We did it. We got our ass over that damn pass. At 4:00pm on Saturday, August 2, Team Luv-a-Dub officially completed the Wild West Relay, a 200 mile race of endurance from Ft. Collins to Steamboat Springs, Colorado. What started as a simple, “Hey, I found this relay race we can do to help raise money for Dawn,” turned into an adventure to rival all adventures for 12 runners, three volunteers, one photographer, and a plethora of support people.
Here's how it went...
In February of 2008, our friend Dawn was fighting for her life due to complications from malaria. On March 3, she lost her limbs to her knees and elbows. As friends here in Colorado, so far away from Dawn in Chicago, we immediately decided that we needed to do something to help. Knowing that Dawn loved to run and was an inspiration to all of us in so many ways—particularly in her ability to finish marathons with very little training (argh)—we decided to run. And it couldn’t be just any ‘ol run. No, we chose the most difficult race that we could find—The Wild West Relay. The race would consist of 12 runners covering 200 miles in two days. We’d need two vans, three volunteers, a whole slew of supplies and equipment, and the strength, determination, and endurance to cross the finish line as Team Luv-a-Dub.
We were humbled to find twelve people and three devoted volunteers willing to take on this type of event. From some of Dawn’s closest friends to those who had only heard of Dawn’s story and wanted to help, we signed up in May and began our training (www.teamluvadub.blogspot.com). Some of us trained a bit more than others but in the end, no one could have possibly been totally prepared for what lay ahead of us.
Thanks to Michelle, our captain, and countless hours of work from Shannan and others, we secured our two vans, hotel rooms, and all of our supplies just in time for our 6:00am start time on Friday morning. We left in the dark of night, drove to Ft. Collins, and cheered on Patrick, our first runner.
Finding the next exchange proved a bit difficult but we got there and sent off Sarah, who decided to run her first leg in a pirate costume. That’s right, a pirate costume. Complete with boots (covering her tennis shoes) and a hat, she pulled off her run in no time flat and of course, drew lots of attention!
Michelle and Melissa were next, keeping the pace strong. Then I took off in the early afternoon heat (we had record-setting high temperatures all weekend long) and even though I puked and had sun-sickness, managed to make it to the exchange where I handed off to Jen who rounded out leg 1 for van 1. Whew.
The boys in van 2 took off for their first leg and every single one of them kicked ass. Mark, too wore a full-costume (Mr. Incredible) and every single one of the boys finished their legs strong despite the heat and the hills. As the boys ran, the first van went on ahead to the next exchange and set up camp for a few hours to rest our legs, eat some food, and prepare for our next leg. We took off in the late afternoon and our first runners faced dusty, dusty gravel roads and some serious climbs. Michelle ran at dusk (smiling the entire time) and handed off to me who had the first night run. Geared up in my safety vest, headlamp, and flashing LED light, I took off and felt sooo much better now that the sun had gone down and I had cooled off a bit. Although I did get a beat freaked out at the solitude (I only saw one other runner through the entire 7.2 mile leg) and the fact that the only light came from my headlamp (did I mention my fear of the dark?), I loved this run. When in my life will I ever run in the dark of night through the lonely roads of Colorado into Wyoming? Jen finished out our second leg strong once again and off went van 2 for the most challenging runs of the race.
And they nailed it. I still will never know how Jeremy managed to keep a 10-minute mile pace over an elevation gain of 1,920 feet but he did it. They all did it despite some questionable spaghetti they put down after completing their first leg. Toughies.
Van 1 pulled out their sleeping bags and got about two hours of sleep before we were up again to send off Patrick at 4:30am for our van’s final leg. Fi-nal leg. Ahhhh… It’s difficult to even put into words what it feels like to get your body geared up for one more run after only two hours of sleep and not enough food. It’s indescribable and yet, we managed to do it. There’s something about everything hurting and not being able to get a deep breath at that altitude that really puts the difficulty of this event into perspective. And yet, the third leg is really the best because you run knowing that this is the. Last. Leg. THE LAST LEG. Thank God.
One by one, our van finished up and caught up with van #2 to send them off in the heat of the day for their final legs. Van #1 was then able to shower and eat and head back to the finish leg to bring in Arvid, our final runner. At about 4:00pm on Saturday, our team met Arvid for the last few yards of the race and ran in together under the finish-leg banner. Exhausted, hungry, and weary, we had survived and finished in the name of Dawn.
Back at the condo we enjoyed pizza, many well-earned drinks, a champagne toast and a race slideshow (thanks to our team photographer, Frank) before crashing hard. The last folks were in bed by midnight, deep in sleep nearly before our heads hit the pillow.
There are so many magical moments from the race that will stay with us forever and the pictures will be treasured artifacts for years to come. What sits so heavy in my heart today is the love that we all shared in order to help our friend. This race wasn’t easy for any one of us and the personal accomplishment we all feel is strengthened because of the reason that we ran.
Here’s to Team Luv-a-Dub. We got our ass over the pass. I am so proud of each and every one of us.
Let’s keep this blog going for awhile as we laugh about the memories, share pictures, and continue to bring in more money…
