We were able to purchase a pasta dinner for $6 after our van completed our first legs. They had penne pasta with a choice of marinara or meat sauce, with garlic bread and a side of fruit. The warm pasta and sauce tasted so good.
Then we went back to our hotel to catch a couple hours of sleep. It seemed really bizarre to set our alarm clocks for 11 pm. I knew that I was only getting a couple of hours of sleep, here, so I was very tempted to skip the shower. But I also longed for warm water and a clean feeling. It was too tempting- I took the shower. It was worth it! One of my favorite showers ever!
There were 3 double beds, so we all had a spot. I had assumed that I would be sleeping in a bag on the floor, so I was very happy to slide into clean sheets on a comfortable bed! I didn’t feel like I slept at all- maybe I really did. But just laying there resting and pretending to sleep was helpful.
Once our van got started again, it was quickly my turn. Jen seemed to be done in no time at all, and I was on. We were all decked out in glowy apparel that Bridge brought for us. It was a nice way to be able to spot our runners, and helped with safety. We were all required to be wearing reflective vests during the night, even when we were not the runner on shift. My run started at 1:37 a.m.
This was the run that I had been worried about- being in the middle of the night. But it was turning out to be my favorite run. I was really enjoying the night run. It wasn’t a super dark night, and I liked the way the silhouettes of the trees looked in the dark. It seemed like a peaceful night. And I had my music, which I had forgotten to wear for my first run. And I decided to just run whatever pace felt right- not putting any pressure on myself to run as hard as possible. I was fully enjoying myself, and then realized that I was almost down to only a mile left. I got sad realizing it was almost over. I wondered if I should slow down, to prolong my turn. I knew that the last mile of my run would be down hill, so I decided to run hard the last mile and up my final average for the leg. Just as I was about to start my final mile, I saw a big group of runners on the side of the road.
I thought ‘maybe an animal or person was hurt, but there are plenty of people there to help out. Id be best to keep going and not create any more road congestion. So I just went right around the group and kept going. But then a cop yelled me down. I tried to be cooperative “Where would you like me to be?” He yells “Right by all the other runners here, that would be a great place for you!”
So I stand with all the other runners in the road. After a few minutes I ask “Does anyone know what’s going on?” The guy by me says “Someone got hit.” It was cold and I hadn’t dressed appropriately for standing around. So I found myself a bum spot leaning against a cop car. I talked to the guy by me who said he’d been there for at least 20 minutes already. He said that he was one of the first 5 to be stopped. I think we probably stayed there for at least 40 minutes. Then we were told to go back to our van, and then skip to leg 24. We were told to carpool over if we couldn’t find our van. I was thinking that my van might have gotten ahead of the accident, and that I probably wouldn’t find them. I walked back along the highway probably a mile. I was looking for a friendly girl van to get in with. I didn’t want to get in with a van full of guys, which was what I kept seeing. I was getting nervous and wondering how much further Id have to walk. A guy caught up with me and started talking to me. He didn’t think he’d find his van either. I was sooooo happy when Bridge and Justine appeared in front of me. They had my jacket and put their arm around my shoulder, leading me back to the van. They were very concerned about me, and it made me feel good that they were so nurturing. Once our van started driving the other direction, I started worrying about the guy Id been walking by. Then I saw him walking and told our girls to offer him a ride. He glady took the ride and stayed with us until we got to leg 24. We started asking him all kinds of “get to know you” questions, which was a nice distraction from the sadness of the runner who had been hit. I thought Rich was a nice distraction from the situation, but having a guy in the van did stop me from changing out of my cold wet clothes. Luckily I had a cozy blanket with me. But I decided that all girl vans are betterJ
We kept waiting for more instruction, and were finally told that we could pick whether van one or van two would continue the race at leg 24. We were cutting out 4 legs of the race. We let van two proceed with their pre-assigned legs, and it was 4 of our van girls who lost their middle run.
I was very sad for our van one girls. I was visualizing them having just gotten to the hotel, taken a warm shower, and climbed into bed. Then us calling and telling them to get up and drive to leg 24. If we had known sooner what was going to happen, we could’ve run the first few of their legs. But we didn’t know what would happen.
The tragedy made it feel like all the rules were kind of out the window, and I wondered if it was even appropriate to finish the race. Some teams did leave- or at least their van one’s went home. After this I felt very concerned for the hurt runner, and also more paranoid about my own safety for my last run.
Next entry:
1:49:58 p.m. Saturday- The conclusion
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