Pre-Inaugural TIR Race Report

On Saturday, October 27, I met up with our newly formed team at the Memorial Museum for what was to be, for me, a somewhat arduous business trip. With as much time as we’ve spent being out on the course and looking at the details, we’ve felt confident that the relay will be great one, but, as many of you know, things previously unseen and unanticipated can reveal themselves when you actually do the event. Our first goal was to pay close attention to finding these things.

We’ve told many people at the marathon expos that it is not really necessary to know all of your teammates in advance in order to do the TIR. It’s funny to witness how some don’t really believe us! In our case, however, we all didn’t really know each other beforehand. There was Joy and I, and good friends, Mike and Sarah Burton. Jon Walk, who writes the blog for running in the Houston Chronicle was joining us. He knew Joy and I, but no one else. Jenni Escobar, a friend of Joy’s (who I had never met) was also game. She also did not know any of the others. That brought us up to six. Mike and Sarah suggested the run to her dad, Joe Ross, and he thought it sounded fun. I doubt he was even aware of the TIR at all even just a few days beforehand. Then, Jenni invited her boyfriend, Steve Elinness, and that brought us up to 8! Lastly, a very good runner that I’ve been coaching, Zohaib Ali, was willing to be on standby in case we needed a little help on Sunday in Houston. Besides, not knowing each other in advance, we also made a diverse group… different ages, different places of residence, different nationalities, and different personalities that all added to the mix!

It was fun for me to try out a handy excel spreadsheet tool that we’ve developed and will be sending to all the team captains to help them arrange a good order for the members on their team to run as well as obtain an overall pace prediction for their team. There are still a couple of legs we are considering tweaking a little, but if you would like to play with a preliminary version of the tool, email us, and we’ll gladly send it to you. We would love to get your feedback on it! We calculated beforehand that our average pace would be 8:42 (we ended up running 8:41 overall… not a bad prediction, eh?!). This pace is right where we think the average pace will be for all the TIR teams, so we called ourselves The Mean Team!

On the Thursday prior to our departure, I mentioned to one of our colleagues in Gonzales that we would be there on Saturday morning. Right then, she said that she thought she could get the group we’ve been working with in Gonzales to meet us at the museum to see us off. I know I should no longer be surprised at the length these people will go to make someone feel welcome in their town, but you can imagine how completely unexpected this kind gesture was. It was great to see them at the start because it provided an “official” aire to our undertaking. Several of our team who had not yet seen the “Come and Take It” Canon at the museum got to do so, and we found our opportunity to present our Gonzales colleagues with race medals (something we had been planning on doing)! I guess my presentation skills need some work. While presenting the medals, I clumsily dropped one while trying to hand it over and shake hands at the same time. I guess I made an impression because I had my presentation quoted back to me long afterwards. Apparently, I said, “We would like to present these medals to the people from Gonzales for all of their help with the 2008 Texas Independence Relay. Oops. I dropped yours.” Considering the size and weight of our medal, dropping one near your toes is a very scary thing! Nevertheless, while the start line looked a whole lot different than it will in March (quite an understatement), it was great to have the Gonzales team see our Pre-TIR team off, and I think all of us found ourselves to be pretty excited at what we were doing this weekend (and also for the real event, too). We started at 9:50AM, which is the time in the morning in which we will be in full swing of the starts at the real event.

We’ve had more than one discussion about the apparent dichotomy that the prologue presents. On the one hand, we want the teams to run together in an enjoyable, almost ceremonial fashion, on the 1.15m loop that goes around the courthouse in downtown Gonzales. At the same time, this prologue is part of the teams’ overall times, so there will be some competitive types that will hardly be able to control themselves. Honestly, you SHOULD be able to run with your team having the foresight to know that with 200+ miles of racing to go, you WILL be able to get the racing out of your system (this, I promise you, is true). Nevertheless, people will be fresh at the start, and there will be a lot of people around… so, again… we know some will hardly be able to control themselves. In light of this, if a team is concerned about the few seconds that may make the difference in a higher or lower placing (and, as unlikely as this is, it is true), then we will probably let the leg 1 runner run ahead of their team on the prologue as though they were running their leg. This way, the team would in no way be hindered (timewise) by running together. I still think the teams should just run the prologue all together, but I am finding out that on the competitive scale, I guess I would only rank as a 9 as opposed to some of the 10s we have met!

Weather wise, we had a very good day… perhaps a little warm as it did reach the mid-70s, but overall, nice (the normal high and low for March 1 is 70 and 48deg). I ran the first leg as I was concerned about the possibility of aggressive dogs. I saw a few large dogs, but they were all incredibly lazy and didn’t budge. The one dog that did end up chasing me during this leg was a Chihuahua. Nevertheless, we do suggest that runners for legs 1, 3, 4, 36, and 37 carry a dog deterrent of some type as we have spotted loose dogs on these legs. Joy was slated to run leg 3 – the longest leg of the course at 8.75miles (it was 9.79, but we have since shortened it and will make you aware of all the tweaks all at one time). It really is a great leg on dirt roads with wide open country vistas and great footing. But, Joy did confirm (both during and after her run) that it is a challenging leg with several hills. It’s a good one for sure!

A little after 1PM, we reached Shiner and the Spoetzl Brewery. The gifts shop was open, so we did get to visit. But, I really liked the finish of this leg. It has a nice little decent over the last ¼ mile before crossing over a pedestrian bridge that signifies the finish of leg 5.

Through leg 9 (and even through leg 16, but to a lesser extent) the course is rolling… surprisingly so to those on the team. I have to confess that these legs are hillier when running than I thought they would be (based on countless times of driving over them). Also, mid 70s is warm to run in and there was a dry gusty headwind that added to the degree of difficulty on these legs.

On leg 7, several of our teammates commented on how quickly the time seemed to be passing by. We can’t stress how much fun these relays are in that not only do you really get to know others well, but you also have an unforgettable shared experience together! After our run, one of our teammates recorded and sent out many of the memorable funny comments made during the race (and styled it after a movie trailor) and sent it to the rest of the team. But, when the others were commenting on how they were having fun after leg 7, not to be pessimistic, but I felt compelled to remind them that we were less than 1/5 of the way done. I couldn’t get out of my mind how much faster and fun things would be when you include all of the other teams and when you have all the things that the towns along the way are planning. Nevertheless, they were right! Even though we were sufficiently tired by the finish, and it was just us out there, the time did seem to somehow pass by quickly. And, it was fun! I think this bodes quite well for the real thing.

Anyway, we continued on after leg 7, making our way through the towns of Flatonia, Schulenburg, Weimar, Borden, and Columbus. It was satisfying to make it to each one as they each signified progress for our team. We ate at Brenda’s which is on the east side of Flatonia – great burgers (I’ve been there multiple times). By the time we reached Weimar, the sun was setting and the wind was dying down. It made a noticeable difference on the difficulty of the legs. We ate our dinner at Schobel’s in Columbus, which is just off of I-10 (and right on the course near the 16th exchange). They have a traditional home-styled buffet that is excellent (and will likely be a hard place to find a seat on the evening of March 1).

We’re working with Wallis to coordinate a temporary and fun (and communal) sleeping arrangement. In conjunction with this, we’re likely to install a rule that requires only 1 van/team (the active van) at exchanges 19, 20, 21, & 22 (it would also help a resting van have more time if the active van takes care of exchange 18 as well). Then both of the vans can meet up in Wallis at exchange 23 for the switch, and then the new van would be the one allowed at exchanges 24, 25, 26, and 27. In our case, the girls took legs 19 – 23, while the guys slept. And then, the guys took legs 24 – 28. We were pleased that the highways in the middle of night had minimal traffic. With the safety vest and flashlight while running, no one felt that it was dangerous (though there is risk that participants assume the whole way through as the course is not a closed course). One thing that competing teams will definitely want to keep in mind is that the person who is about to run the upcoming leg should have ALL the items they will need to run with them so that when they take the exchange they only need to take the wristband from the runner handing off. In our case, we only hinted that others may want to bring their reflective safety vests (only a day or two before the run). As a team, we only ended up bring one, so at each exchange we lost some time taking the vest off, putting it on, and handing off the flashlight, etc. I felt pretty bad for the runners who ran after me as I can perspire a fair amount, and I am quite sure that the runners after me considered taking their chances going vestless (which is not an option at the event) instead of going with a drippy vest. Yuck! I don’t like wearing my own sweaty clothes… I can hardly imagine what it must’ve been like for someone else. In any event, we will be providing two inexpensive vests, but we encourage you to bring your own as you will likely prefer yours, and it could help for a smoother transition.

With the cooler temps, flatter course, and the moonlit night, the girls found that they liked the overnight legs. At the actual race, we will have portajohns at every exchange, but we elected not to have them placed along the course for our trial run. Not that we went to the restroom anywhere except in a restroom, one memorable quote was “I can’t go when I hear men’s voices!!” Surprisingly, the quail that the Eagle Lake area is known for congregated on the road in the middle of the night. I had never seen these in the daytime, but on his evening we saw myriads of them quickly getting out of the way. While running, you could hear even more of them fluttering away to their escape. I am not sure they will be out there in the Spring (or when hundreds of vans pass through), but if they are out in force like they were for us, you’ll be surprised. Needless to say, no quail hunting during the TIR will be allowed!

In case you’re not familiar with the history of the area we’re running through, it has had (and still does relative to other places) a strong locomotive presence. We saw three trains go by as we were on leg 24. And, there were other trains that we saw as well. While we were not stopped by any train, we do cross tracks several times. So, some teams will have the unfortuitous situation of having to wait for a train. With the exception of one train that we’ve seen while working on this event over the past year, they have all passed by quickly and would only cause a short delay. We hope every team is as lucky as we were (and not be delayed at a train crossing), but we doubt that will be the case. Don’t try to beat the train!!! Ironically, we learned afterward that one of our very own actually wanted to get stopped by a train near the end… tsk tsk.

It’s at the very end of leg 27 that you reach the outskirts of Cinco Ranch which is on the far west side of Houston. There are sidewalks and a lot of street lights in this area. Near exchange 28, there is a Starbucks coffee. Most teams will be reaching exchange 28 around 6AM. I think we should let them know that there will be a lot of people wanting coffee very quickly… what do you think?!? Exchange 29 is at an intersection that has an HEB and Randall’s, and we took advantage of this and bought crème-filled doughnuts and other exceptional nutritious breakfast foods when we were there. I am not sure how much Dr. Pepper I had by this point, but I am sure you could measure it in gallons.

Joe took leg 30, which goes into the George Bush Park. At the intersection, it doesn’t look like you would need a flashlight as there are enough streetlights, but if the sun isn’t coming up yet when you go into the park, it would be preferable to have a flashlight there. The sun came up as Sarah ran the east side of the GB Park trail, and Steve had leg 32, which covers the Terry Hershey Trail. As suspected, these three really enjoyed this stretch.

Zohaib joined me on leg 34, but it turned out that we inadvertently drained one of the car batteries so that it wouldn’t start. This normally wouldn’t be an issue, but because I was doing most of the navigating, it was a little more challenging when I was off running on the course. To the team’s credit, though, they worked it out… Wheh, close one! While each person should know their legs (and we found that on a few of the legs, it may be a good idea to bring the directions with you), it also would be good to have a second-in-command that is prepared to make good decisions.

Zohaib continued running with Joy as they did leg 35 on the Buffalo Bayou trail and up into downtown. This leg, the team captain’s leg, lives up to it’s billing. Joy called it the perfect leg and very fun to run. We have since made a change so that Leg 35 will be finishing at the heart of downtown at Smith and Polk instead of at Minute Maid. I liked that it previously ran along Texas Ave., but this new finish is really a lot better as it ends at the Hyatt, which is our host hotel. When teams reach exchange 35, there is less than a marathon to go!

For the last few legs, we really started to anticipate the finish, and with each exchange there would almost be a mini-celebration because we were a few miles closer. Finally, it’s on leg 40 (with about 3 miles to go) that you can actually see the San Jacinto Monument… the finish.

We originally had planned that the teams would do a little loop on the battleground before finishing, but after a couple of hundred miles, it’s almost torture to not go straight in to the monument. So, by RD’s decree, that’s what we did (and that is a change we’re going to make for the real event as well). The last run up to the monument was quite a moment, even for our team who was not doing it in front of anyone! Interestingly, I have seen the monument now many times, but never like I did in that moment. It was nothing short of absolutely spectacular. Our team was nothing but giddy smiles as we gimpily made our way to the finish. While I think many more people could do this than they think (we get runners at marathon expos who claim there is no way they could do this), I also think it can certainly pose a significant challenge to even the most experienced runner. Unexpectedly, it is be a shared experience that I won’t forget, and while we joked at the beginning that maybe I should call this the inaugural pre-TIR instead of the Pre-Inaugural TIR, now I can certainly see making a yearly habit to do this low key version simply for the selfish reason so that Joy and I can run the course!

The Pre-Inaugural… er, Inaugural Pre-TIR was a success. We found some small tweaks that we will make, yet we were pleased with the course like we thought we would be. We look forward to the actual event with all the teams and the happenings at the start, finish, and many of the exchanges, yet even without any of that, we had a superb time!

Now, I will let you know, unless you’re an old pro at these kinds of relays (and maybe even if you are), you will be cashed afterwards. On Monday, you will not likely be at your very best. And, as much as I liked it, the last thing I could think of would be to look forward to doing it again, but that wasn’t the same or all of our teammates… on the very next day after our weekend adventure, Joe signed a team up (and everyone else on our team is either on a team or planning to help out). He hadn’t even known about the event for very long and he didn’t have a team lined up… can you think of a better endorsement?