11th Annual 26×1 Club Challenge Marathon Relay

On Saturday, June 27th, local running clubs gathered at Tufts University in Medford, MA for the Club Challenge Marathon Relay. The biggest relay ever had runners age 6 to 76 in 23 relay teams. Each runner ran 1600 meters with one runner running a special “speed leg” to make up the 600 meters required to make a full marathon distance.

Ellis Oval at Tufts University is a fantastic facility. The state-of-the-art rubberized track was great to run on and we had full access to the facilities.

As of this writing I do not have team or individual results. I will update this post with the link to the results when it becomes available.

Club Challenge Marathon Relay PR

I managed to squeak out a PR this year. When I first ran this relay in 2013, I had never run a competitive mile. Running on a track, going in circles was something new for me. That year I managed a 6:50 run. Not too bad for a first time out.

In 2014 I cut my finish to 6:36 which was pretty good. I spent all of 2014 in marathon training mode, not track training mode. The endurance I gained from my long runs combined with what I learned running 5Ks must have come together for me.

When you sign up for this race you give your expected time. I put down 6:45 as I wasn’t feeling optimistic about my speed. Since then I’ve been to three of Mike Urquiola’s track workouts and run MANY more 5Ks.

All of this must have worked because I squeaked out a new PR by 1 second, for a time of 6:35! One moment of capitulation to fatigue and I would have blown it.

The Mile, oh my, my, my

Just like most members of the Melrose Running Club, I’m a distance runner. I’ve done 15 marathons and to me a half-marathon is a nice civilized run. The 5K is my short distance and I’m spending my 50th year both celebrating my age and learning how to run this race. #505ksat50

Last year, I was at a race talking with the people around me. This young guy said he was a short-distance runner and that he’d never run this race distance before. I think we were at a half-marathon.

I asked if he was a 5K runner, and he said the 800 meter was his longest race! Not being a track guy I was shocked. We measure distances in miles and whole kilometers. This guy did mostly 100, 200 and 400 meter races.

The mile is a race un to its own. I’m no expert, and can only compare it to running a 5K. It has the same type of all-in intensity of a 5K, except it’s even more all in.

Our relay race legs were just short of a mile, but the concept is the same: four laps around a 400 meter track.Coach Mike always says to hold back a bit on the first lap and conserve your energy. On lap two you will feel more comfortable but initial fatigue will be setting in. This is when you have to push to maintain your pace.

I grabbed the baton from Katie without any mishap. I’m sure that a trained relay runner would have cringed at our clumsy hand off, but the baton was never loose in anyone’s hand.

Having been to Coach Mike’s workouts a few times I knew how I would feel on the track going full-bore. I was much more confident when I felt the way I expected to feel.

Lap three is the real struggle. You’ve run 800 meters at close to 100% and still have 800+ meters to go (if you’re running a true mile). Fatigue weighs on you and 100% effort yields less than 95% effort on the first lap.

Coach Mike told me to dump it all as I began lap 3. I thought I was supposed to save something for the fourth lap, but he’s the Coach. I felt pretty comfortable on the outside strait-away. I passed a few and a few passed me. I couldn’t tell if we were on the same leg or lap. I just kept running.

This year I managed to keep track of my laps and knew I was coming in for lap four. This was it. If I could kick it in for 400 meters I would be done soon. All I had to do was run like I was going die.

As I made the turn after crossing the line I knew this was it. Putting up a good time for my team and a potential PR all rested on this last lap. The first three laps were okay and none of my injuries were acting up. Now was the time to dump everything into every stride.

Lap four is the way home. It is salvation and relief from the hard run. The faster you run, the sooner you can pass the baton off to the next runner.

I didn’t feel dead, but it took focus to maintain my pace. I was exhausted, my mouth was dry and my breath short. It just took effort to run. I couldn’t seem to get any faster.

As I came around the last turn I could hear my team yelling my name and the crowd cheering all of us on. As I approached the line I looked for my runner, for the purple singlet. At first she was in the crowd of runners and I was afraid she didn’t see me.

There was no way I could yell to her, and the crowd noise made that doubly so. I finally saw her turn in my direction and start to move into place. The small part of me that wasn’t focused on moving forward worried about the hand off.

What if one of us drops the baton? Or we have a clumsy hand off? What if someone gets in our way or someone falls? So many thoughts over a 20 meter distance.

Our hand off was as smooth as the first one. Not world-class, but no one was scrambling to pick the baton up off of the deck either.

Melrose Running Club

The Big Party

The whole day was really a big party. We drank water and sports drink and had 70 pizzas at the end. I was nervous a few times before my run and then waiting for Katie to come in. I wasn’t nervous during my run or afterwards. It was all fun.

I saw people I know from other clubs and had good conversations with just about everyone from the MRC. If your club has ever considered participating in the race I would encourage you to join us next year.

Photos by Paul Locke