Chasin' Cheeks

Ragnar Relay Los Angeles - My first leg (leg 10) coming from the Oxnard area and then down to finish out the 5 1/2 mile leg along Pacific Coast Highway.

This was my first leg and I was ready to go! I was runner number 10 and had been waiting to run since our team start at 8:00am. By now it was around 4:00pm. I took off fast after Brandi slapped the bracelet on me at the exchange. This run actually took me a little bit inland through farmland then back out to the coast. In the first couple of miles I encountered several tractors stopping for me to pass which was kind of funny. I was singing the theme song to Green Acres in my mind (and even a little out loud) for a few minutes during the run. Nice day, perfect weather, but wow...coastal winds can be killer! Something to keep in mind - running against high winds and additional gusts from passing cars on a highway gets to be a little frustrating, so plan your pace accordingly. ;)

At about mile 4 the team stopped to check on me and I let them know I was fine - see ya at the end! Then they pulled ahead after a few minutes and stopped again. I was thinking, why on Earth are they stopping again? Did they think I would walk the rest of the way if they weren't supervising?? LOL Then I see they have the camera out...ok, just taking some pictures of me, cool. Just then I'm passed on my right by another runner and all I see is CHEEKS!!!! I literally gasped! When I realized that the team was there to take the pictures I went running at full speed trying to catch him with my palm open ready for the smack! I knew he was running way to fast for me to catch, but it made for some great pictures! To see what I was chasing click here! Wasn't sure if the backside was quite appropriate to post to the blog, but it's out there if you want to see it! I included the picture of my initial reaction - priceless!!! There are more pics of Cheeks' warm up here. Quite funny, but I will remind you probably not safe to be opening at work. :) My Garmin top speed for that mile was 9.5mph (6:18min/mi) - Cheeks was FAST!

Shortly after that he was long gone and I had just a little over a mile left. I continued running into the wind until my pass off to Pete along the coastline a few miles north of Mugu Rock. I felt great after the run and was excited for the roads ahead! I did this leg in about 58 min - a 10:37 pace against the wind which I was happy with!

More general race pictures can also be seen on Pete's site, Mikey's site, and my site if you want to browse the fun! More to come later, but I must say that this leg was the highlight of the race for me! Too hilarious!