203 Glorious Miles

On Friday, March 30, we headed to Bastrop to the pre-party for the Texas Independence Relay.  It is a 203 mile race from Bastrop to the San Jacinto Monument.  Each team member ran three legs, which averaged about 5 miles each.  Michael, Jeff, Charles, and Vicente each ran four legs.  We woke up Saturday morning and headed to Paige, Texas for our 7:42 AM start time.  We had 12 members on the Sweatbanded Heathens this year and two drivers.

Bottom row: Nikki, NaShay, Anna, Tyson

Top row:  Katie, Lisa, Jeff, Bradley, Greg, Vicente, Pat, Michael, Shelly, Charles 

They shot the cannon and we were off for our prelude run together.

Then Bradley headed off on his own to run the first leg which was 

3.62 miles long.

Bradely handed off to Jeff who ran the second leg, 3.85 miles with a pace of 8:00 minute/mile.

I ran the third leg which was 4.08 miles long at a 8:59 mile pace.  My run was through the park up steep hills and winding roads.  It was amazing to see all the damage from the wildfires last year.

Michael ran the fourth leg, which was 4.62 miles at a 7:24 mile pace.  Here he is going for a kill!

He handed off to Lisa who ran 4.62 miles.

Then Greg ran 5.86 miles.

Here is Katie, one of our great drivers who helped deliver water and check on the runners as they ran in the heat. 

Anna's first leg was 4.48 miles.

Then Tyson ran 6.09 miles with a 8:58 mile pace.

Then Vicente ran 6.41 miles.  Vicente is amazing.  He is 61 years old and enjoys running ultra marathons.  His last one was 125.6 miles by himself.  He wanted to keep running after his first leg, so he ran with Nikki.  He was even lost for a while because we couldn't find him when he finished in Weimar.  In addition, his last two runs were back to back, 6.79 and 6.69 miles.  He is awesome!

Nikki ran 3.87 miles and then we had all finshed up our first legs.

Some of the team headed to Borden for hamburgers and other goodies provided by Mr. Nilson, the Hermansens, the Millers, and the Littles (who weren't able to be there).  We had delicious food and great company!  THANKS SO MUCH!

Michael ran 4.69 miles into Borden, then handed off to Bradley who ran 4.13 miles.

Charles ran his second leg, 5.93 miles into Columbus.

In Columbus, the vans headed their separate ways.  Our van headed to Wallis to take a shower at the high school and rest a couple of hours on the gym floor.  The other van kept on running. 

Around 1:30 AM, we headed to the exchange in Wallis.  Nikki handed off to me.  I ran 5.43 miles with a 9:13 mile pace.

I handed off to Jeff who ran 5 miles with a 7:55 pace.  Then Lisa ran 5.03 miles.  Greg, Bradley, Anna, and Jeff all ran again, but I didn't get any pictures.  I drove during Greg's leg and we managed to lose him and kept looking everywhere for him.  We didn't realize he had passed us while we were sitting on the side of the road.  We found him just as he was arriving at the exchange.  No more driving for me!

After Jeff's run, the other van took over running.  We headed to Luke's Locker for breakfast tacos, then to Memorial Park.  Charles ran his last leg, 5.33 miles with a 8:20 pace into the park and handed off to me.  I ran my last leg, 5.35 miles with a 9:46 pace into downtown Houston.

I handed off to Lisa who ran 6.03 miles.

Michael ran with Nikki the last part of her last leg.

Nikki handed off to Jeff, who ran the last leg, 5.32 miles to the San Jacinto Monument.

Jeff made it over the bridge!!

 Almost there!

 Bradley's family came to support him!

We made it to the finish!  It took us 31 hours and 40 minutes.

 Everyone received their finishers medal.

 We did it and had a wonderful time!

I love running the relay and spending time with the Sweatbanded Heathens!  After the run, we headed to Joe and Sarah's house for dinner.  Joe was on our team last year, but had to sit out this year because of his knee.  We hope to have him back next year.  This was a wonderful experience and I look forward to doing it again next year!