The Sawtooth Relay

WOW! I did it!  On June 14th, team Sawcar, which consisted of a few of my family members, friends and I, started out at 3am for a 62 mile relay race.  It starts in Stanley, Idaho and ends in Ketchum, Idaho which is next to Sun Valley.  This is something that I have never done before.  Shortly after moving here, my brother Thad and sister-in-law Trina wanted to get a team together to do this.  I said I would, but I would be the tortoise of the race as they are all joggers.  Because it's a relay, you have six team members and each of them run 2 legs of the race.  When they were deciding who would do what legs I said that it didn't really matter to me since I would be walking.  Well, they must of thought I was in for a challenge.  I was to do the 6th and 12th legs of the race.  There's a catch to this race...it follows the beautiful landscape of the Sawtooth Mountains.  That's wonderful, but you have to go to the top of the mountain to go down the other side to get to the finish.  The sixth leg of the race was 5.35 miles with an elevation gain of 1331 ft. over those 5.35 miles, in other words...all up hill!  I knew I would be doing the hill, but had no idea what it would really be like.  My leg began around 8am and as I started to go around the corner and view my leisurely stroll my first thoughts were..."You've got to be kidding me!"  There were some switchbacks along the way and I though well, maybe there will be a couple of flat spots to gain momentum.  NOT!  It was all uphill at about a 6% grade.  I thought this would take me forever and people were jogging up this hill.  Anyway, I did it in 1 1/2 hours, which absolutely surprised me, so that was great.  My team supported me up the hill as well as fellow racers which was great.  The view was also breathtaking.  My sister took some pictures but I haven't gotten them yet, so these are just some general race photos.

My last leg was not too bad at 2.6 miles and pretty much flat. It was the final stretch and a little interesting.  As my teammate and I made the handoff, I evidently almost ran into Arnold Schwarzenegger.  I remember  a man on a bike in a preppy pink shirt, but didn't really see his face.  This leg was on a bike/walking path.  All I remember thinking is that this person was basically riding down the middle of the bike path.  I felt like saying, "Dude, stay on your side of the path, can't you see were in a race here?"  I guess it's a good thing it was just a thought.  About a half of a mile down the path, I passed two ladies on bikes and the first one had this lovely garden hat on and a huge smile.  It was Maria Schriver, Arnold's wife.  I also passed another man and his two sons, he looks like Jon Stewart, but I know that's not the right name.  So while I brought us to the finish line I had a little piece of Hollywood on the way; not to mention the huge, probably celebrity homes behind the trees on the path.  We finished the race at 2pm and 31seconds, which reached my goal.  We had averaged everyones times and figured around that time and that was my goal to be there by 2pm and I did it.  So race fans, there you have it, the Sawtooth Relay.  Would I do it again?  Now that it's over and I know I can do it, yes I probably would.  Would I take the hill again?  I'm crazy enough to say I would probably even do that again.  So, thanks to my family for all there support and even though I gave them a hard time about hiking to the top just to see the snow, it was a great challenge and an accomplishment that I will always be proud of.  My son, Ethan, once asked me before the race, "Mom, are you going to run in that race?" 'Yes.'  "Why, they don't pay you to do that?"  I chuckled, I actually paid them to walk up that hill, which monies went to charity.  However, sometimes are best accomplishments are those we work hard for just because we want to, not because we receive reward for doing it.  So, until next time Stanley...I'll just enjoy the view!