Take me to the river

The past weekend was my first experience running the Illinois River to River Relay in downstate Illinois (VERY downstate). The event is an 80-mile journey across the lower portion of the state, starting near the Mississippi River and winding through highways, hills, towns, and amazing, tree-filled beauty -- all the way to the Ohio River. Our team ("Anybody Seen the Start Line?") was assembled from members of the Fox River Trail Runners. There are 8 runners on a team and a total of 240 teams participating. Each runner ends up with 3 legs of this 24-section race. Team vans filled with runners shuttle through the course, dropping off the next runner into the transition area and picking up their weary companion just completing their section. (Team L to R: Mary, Joe, Cara, Mark, Jennifer, Mike, Greg, Kipp)

If you have an opportunity to browse through the actual website of the R2R race, you can view information describing the various sections and see elavation views detailing the hardships encountered. As RUNNER 6, I had the distinction of taking on the hardest elements of the this course (which by no means undermines the difficulty of the other sections). But RUNNER 6 gets presented with the 2 hardest hill-filled sections of the course, sandwiched around a flat, easy stretch. "Hills" doesn't quite describe it accurately. A quick look at my last leg (Section 22) shows very much a MOUNTAIN. At one point, it was over 1.5 miles of the steepest grade I have ever traveled by foot.

The provided graphic (taken from the R2R website) breaks out the 3 legs of my journey. Section 6 was a mix of steep hills and rolling highways, a long downward stretch, and an uphill finish -- 3.3 miles in all. The next leg, Section 14, was the "relief" in this day -- a 2.5 mile sprint to the finish (15:19). And just when the legs are telling you that there isn't much left in the tank, the final 3.8 mile portion of Section 22 just devastates the psyche. You climb and climb... and climb. And then you climb some more.

Fortunately, I was greeted by an excited and supporting team when pushing into the transition area for the baton handoff. And a nice, cold one soon followed. All that was left were 2 more sections being handled by my teammates, a team run to the finish line, and a walk uphill to the Ohio River for a photo opportunity.

Today, my quads still hurt. Going down the stairs is a struggle. My ribcage is seriously bruised (longer story -- and nothing to do with the actual "running" of the race), and I couldn't be happier about my experiences.

I can't wait until next year!