How Far Would You Go For Tuna?

203 miles.

+ 12 runners.
+ 2 vans.
+ 6 drivers.
+ 8 pancakes (and 3 sausages).
=
31 hours, 24 minutes, 17 seconds.

That was our weekend.  We were part of a crew that ran the Tuna Run; a relay race from Raleigh, NC to Atlantic Beach, NC.  A friend of ours invited Lisa to join the team in the early spring and after another person dropped out, I was added to the roster.  Most of the people we know from church or from other races (like the Outer Banks Half Marathon).  Everyone in the bunch are good people that we can fun with together – but this took it to a whole other level – a bunch of 50 somethings sleeping on vans, running in the middle of the night, peeing in bushes, and telling stories to get to know one another. 

The race started in the dark at 6 am, Friday morning at Lake Benson Park with the Blue Team starting off.  Our team, the Red Team, would start about five hours later so we quickly retreated back to a friend’s house for coffee, a real potty, and the mornings news.  Then – then – we piled back into the church bus headed out to breakfast!  By 9 am we were on the road to our first transition point for a 11 am hand off. My first leg was long and hot and I was a little beaten down at the end of it. I had a hard time imagining two more runs in 24 hours.

I can’t tell you where we really were because I had never been to any of these places and I wasn’t up front in the bus. I can tell you that hanging out with a bunch of acquaintances in a small, confined space, sweating and tired and hungry did not suck like you think it might. Everyone was invested in making the event enjoyable.  People kept the whining to a minimum and the levity to maximum.  One person was afraid of running at night and encountering a bear.  Another person was afraid of running into a clown.  We all settled for being afraid of bear clowns.

We stopped for dinner and a beer in Kinston, NC - a really decent burger (protein) and an IPA (carbs). By this time the whole thing had this throw-caution-to-the-wind atmosphere, probably because we did not have children around and the evening segments were coming up.

An hour after dinner and we set up a camp site in the dark.  I borrowed Lisa's Eno hammock and crashed out for an hour before I was shaken awake to get back on the bus. 

Red Team dropped me off at my 11 pm starting point and I took off into the North Carolina countryside.  I ran into the dark of night, without a moon or a cloud in the sky.  At times I turned off my head lamp and let the night soak me into it.  We were so far from any town that the stars revealed the arms of Milky Way galaxy - something I have not seen with my own eyes in years.
 
Lisa had one of the early morning runs, 6.5 miles that started at 2 am.  It was her first long run in a long time and she crushed it with a record time for her. I was really impressed with her resilience and stamina.

Somewhere around 6 am we were at a church that served fresh pancakes, sausages, and coffee.  Without a doubt the best breakfast in a long time.  It filled and refreshed us as I snuck off to the church bathroom to wipe down with baby-wipes and paper towels.  Parts of me were starting to chafe and I still had another run.


Blue Team handed off right around that time and headed to the beach for showers and a rest while we finshed up our legs. With the end in sight - figuratively, not literally - everyone was motivated for the finish line.  In my shortest leg I posted my fastest time of the three segments. Our support team consisting of drivers, spouses, race volunteers emerged from the hotel everyone was staying at as our captain passed with 2.5 miles to go.

In true team spirit all the runners met our captain for the last quarter mile to the finish line and the twelve of us crossed as one.  


The afternoon was filled with beers and pizza, sand, a sunset, and a camaraderie of a job well done.  In the days after we found out that we finished 9th out of 30+ mixed teams and almost immediately those who said that they wouldn't do it again began planning ways to improve for next year.

At this point in this post I am asking myself, "what did I learn?"  I think the answer is that life is an adventure and we need to embrace more of it.