John Denver, Monster Mix & Stank: A Wild West Relay Race Report, Part III

How long is it going to take me to FINALLY post the finale of my WWR recap, you ask?? Well it's ending today!

Missed parts I or II?

So we made it to our "campsite" at our final exchange, and we were greeted with this:

There was really no where to sleep except for in front of and behind our van...but we made it happen. For, maybe 45 minutes to an hour :)

After a few hours of not sleeping and munching on handfuls more of Monster Mix, we got up to greet Van #1 and bring in their final leg so we could finish up ours! Around this time we were getting worried that we wouldn't make the cut off time (which we thought was either 4 or 5) so upon chatting with Van #1, we decided that we would "leap frog" our leg. (We should have started the race about three hours earlier than we did.)

Basically leap frogging is having two runners on the course at once. For example, we would drop of runner #6 and then drive ahead to the next exchange and drop of runner #7. We thought this was a great idea AND it would get us to the showers quicker. So we waited a while on Van #1, cheering on the huge caterpillars who were venturing out in the road to try and cross, but inevitably got squished under the wheels of a Chevy. (Seriously, I wish we had this moment on video.) When they finally arrived we snapped a few pics for them and we were off!


Alesha and I split up Steve's leg (about 2 miles each, I think mine was a little less at like 1.8) and then I headed on for my final leg. Which.Was.Killer.
I felt like the first three miles were completely uphill but I guess they were rolling. I peaked at the top of Rabbit Ears Pass and then it was all downhill from there! For some reason I had it in my head that I was only doing 4.6...but when 4.6 came and went I figured it was a bit more :)

Killer form.SIKE!

The scenery was beautiful though, I wish I had more pictures! The highlight of this run for me was when I was trudging up the final hill and was feeling beat down and the van was parked at the top of the hill waiting for me blasting Baby Got Back and cheering like crazy! I'm telling you, it was priceless! It also gave me that much needed boost to move that junk in my trunk to the exchange!



We finished up with our next two runners (blaring John Denver the whole time! how approps) and then Alesha was up for our last runner. We went ahead to the finish line and called the other van to make sure they were going to meet us there so we could all run across the finish line together. (They had already been to the hotel and showered! So.Jealous.)


Finished!!!

Van #2. 34 hours of non-showering, sweaty STANK!

Since this post has dragged on and on for over a week now, lets cut to the chase. Here are some pics of us all showered, clean and pretty again post-race.

Underexposed photo opp on our floor. Love these gals!!

Post-race Happy Hour at our slope-side hotel. Most of the gals got Sangria, but I opted for the more potent Marg. It was pretty good, not too sweet.

The fabulous ladies of Van #2 :)

Dinner at Mazzolo's. Yummy, over priced Italian ;)

All in all, I LOVED the Wild West Relay and would definitely do it again. I am already dreaming of the next relay I can participate in if not the WWR (Miami to Key West in February anyone?).

What I loved most about the race? Other than meeting all the fun people, I am thankful that I was finally introduced to the gorgeous state of Colorado. Previously I have only experienced the North Carolina/Tennessee/Virginia mountains which are lovely, but honestly they cannot hold a candle to the vast openness of Colorado and Wyoming and the great West. I honestly think I have fallen in love with this state! It's almost enough to make me want to shed my Southern home and head for the hills! At least temorarily ;)

I promise I will return to some normal blogging soon. I have my FINAL financial exam this coming Monday the 24th so I'm pretty bogged down until then. Hopefully after Monday my summer of studying will finally be over and I can enjoy the beach/pool before...wait, it never gets really cold down here ;)

{Did a brutal 16 miler this past Sunday with the team. It was tough but I'm glad I pushed through! Back down to 10 I think this weekend. Marathon here I come!}