Jersey Shore Relay Marathon

Race #18 was a blast. Perfect weather, great friends, new friends and first place in the master's divison for team Bob's 50@50. Taugh Lynch, Ken White, John Liptak and Dale Hoth joined me as we ran 26.2 miles up the Jersey shoreline as a team, on an absolutely perfect day for running. We just missed breaking 3 hours, finishing in a very respectable 3:03:15, 26th overall, out of 450 teams. This was my first relay and won't be my last. Taugh ran the first leg (5.75M), John the 2nd (6.75M), Dale was our middle guy (4.25m), I ran the fourth leg (6.2M) and Ken was our anchor guy (4M).

Our day started with pick ups of Ken White, John Liptak and the Senator, Ken Vercammen. The Senator wasn't on our team but he needed a ride becuase he knew he was going to partake in the festivities afterwards. After checking in at 8:30, we headed over to the 7-ll for some prerace food but we quickly became aware of the barking ice. Some dog was barking in a yard that sounded like it was coming from the outside ice container. Our start time was 9:45 which was the fastest group. The goal of race director Bob Both was to have all the teams finish up at about the same time. My van was acting as the official race vehicle for the relay so we got Taugh over to the start with plenty of time to take photos and meet people. Once Taugh was on his way, we headed over to the 1st transition area to get Liptak set up. Taugh arrived in 40:30 which was very fast for the distance on the instructions. We later found out that it was about 1/2 mile shorter than original stated. His time was still excellent and gave John a perfect hand off. John took off for his 6+ miles not knowing that his leg was 1/2 mile longer. He ran a great leg and gave Dale another perfect hand off with the baton. Dale was all pumped up about the race and was determined to run his best time for he 4 miles. Now here is where it got just a bit sloppy. Dale ran great, but I was having a Flomax moment at transition #3 and was in the john when Dale showed up with the baton. I came out of the bathroom to my teammates screaming that Dale had run past me and I needed to catch up. I take full responsibility for that screw up. Once I caught up to the baton, I was running with guilt trying to make up for any lost time. My heart rate was nearing 160, partly because I had messed up and also because I had kicked it into gear to catch the baton. I finally settled in, but it took until I was 18 minutes into the run. I was passing people, but I really started my catching up about halfway into my run. I passed the Super Sophs (HS girls dressed like crime fighters), and another team that was in our age group (Spirit of Essex) although I think they started 15 minutes ahead of us. My leg was mostly on the boardwalk of Sea Girt, Spring Lake, & Belmar which needless to say was crowded because of the spectacular weather. On your left, Bob's 50 @ 50 coming through, and good job was what I was saying as I passed people. Ken got my hand off without a hitch and he took off like a shot determined to finish strong. The finish was on the Asbury Park boardwalk which was crowded with runners and other people out enjoying the day.

The post race party was in the convention hall where free beer and pasta was handed out. Unfortunately they ran out of beer rather quickly. We waited around for the happy results then headed over to the Wonder Bar for a few more drinks. We made friends with other runners and they wanted to know about Bob's 50@50. They all liked the concept and although they said they were approaching 5o, they looked more like they were a lot younger. They were serious runners and enjoyed the day and the fact that the Senator was still shirtless. We hung around until about 4:30 then called it a day. Our faces red from sun and legs tired from run and another great day for Bob's 50@50.



Two races next weekend. Less talking and more running please.