Unfortunately, I spent the majority my summer nursing a wicked ankle sprain, passing on three goal races for which I had pre-registered. One of those races I had been trying to get into for a couple years without success, major bummer. I was barely able eke out and maintain a base fitness level and lucky to run at all, very depressing.
In September my daughter and I ran our local Labor Day 5k, always fun especially with her. This year we put a little more effort into preparation and it paid off in spades. Barrett PR'd, putting everything she had into the effort, vomit at the finish included. I was PROUD!
This particular race and I have a little history; it was my first 5k, my 5k PR, my first 5k with my daughter, it lit the fire in the beginning and has kept the fire burning. It has been a stepping stone to new relationships, bigger goals and longer races.This day would prove to be no different.
After a great run my daughter and I stuck around for the festivities, cheered on finishers and chatted with friends. We ran into Marty, an acquaintance I often run into at races in our area. Marty and I fell into the runner to runner banter so typical when runners meet; how did you do?, how's your training been, injury, injury treatment, race plans, family and even a little gossip. A runner to runner conversation may or may not involve multiple runners they are full of stops and starts as other runners pop in or an introduction takes place, when the conversation turns and a quick review of credentials commences. These conversations are guaranteed to bore family members or non-runners to tears if they choose to stick around long enough.
Marty introduced me to Amy, an acquaintance of his and we had a lively conversation about the inaugural Hambletonian Marathon and relay coming up in October. Evidently Marty had put a relay team together that had already seen some attrition and he was recruiting. Before heading home we all had exchanged numbers and Amy and I found ourselves the newest members of the mixed relay team: The Hudson Valley Hustlers.
Other then registering very little contact was had between us during the weeks prior to the event. A few emails where exchanged to confirm who would run what stage but nothing more. Amy an accomplished runner, was using this event as a training run for her 10th marathon, was to run the first leg. Marty a seasoned runner himself would run the second and me the last and shortest leg which I was happy to do considering I was still dealing with my ankle injury.
Days before the race I received a panicked call from Amy asking if I had heard from Marty. Evidently, he had told Amy that he wasn't feeling well and was considering not running. That was the last either of us heard from Marty. Fortunately Amy had a couple leads she was already working on to fill his spot, neither of us wanted to be out the entry fee.
At the 11th hour Amy secured Marty's replacement, orchestrated a miracle swap of a team member with the race director and picked up our race packets. We developed our race day plan on the fly, Brendan would take Marty's second leg. At 10am race day I went to the relay transition point to meet Brendan for the first time, where he would be handing me a baton for the final leg.
The final leg, 4.9 miles of flat, paved bike path straight into town and the finish on Goshen's historic harness track. I took off way to fast, my ankle quickly reminded me that it wasn't ready for this kind of effort. I slowed my pace, settle my breathing and focused on consistency. Amy met me as I entered the track and I finish in just over 40 minutes, a blazing pace for me.
Brendan had left immediately following his leg to attend his daughters soccer game. Amy and I stuck around soaking in the finish line festivities, cheered on finishers and chatted with friends, met people and fell into that chat only runners have with each other. We parted ways, wishing each other good running, another event added each of our resumes.
The next day I learned that we had finished on the podium in second place, relay division. A team thrown together in the 11th hour, quite an achievement. A team with me on it; a surprise really.
The next day I heard from Amy again we had been put in the wrong class The Hudson Valley Hustlers had actually won the mixed relay division. Now that is a Cinderella Story. Since then I have relocated to North Carolina but I may have to consider getting the team back together to defend our title. What do you think guys?
