6 men, 1 van, lots of chips, and 1 goal to not die. Here is their story:
Friday, 3/23/18
0145
5 men show up at YHC's neighborhood clubhouse with no sight of YHC.
0200
YHC's new dog lets out one of its first barks as there is a tapping at my bedroom window. YHC realizes that staying up til 0030 to watch basketball was a bad idea since i was 15 min late and I had all the stuff, including the van. Which leads me to my next point, if you are the flesh anchor of any CSAUP team, make certain you hold the leverage…aka the van keys.
0215
YHC arrives at the pool (with teeth fully brushed) to see 5 eager Pax dressed in the brightest jackets I've ever seen. It appears that we have a full team to go run 200ish miles through some of the most beautiful wasteland we've ever seen.
0430
YHC comes in on 2 wheels as Runner 1, Frogger needed some bathroom time before launching into a quite chilly 6.77mile run.
0448
We are off, Frogger busts out a crazy fast 6+ miles and we are chasing down the 0420 group.
Turnpike then took on 10.5 miles in 84min and we looked poised to bust out an incredible first 6 legs.
Then, knowing that some runners would just do the bare minimum, Major Tom decided to turn his 5k (his shortest leg of the 6) into a 10k. The P200 guys put up signs with blinkers and had all kinds of wayfinding materials, but no! Major Tom wouldn't let that stop him from going above and beyond to ensure our team won the battle for most miles. A truly selfless performance!
Wingman & Jolly & Dallas were off next and took on some additional miles to bring us an end to the first 6 miles at 1015.
Then we changed it up a bit into the 1,2,1,2,3,4,3,4,5,6,5,6 format. Which meant Dallas, who had just finished at 1015, wouldn't run again until 17:47, a nice 7.5hr break.
Frogger and Turnpike took on some tough legs as things started to heat up and they finished their 4 legs at 1310.
Next up was Jolly and Wingman, hitting some sunny stretches of farmland in someplace called Elloree, SC. Great town, lots of history. Nice people…
At this point, we see the other incogs at EZ12. They are salty because they know we are superior in almost every way measureable, but they were still nice enough to offer us a spot in the shade. However, we declined, because that would be too easy.
Major Tom & Dallas took on their set of four legs next from 1648 – 20:19.
It is an interesting dynamic being "on" for over 3 hours. One thing you miss is the ability to go off course a little and get some real food or drive ahead and chill out a bit. The 6 man doesn't allow for those things as you are always moving to the next spot. On the flip side, you are never bored, you always have a guy out on the course to support and somebody that just came in who may need something. As well as the guy preparing mentally to go out there and run again.
Back on track, as we roll into darkness, the two man team of Frogger and Turnpike set off again at 20:19.
Frogger lays down a quick 3.7miles and Turnpike ventures off on a 9.7miler. We finally got a little rest here as TP was out for his second high mileage leg, but he still got it done in 80min and Frogger took the reins from there.
After Frogger finished we switched things up a bit and YHC took TP's 3.6miler (leg 22) and TP took Jolly's leg 23. Pretty even swap and allowed TP to get some extra recover from his 10miler.
Wingman then ran a long one and handed off to Jolly for a quick 2.4miles. Unfortunately Major Tom decided to park the van 2 miles away from the EZ so YHC ended up running around the EZ for a while looking for somebody to take the baton. As you can imagine, around 0138 in the AM, you get a little delirious and we may not have been firing on all cylinders.
Wingman then wrapped up leg 26 and the Major Tom/Dallas combo came back up for more. This time Major Tom (again wanting to make sure we put in more work than everyone else) took off going the wrong way, fortunately the race crew decided to tell us and we went and tracked him down. Then he goes and busts out a 7.5miler at a 8:30 pace. Strong!!!
At this point we have been in 1st or 2nd place overall for a while and the fine people of some county were giving us a police escort. Real recognize real!
The rest gets a little fuzzy but around 0600 YHC took off on the final stretch of 6 legs. We had been seeing the Lex6 at the TZs but hadn't seen them on the course yet. But YHC's luck had finally run out and my first four miles of the 8miler had been hovering around 10min miles. Mile 4 actually clocked in at 10:01. YHC was done, no more ability to move the legs, it would be a long slow mosey into the EZ and a bitter sweet finish to an overall pleasing performance. Then came Julep from Lexington, SC. We exchanged a few words and I tried to keep up as he talked. He obviously had the ability to move on towards that IP connector bridge much faster than 9:30/mile, but instead he stayed back and pulled me through the last 4 miles. Even found out he is a fellow Wilcat fan from the great state of Kentucky! At the point of finishing, I didn't care about the pace or the fact that the 6 legs were now over, i was just humbled and thankful by the generosity of one of the many HIMs in Lexington, SC!
Turnpike took off after YHC and nailed his last leg around Sullivan's Island holding off the quick Bobby Boucher and then Frogger took us back over the bridge in a gutsy 4.37miles to get back to Mt. Pleasant. Then the Incog 12 man team was hot on our heals, just 100 yards behind and here comes their captain talking the talk. They were poised and ready to take the lead, or so we thought. Dallas took off and never looked back..well, he never looked back until about 30 yards out and decided to back pedal it in for a little taunting. Fortunately there are no walls in F3 and therefore no rules…so no 15 yard unsportmanlike penalty. And we continue on.
Last up Major Tom rolls a 4.7 miler around mt pleasant, heading back to an EZ that YHC took off from just hours before. (Did they run out of churches?) and Wingman took the dreaded trip through the woods to find the new finish line.
The decision to do this race was often mocked and criticized, but I am proud of each one of these guys for sticking it out and turning in a solid finish and having a great time doing it. This 6 man relay was one of the most satisfying CSAUP experiences of my time, seeing these guys dig much deeper than just physical pain and showed so much mental toughness to finish this race. If you are thinking about a 1/4 ruck or BRR or 5k, whatever it is, get out there and challenge yourself. My first CSAUP was a Go Ruck tough that BLack Eyed Pea talked me into, and I’ve never been able to thank him enough. There are plenty of men ready and willing to join you, they are just praying for somebody to ask them. Be the man who steps up and pulls somebody out of their comfort zone, BRR is right around the corner and there are spots available. Do it!
Argh!