This was my first ever relay race and I am hooked! I hope to continue doing relay races in the future but I think it really depends on me having enough running friends to do it.
I came across an opportunity in my social feed to fill in on a team (Team Zoot Mountain) where a few runners had to drop out at the last minute. I had a long run on my training calendar anyways so I offered up some of my miles to this worthy cause. Turns out they actually had two spots, so I gave the first spot to my husband since he runs way faster than me.
At first I planned on taking it slow. After all, it was a long training weekend. However, I suddenly changed my mind after I got my hand on that baton! I am typically the slowest person in my group of friends, so now that I was part of a relay team (presumably with athletes who have time goals) I did not want to let them down. My body was kind of unhappy with me the following day when I had a 17-miler, but hey…a free race is a free race.
The logistics can be a bit tricky. I had to drop off my husband at the start line, which was combined with the regular marathon and half marathoners. Traffic was very congested. Since it was in Denver, I am pretty familiar with the traffic layout here so I was able to navigate fairly easily. I then had to drive to my finish area and find parking somewhere in between my start and finish area. This also became a bit tricky since I was juggling my husband’s pick up area and some sort of key handoff. The relay checkpoint between leg 1 and 2 was at Empower Field, so I was able to drop my bag + keys with him. It was a short walk for him to the finish area of leg 2.
Overall, my run went really well. The weather was perfect. I finally sewed a sparkle skirt that fit me well enough! It was a great training run with lots of course support. I would definitely consider running the half marathon or a relay again next year.
Amara in Training 