I laid on the hard ground in my sleeping bag on top of the tarp we had brought. I found a comfortable position, but was unable to sleep due to the fact that I was paranoid that my alarm would not go off. I might have dosed off for a minute but my alarm did indeed go off. Krista’s alarm was set and we both got up. We woke the rest of our team members and we all slowly sat up and started packing up our items. We did not get enough time to sleep. As we packed everything back into the van, Krista and Lui started laughing like crazy. Krista was so tired that her tiredness was showing through her laughter. They were both trying to laugh quietly as there were other runners trying to sleep all around. We managed to get everyone back in the van and started driving towards the van exchange area. We came across a gas station that had stayed open for the runners. We were all more than excited to have come across it.
It was nearing 2 a.m. so we all loaded up on coffee and picked out something for breakfast. At least it was something to hold us over until we could sit down and eat a real meal after this next leg of runs. We packed all 6 of us back in the van and managed to find our way to the exchange area. I was texting and calling Brent to find him as I wanted to hang out with him for a bit. We knew that we still had some time before our van was off and running again. We found Brent and then all huddled around in the van for a quick prayer before we started running. It was the best thing we could have done. I honestly was feeling a little weird. I would call it lack of sleep and food.
Kevin got his running gear on and we all walked over to the transition area as we waited for our runner to come in. During this time, we were able to have a nice conversation with one of the race directors. It was great to hear her perspective on everything and to see her joy in this event. We saw our runner coming and cheered her in and Kevin out. It was great to know that our second set of legs was underway. That meant that I just needed to wait for Kevin and Lui before I could run. We said our goodbyes to our other teammates and then went on our way to find Kevin.
We caught up with him by the time he was about half way done. We all had shorter legs than our previous, so this round was gong to go by quicker. We cheered him on, but did not stick as close as we had done the first leg. It was pitch black at this point as we continued along the road stopping where we could to cheer on Kevin and then get going again. We came to the point for Lui to start running, we all jumped out of the van to continue cheering each other on. We took this opportunity, as we were in a wooden area, to use the forest’s bathroom. Lui got out running, so I decided that I should probably get ready. It was chilly out so I found my sweater and my running pants.
Lui’s leg was a lot like mine and even Marty’s. They were flat and were about 3-5 miles long. It was fun to run under the stars not knowing what anything around us looked like. When Lui came rolling in, I was still feeling weird and just wanted to get this leg over with so I could eat and maybe rest some more. Kevin and Lui both killed their legs. They are both great runners. I don’t remember how long Lui’s leg was, but he gave himself a time goal and made it. It was great to watch him do that.
I started running and just booked it. It was a shorter run than the one before and a distance I had ran countless times before. The only catch was that at about the half way point, my van had to pick me up and drive me to another point. There was this section of a road that the relay did not feel was safe for runners. I jumped in the van with all of the energy I still had going on inside me. We got to the spot for them to let me out and I started running again. It was the weirdest thing. I had the hardest time getting back into the rhythm that I had previously found. This last half my my run was definitely slower and harder than the first. Normally the second half of my run goes better because I am finally in the groove. I was excited as I saw a few runners ahead of me and it gave me something to aim for. I passed one and got close to another before Marty took over.
I got in the van not feeling very well and was ready for all of us to be done with the second leg. I was a little dehydrated and I need some food. I slowly drank some gatorade and ate some trail mix. I had to force myself to do this and do it slowly because I thought I would have thrown up or something if I hadn’t done either. Marty was out running in full force again. He was catching the team that was just in front of me and was gaining on other teams as well. We are pretty sure Marty ran his heart out, but because we were all crashing so hard, we slowly started cheering each other on less and less. I know I did especially. I felt bad, but also knew that I had several more hours that I needed to get through and one more tough run left. Marty came bolting in as Krista took over for her second leg.
Krista had a gradual incline as she began the run up to Grand Targhee. The last mile had some significant hill climb to it. The best part was watching the Grand Tetons start to come into view with the slow rising sun. Krista got a great view running up the mountain with the silhouette of the Tetons in the background. I would take that with an intense hill climb any day. We needed a little bit of a pick me up in the van so I put on some Brian Regan. We only actively listened to the first 10-15 minutes but it was enough. We pulled over to cheer her on and some of the team members decided to yell out “Take Luck!” It was hilarious.
Jeff was preparing himself to run as he had to do the rest of the incline all the way up to Grand Targhee. He got a 4.2 mile leg with about 1,000 feet of elevation gain. Brian Regan was just what he needed to get him going. Krista made it to her transition point with a fantastic time. She scooted up that hill like it had nothing on her! Jeff did just the same with his intense portion. There was no where to stop and cheer him on, so we drove up to the top and waited. Our other team members showed up as we spent some time chatting and catching up on the various relay events that had taken place. Brent was ready to get his finally leg done with as we all waited for Jeff to make it. We saw Jeff coming up and cheered him on and Brent off.
Yes! I thought as we were just minutes away from a real meal and a change of clothes. Our second leg was over so we said goodbye to the others and made our way to go find some breakfast. We had arrived at Grand Targhee before 7:00 am which was when they were going to start letting runners in. They did not want us disturbing the guests. Which makes sense, but we were hungry and wanted to use a real bathroom. Outhouses only cut it for so long. We all cleaned ourselves up a bit and then headed off to eat some breakfast.
Also because of all the craziness of running at night, there were no pictures taken. Lui did snap one of us waiting at the top for Jeff before Brent took off. There will be more photos in the blog to come. There is just too much good stuff to talk about, so expect a fourth and final post about the Grand Teton Relay in hopefully the near future! Keep checking back. You never know what you will come across on the Powell blog!
