Temple to Temple Relay 9-19-2009

So I did the coolest thing today.

There's a race called the "Temple to Temple Relay." I've known about it since April, but could never find anyone to make a team. Well, I found a team and signed up on Thursday. It was basically a dream come true.

This race starts at the Idaho Falls temple which is about a 30 minute drive from Rexburg and ends at the Rexburg temple. The entire race is 32.7 miles. We had 8 people on our relay team who ran varying distances. Some people had fewer team members. 8 was the most you could have and 2 people was the least...and yes, there were people that did that. CRAZY! It was so much fun. I met a lot of really nice people and had a blast!

This is our team. We were team #50. I don't know if we ever decided on a team name. We were debating between a few. I think the closest we got to a name was "Ninja Destruction"...except our shirts are white.

Starting from the top left is Alex, Tyler, Skylar, Maria (she's the one who got me on the team), Me, Melissa, Brittany K., and Brittany K. (our team captain). It got confusing having 2 Brittany K.'s, but it was okay.

In the background is the beautiful Idaho Falls temple.

This is Skylar. He ran our first leg. He was supposed to run 2.5 miles, but he didn't. I started getting concerned around 25 minutes into the run. He should've been back by then. I said to my team, "Uh, guys? I think Skylar's lost." We started at 8:30 and, finally, when 9:00 rolled around, half of our team got in a car to go look for him. They didn't find him. He was so lost. When they got back, Alex got in his car and we ended up finding him. Afterwards, Alex said that when he got in his car, he said a quick prayer asking that he would find Skylar and that he wouldn't be hurt or too terribly lost. He then got this feeling that he would find him and about 20 seconds later, he did. I love that Alex had a spiritual experience in a temple relay.

Skylar later told us what happened. He said that there was a huge "Finish Line" sign, so he thought that was where he switched. He ran up to the sign and the guy standing there said, "Wait, you're DONE?!" Skylar said, "Well, yeah. Isn't this the 'Temple to Temple' thing?" The guy then said, "No. This is a marathon." Haha. I wish I could've seen the look on that guy's face when he saw this kid who he thought had just run 26.2 miles in about 40 minutes. Anyway, so the guy said, "No, you gotta keep running on this road." FALSE. Skylar ran until he came to a fork in the road. He decided to run along the river, but then hit a dead end. There was a hill, so he ran up it only to find absolutely nothing. He turned around and ran all the way back. 40 minutes/6.5 miles later, he found us. Poor guy. He was really bummed because we started out way ahead of everyone and he thought he blew it. We reassured him that we didn't care and we just wanted to have fun. He just kept saying, "I want a re-match. Just wait until next year...."

This is Melissa. She ran our 3rd leg which was 3.8 miles. She ran it in 30:32.
This is my friend, Maria. She ran our 4th leg which was 4.7 miles. She did really well. She stayed consistent and ran it in 44:45.
In case you wanted to know, she's a beast at ultimate frisbee.
This is Tyler. He ran our 6th leg which was 3.6 miles. I'm not sure what his time was because I was using my iPod to time everyone and it died. =[ I would guess that he was probably around 25 minutes. He did really well.

This is one of the Brittany K.'s. She ran the 7th leg which was 4.3 miles. She ran it in 35:40.
Here is Your's Truly. I ran the anchor leg--the 8th and final leg. It was 4.6 miles. I ran it in 38:54. I was hoping to get around 37 minutes because that would've put me at an 8-minute mile, but I ended up running just over that pace. I'm totally okay with it though because Idaho is dry, higher in elevation, and hilly. Unlike Indiana which is humid, lower in elevation, and flat. Not to mention, it was around 80 degrees and the sun was right in my face when I was running this. I have to say that I was expecting it to be way harder than it actually was. Don't get me wrong, this race was a beast, but I'm glad it wasn't as hard as I anticipated. I was exhausted after I was done though. Although my breathing was relatively steady during the whole thing (which came as a result of a lot of prayer), it got pretty tough at the end. That lack of oxygen is killer. After I was done, I felt like I'd just run the Mini-Marathon. Those 4.6 miles were some of the hardest I've ever run.

P.S. I love how my braid is sticking straight out of the back of my head.

P.P.S. That orange bracelet that I'm wearing is the "baton." Each runner wears it on their wrist and has to pass it on to the next runner. I was so grateful to have the privilege of wearing everyone's sweat on my arm. =]

Here are the girls minus 1 (Brittany K. was running our 7th leg at the time). From left is me, Melissa, Brittany K., and Maria. The Brittany K. in this picture ran our 2nd leg which was 4.1 miles. She snuck up on me, so I didn't get a picture of her running, but she did pretty well. She ran 37:25.
These are the boys. From the left is Skylar, Alex, and Tyler. I rode with Skylar and Alex on the way up to IF. We listened to lots of "pump-up" music like The Used, Taking Back Sunday, Red Jumpsuit Aparatus, and much more. The best, however, was when Skylar got really serious and said, "Okay, it's time for my serious pump-up music." I was thinking it would be something really hardcore, but then he turned on MICHELLE BRANCH. I said, "Uh, seriously?" He goes, "Yeah. She gets me pumped." Have you ever seen 2 guys rock out (and I mean rock out) to Michelle Branch? It made my life.
This is Melissa and Brittany K. They're roommates.
This is Alex. He ran our 5th leg which was 5.2 miles. It was supposed to be the longest, but Skylar got lost, so yeah. I'm not sure what his time was either because I didn't see him finish, but I'm guessing it was around 32 minutes. He's run a 17-mile race before, so he's pretty legit.
This is Melissa and Tyler on their way to meet me at the finish.

32.7 miles later and about 40 degrees warmer, we were reunited. This was, by far, the coolest thing I've ever done. I had so much fun. I really hope they turn this into an annual thing because if they do, I'll be there next year for sure.