Lucky 7 Relay Recap

Sunday saw my last race of the season....the Lucky 7 Relay.  Last year I ran it with Heather and Erin and you can check out the recap here.  This year I ran with two different runners, Wendy and Tom.  There were quite a few teams from the TTP participating and we planned to all hang out in the same spot.  We had:

1. Wendy, Tom, and myself as Three Sheets to the Wind
2. Heather, Samantha, and Marg as The Timberlea Trailblazers
3. Scott, Riley, and Stephen
4. Bryan, Elaine, and Doreen
5. Russ, Bre, and Jillian as I Thought you said Rum
6. Pam, Fran, and Christina as The 3 Sole Sisters

That's a total of 18 of us and we had plans for signs and a huge cheering session...and then Mother Nature decided to interfere.  She brought heavy rain and winds....and to top it off....we were running onto of Citadel Hill where we would be open to the weather from all sides.



This is the path we ran around 7 times

And then I got the text...the text that said we would have shelter in a prime location on the hill!!  Do you know how much that meant to all of us TTP runners??


The runners ran past that tent 7 times - which meant we got to cheer on all
of us 7 times.  We were LOUD!!!

The funny thing is that people started randomly throwing stuff at us as they went by...gloves, hats, shirts...and then they would collect them once they were done running.  My car was parked right next to the tent and came in VERY handy for the TTP members to change in once they were done their leg.  I have to say that my car mats are M-U-D-D-Y!!!  Pam supplied us with hot
chocolate and coffee which was much needed as the rain pounded down on the tent.  Here are some signs that Tom made that we had around the tent as well.

Heather and Samatha

How did my leg go?  Well....I ran leg #1 - and Mother Nature decided to spare us from rain and wind for the first 7km.  Unfortunately my IT band started hurting at about 3km and I needed to slow my pace just to get through my leg...and running downhill hurt the most.  You can imagine my dilemma...our tent was at the bottom of the downhill...so as much as I wanted to (or should have) walk the downhill...there was no way I would knowing that there were so many people cheering for me!!

I need to show you this picture of one of the TTP members...this was the last leg of the race.  Check out the rain!!

 

There was this 'awwww' moment during the last leg that I wish I had caught on camera.  There was a lady who was a slower runner and with the pouring rain, there was a gentleman running beside her holding an umbrella so she wouldn't get soaked...it was absolutely adorable!!!

Despite the miserable conditions, I had the best time with the group.  I don't think there is a better group of individuals that would have stuck around in the wet and cold and cheered on their teammates....so much fun!  It looks like the race director may permanently make this the TTP corner as so many runners enjoyed our cheering section!

 

And one more pic of how cold I was

 

 Thanks to all the volunteers that stood in the pouring rain and wind to ensure we had a safe and memorable experience.  My mom came home from volunteering inside (as a local hotel supplied a hot breakfast to runners) and said "I can't believe people actually run in weather like that!". Yes...we are a crazy bunch!!!!