Rainier to Ruston 50 mile relay race

Sole Sista Six was our team name: Melanie, Suzanne, Julie, Genny, Jorelle and I drove up at 6:30 am to get to the starting line of the R2R at Mt. Rainier National Park. 

A little nervous.....?

We had been training for months for this, running 2-4 times a week, running anywhere from 4 to 11 miles at a time.  Well, actually, I couldn't even do that much at a time.  A few months ago I hurt my Achilles tendon and it's still swollen.  I was actually really nervous about the race because back in March and April I could barely run at all.  I tried to keep my runs down to a minimum of length and easy terrain.  But it still didn't heal enough to make it possible for me to run the lengthier legs in the race, so I took the shortest legs possible--Crocker to Orting, and Puyallup to Fife. 

Our good friends, Allison, Jana, Lisa, Carla, Eric, and Randy

It was the most BEAUTIFUL day!  Perfect blue skies, and even though we knew it was going to get hot, it was still pleasant weather to run in early morning, especially in such a gorgeous area!  Mountain forests, clear running rivers, the birds chirping--ahhhh!  Wonderful.

It was the first race ever for Genny and Jorelle, and Genny had the first leg!  It was along the road and there really wasn't anyone up there driving except the support vehicles for the runners!  So we would drive up along Genny and shout cheers to her and anyone else we felt like--why not?  We all love running!  That was the really cool part: runners cheer each other on, not just teammates.  In fact, somewhere along Jorelle's last leg we "adopted" an Ultra runner (someone running the ENTIRE 50 miles themselves), more on that later...

Julie the High-Fiver!

Genny's first race!

Suzanne posing with cute (albeit "alien-looking") side piggies!

Ahhhh....Nature!

Genny did awesome!  She crossed under the bell ringer and tagged Melanie, and Mel went out to run in the muddiest part of the race, 6.3 miles along the cavern and river--she came out with mud all up her legs.  But she was fast!  We waited for her on the bridge where everyone else was waiting to cheer on their teammates, and we almost missed her because we all thought she had passed us! 

Genny tagging Melanie

It was Suzanne's turn after Melanie; she ran from Carbonado to Wilkeson.  From Wilkeson, Julie took off, and by then it was starting to get hot, so I put on sunscreen.  Julie had some mud, too, as she made her way to South Prairie, where the actual Foothills Trail begins at it's northern point.  That's where Jorelle started her first race!  And she did great!  She ran from there to Crocker, where I began my first leg.  It was a really good terrain for me, all on paved trail and no hills--I ran 2.7 miles (to Orting) in 26:30 minutes!  Woot woot!  I felt dizzy, actually, crossing under and ringing the bell--I hadn't meant to run that fast, but racing makes you do crazy things!

The bridge past Fairfax, the only point where we could hope to see Melanie and cheer her on....

The river from the bridge; just gorgeous!

The tiny bit of white?  That's Mel!

Suzanne RRRRReady for her first leg!

Proof that Melanie is Queen of the Muddy Trails

It was Genny again and she ran to Scholtz Farm in McMillan, and then Mel ran from there to Meeker trailhead--and it was really getting hot then.  We were in the car going, "Oh, that breeze....it feels good...." and drinking water and Gatorade and trying to figure out where to stop and cheer our Sole Sista on.  From Meeker, Suzanne ran one of my favorite places to run (the Riverwalk--nice and shady).  We stopped in Puyallup under the overpass and I got a great pic of my gals stretching on the fence!  We cheered Suzanne on, and then met her at Tiffany's Skate in Puyallup, and that's where I took off for my final leg. 

Melanie, filthy after her first leg

Julie helps Mel wash her legs off

Jules before her first leg

Jorelly!

Jorelle just before her first leg of her first race EVER!

Julie tags Jorelle

Me before my first leg...

At first, it wasn't a big deal--I mean, I was a little tired from my first run, but I had rested my tendon (and thanks to new shoes I had bought the previous night, yes, less than 24 hours after I bought them I ran 6 miles in them!) and I ran along the bridge and down the off-ramp and along a paved road for a while, and I thought, OK, no problem!  But watching the blue spray-painted arrows that race officials had put down on the roads to let us know where to go pointed me off road, and soon I found myself running along a tall grassed, beach-sandy trail along the river where I can only assume work vehicles travel.  It was like running at the ocean!  Not easy--and I saw the gals after a couple of miles cheering me from a bridge above me, and huffing and puffing, I yelled to them, "How much further?"  "About a mile and a half," Julie calls to me.  I thought, Lord, please don't let it be that far!  I was so tired!  But sure enough, after another 5 minutes I could see the bell tower about a third of a mile ahead, and I thought, I could sprint.  "Uh, not a chance," my body answered.
I tagged Jorelle, and was thankful my part was over.  3.2 miles in just over 36 minutes.  In the sand.  Not bad!

...DURING my first leg...

...after my first leg!

I just have to say, poor Jorelle!  She was such a trooper running this leg from Fife to Tacoma.  IN NO SHADE.  It was about 80 degrees out.  We met her a few times to give her water.  That's when we met Paula the Ultra, just ahead of Jorelle, and Genny offered her some water and she gratefully took it.  So every time we saw Paula we gave her "her" water bottle and cheered her on! 
When we got to the Museum of Glass, we waited for Jorelle, and when she got about 100 yards away, she began to sprint!  What a woman! 

My sweet husband and kids coming to see me race!

Suzanne

Jorelle

Melanie

Melanie almost to bell tower at Meeker

Our next adventure together will be starting a ballet school....:)

Getting ready for my last leg in Puyallup

This was the sand I ran in....BLECH!

Jorelle, ready to run in the same sand, then, road, for 5.2 miles

My Sole Sista, Suzanne....and the mountain we just left!

Jorelle in the blazing heat keeping her spirits up!

Jules, ready for the LAST AND FINAL leg of the race!

Jorelle sprinting!  Go Jorelly!

And cooling off

The last leg was Julie's, and now the hardest part for us was going to be finding a parking space along Ruston Way in Tacoma.  It's a great waterfront walk for miles, with beautiful views and wonderful restaurants, and limited parking.

Julie!  Great shot of her, but it meant we were too far from the finish line!

So, we parked where we thought we could, and thought we had done great!  Except, we weren't anywhere near the finish line.  Crud.  But we did see Julie and cheered her on!  But that meant we had to get back in the car and drive but we weren't sure where the park was, so we parked again. 
This time I walked with Suzanne and Genny in my flip flops, and when we finally got to the park, where I just assumed Julie would be waiting for us AFTER she crossed the finish line, Jorelle and Melanie met us and told us that Julie was waiting to cross the finish line WITH us! 

Paula the Ultra, who finished just before we did *WOW*  She said, "thanks so much!  I couldn't have done it without you!" (I don't think that's true, but thanks for the props, Paula!)  She came in 2nd in her class and 4th overall!

So I ran another 1/4 mile or so in my flip flops, but we finished together, hearing our team name announced as we did so.  It was so so so so much fun.  I loved every minute of it (even the hard minutes)!

Sole Sista Six finishes in 8 hours and 15 minutes (that's just about a 10 minute mile average)