Texas Independence Relay Report

My van-mates, Gary Kunkel of College Station, me, Natali Davis of Huntsville, Kori Estrada of Lufkin, Norman Langwell of Huntsville and Pat Morein of The Woodlands.

I got up at 2 a.m. on Saturday and drove down to Spring with Norman Langwell, Adrienne Langelier, Natali Davis and Melissa Stelter to meet up with our team leader, Jon Walk. We left his house in a van and drove down to Gonzales for the start of the Texas Independence Relay. I was on one of two 11-member Battling Bloggers of the Texas Republic teams. Our team started at 8:04 a.m. The whole team ran a 1.2 mile loop around Gonzales. This is called the "Prologue" run. After that, we divided up into two vans, six in ours and five in the other. Runners from our van ran the first six legs. We headed east for the 203 mile run to San Jacinto. My first leg was number 4 (4.66 miles) and most of it was on a rough gravel road with a strong wind in my face. It ended in Shiner, home of the Shiner Brewry. My next leg was number 16 (5.88 miles) at 7 p.m. on Saturday. It was on the shoulder of a highway and ended in Columbus. Of course, it was dark and I wore lights, blinkies and reflectors. While the other team van were running their five legs, we went to a hotel, took a shower and slept for one hour. Our van picked it up for the next six legs. My next leg, and my last, was number 27 (6.51 miles) and was on the shoulder of a highway. Including the prologue run, I did a total of 18.2 miles. I did not personally keep track of my time, but I think someone else did. I'm sure I ran fast. The two night runs were more pleasant, because it was cooler and the wind had died down. My van-mates were very supportive and appeared often during my legs to offer their encouragement, water or Gatorade. We finished up at the San Jacinto Monument Sunday evening. There were over 150 teams participating. I'm not sure where we placed, but who cares? We had a blast. Since you have to spend two days in van with sweaty runners and virtually no sleep, it is important to be with a good group. And, I did. We got back to Huntsville about 7 p.m. last night. Our team leader, Jon Walk, did a super job in organizing the team effort. I have headed relay teams in the past and I know how much work is involved. Thanks, Jon. After getting home, my first priority was to take a shower and sleep for an hour. I was too sleepy to blog last night, so this blog entry is for two days. The pollen is heavy now and my allergies have been acting up big time. Since my last run was at 4:30 a.m. yesterday, my legs were well-rested. So, I did a 2 mile loop on the streets around the campus this evening. It's back to trails tomorrow. Next Sunday, I will run the Seabrook Marathon, which will give me the Texas Marathon Triple. The others were the Texas Marathon in January and the Surfside Beach Marathon in February.