This weekend I had the chance to run Reach the Beach, a 200 mile relay that takes teams from Cannon Mountain in the White Mountains of New Hampshire to Hampton Beach on New Hampshire’s coast. The amount of writing it would take to do justice to the two days would require that you sit at your computer for quite some time. So I’m gonna keep it simple with just numbers and pictures, hoping to capture the experience as best I can.
5- new friends family members. It’s amazing how running can bring strangers together and you walk away friends. There’s something about running, cheering and sharing cups of coffee at 3am that does that.
26.44-miles I ran between Friday morning and Saturday afternoon
519-teams who crossed the finish line in Hampton
12th- in the Freestyle Ultra division
2.25-hours of sleep I got during between Friday and Saturday
32:15-total hours and minutes it took our six-person team to run 205 miles
5.25-Legs that I ran. I pulled out of my fourth leg, due to increasing discomfort in my calf/knee. My popliteal tendonitis reared it’s ugly head.
1768-total elevation gain over five legs
1-special delivery from Stonyfield Farm the night before to stock our team up on delicious Organic Yogurt Smoothies and Greek Yogurt
8:37-average pace for all my runs
2-ziplock bags full of Health Warrior Chia Seed Bars consumed by #TeamSMURFS
43-“roadkills” (people I passed while running.
2-legs I ran pushing through considerable discomfort in my calf. I was determined to finish what I started.
3:48:15-hours, minutes and seconds it took me to run 26.44 miles
6:34- fastest mile
11:19-slowest mile
3.5 dozen-“Relay and Rally” cookies baked for #TeamSMURFS and #TeamPumpedUpKicks
361-Days until the next Reach the Beach. Let the countdown begin
Cannon Mountain, the start of Reach the Beach.
The start, a cool 42 degrees at Cannon Mountain.
Our team was fueled by Health Warrior, Chia Seed Bars.Thanks Health Warrior!
Team SMURFS from L to R: Henry, BIll, Chrissy, Cliff. In front: Myself and Shana.
Safety meeting.
Shana, ready to kick off for Team SMURFS.
The hand off for my first leg through Bartlett, NH.
The hand off at exchange nine.
Refueling with Stonyfield Organic Yogurt Smoothies!
Coming into the Brass Heart Inn for exchange 10, holy hills on this leg!
Transition 10 at the Brass Heart Inn.
A gorgeous day to see some of the most beautiful parts of New Hampshire.
Found Kate wearing her Embrace the Hill shirt in transition 6.
Chrissy cranking out solid miles.
Meeting up with bloggers you love=the best! Sandra from OrganicRunningMama.com and Christine from LoveLifeSurf.com.
White Lake State Park and transition 11.
#poweredbychia
Trying to sleep. Stretching out in a sleeping bag never felt so good.
Getting ready to start my third leg, leg 10 up the hills in Meredith.
The final handoff!
At the beach waiting for Bill to run in.
Running into the finish.
If you ever have the chance to run on a relay team, take it! It is an amazing experience. I loved every minute of being on #TeamSMURFS and can’t wait to do it again next year!
A huge thanks to Health Warrior and Stonyfield Farm for keeping us fueled along the way!
Have you ever run a relay? What was your favorite part?
-Sarah
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I can’t imagine it being cold since I’m down here in Hot florida! I’d love to do a relay ONE DAY
IT was soooo cold! Fall is here in New England!
This looks like so much fun and I love the numbers breakdown!
Great photos! Yep, you got about the same amount of sleep I got at Hood to Coast
My fave part of a relay is spending time talking to and cheering on my teammates!
That is the best! I love the relationships that come out of relay experiences!
Awesome post, love the numbers idea. So great to meet you and experience your fabulous energy!
Aww thanks! It was so great to meet you too! Hopefully our paths will cross again! And congrats on your first race medal!
Loved all your numbers!!! I certainly hope you are recovery nicely and I’m so glad I was able to see you as much as I did. Of course, I can’t wait to see you again, and hopefully it will be a race that is considerably shorter then 32 hours!!! xoxoxo
Yes please on the shorter race! And I”m so glad I saw you so much too! Didn’t think we’d see you so often at the exchanges. I’m recovery well, i”m going to give running a rest for a week and then ease back in. I’m back to PT, pretty sure it’ll take about 4-5 weeks to get back to the level of healing I was at before RTB.
I LOVE this so much Sarah!! I love how you did this and all the numbers and pictures. I’m so sorry that your calf was acting up and I do hope that some rest and downtime will get you back to being pain-free.
I think I’ll be fine with some down time, more PT and no more downhill running:) SO great to see you!
So awesome! I loved watching it unfold on your social accounts! I think this is something that I want to do next year for sure! Great job kicking some serious butt girly!
I had so much fun watching you and other runners post about RTB on instagram! I’ve never done a relay, but Reach the Beach is one that I want to do within the next few year. It looks like you had a great time, although your calves were acting up. Hopefully your leg will be feeling better soon
Love this! I’m running the Colonial200 in May
how smooth was the planning, sponsors, van, etc?
Looks like you had a great time despite some calf problems. Congrats to you and the other SMURFS on finishing! Hope you are recovering well too! We were helping my sister move this weekend and saw many RTB runners while driving and cheered them on. I hope to run it some year
This was my first year doing RTB and I LOVED it, I am already counting down until next year!!
It was so fun!
I loved seeing all your pictures and facts. This race weekend looked like SO much fun! I hope I’ll get to do it one day. And it is so true about running connecting people from every corner of life and becoming family. That is one of my very favorite things about our sport. xo
Thanks it was a blast and I love the way running brings people together…like us!
Looks like fun! I love that part of New Hampshire!
I do too! Love the white mountains so much!