000 ft in 3 miles). Michelle had Pam as a personal motivator/escort for the last 4 miles (the major uphill portion) of her leg. Michelle rocked the hills averaging 7:50 minute pace for her leg.

Carrie ran the third leg (10.3 miles) which basically went downhill for 7.5 miles then rolling hills for the last 3 miles. Carrie had spectacular views but had legs feeling like rubber once she hit the rolling hills. Michelle jumped in for the last 2 miles of Carrie’s leg to ensure a speedy end (she averaged 6:53 pace) to a long leg.

Megan (aka Dr. Daly) ran the fourth leg (12.3 miles) which was the longest leg of the day. Pam and Michelle did strides during Megan’s leg to provide support with food and drinks (due to Megan’s fast pace no one could run longer than 100m with her). Megan caught countless other teams during her leg and averaged 6:28 pace – wow!

Ashley ran the fifth leg (10.6 miles) and was on a mission to catch the GVH team (aka girls in yellow). Ashley did not disappoint and caught our competitors mid way into her leg. She averaged 6:46 pace (this pace included a 90 sec pit stop) and was so on fire from her fast running that she walked into the lake after her run.

Teresa ran the sixth leg (10.5 miles) which involved a killer hill the last two miles. She started out with intent to make up as much time as possible (“put them in the hole”) on the only all women’s team ahead of us. She came through for the team and managed to gain more than 5 minutes on the team ahead. She even had three sub 6 miles during her leg. She averaged 6:24 pace and this is with a 2 mile climb at the end – wow!

Mo ran the seventh and final leg (10.5 miles). Mo’s leg started with a downhill into emerald bay followed by an immediate uphill. Megan and Teresa jumped in for a couple of miles to motivate Mo to a quick start. Brooke jumped in next for about a mile and Pam brought her home by running the last 4 miles with Mo. It was truly a group effort and fun to see everyone smiling
through the leg. Mo averaged 7:47 pace and brought the team in to a finish time of 8:26.19 (just 7 seconds faster than our total time last year). The team placed 2nd in the open female division (14th overall) – those darn college girls from Chico State finished ahead of us.

Saturday night was spent celebrating our relay run with pizza, salad, wine, a movie and great conversations. Sunday morning we woke up early to run on the Rubicon trail by Emerald Bay. This was followed by quick showers at the house and departure of everyone with the exception of Pam, Carrie and Marisa. Sunday afternoon was spent very leisurely with a long walk around
the tahoe keys, dinner at a thai restaurant and writing this weekend report.

What a wonderful weekend – another reminder of how fun a weekend away with the girls can be. Thanks for your efforts and company this weekend!