200 Miles in 24 Hours!

Well, after a lot of thought and anxiety, I've decided to run the Reach the Beach Relay in September. The RTB relay is the longest running relay race in the United States. The relay starts at the Cannon Mountain in New Hampshire. From there, each member of my team will run 3 legs covering 200 miles through the White Mountains of New Hampshire, past fields, lakes, mountain top vistas, and the occasional covered bridge. The relay ends along the Atlantic coastline at Hampton Beach State Park NH.

I have been thinking about this race for months and originally declined the offer to join the team. For one, I'm petrified to run though the night and be attacked by bears and it just seemed like something out of my league. I'm also registered for the Philadelphia Distance Run (half marathon) the following weekend and was hoping for a personal best. However, after hearing stories of RTB veterans, I realized that this is something I should not pass up. It's not often that someone gets to say they ran through the mountains of NH wearing bells on their shoes so they wouldn't be eaten alive and spent 4 days in a van with 5 smelly runners! In all seriousness though, it's a chance to experience something very unique with a great group of people who have similar interests. I know it's going to be a race of a lifetime.

This changes my training a little over the next few weeks. Since I'll be running 3 times in 24 hours (~20 miles total) I need to start running twice a day a few times a week. Guess that means I'll have to stay up past 8 pm.

Here's the link to the site if anyone is interested. http://www.rtbrelay.com/