The Stats: 2 teams, 4 vans, 6 runners per van + a few subs = ~26 runners for Team Athleta
The Distance: 199 miles from Calistoga to Davenport (near Santa Cruz), California
The Time: 7:30 and 9:30 start Sat am; 4:30 and ~5:30 finish time Sunday evening

What I learned from doing The Relay:

1. It was MUCH harder than I expected! I don’t know what I was thinking? I guess my current training of ~10-13 hrs/week for my Half Ironman this July had me thinking two stints of ~5 miles over a weekend wouldn’t be hard. Well, lemme tell ya—it was hard! Because you’re either running, sitting in a van, or lying on a gym floor for ~31 hrs. It’s hard on you physically and mentally!
2. I’m a new fan of Night Running. My first leg of the race was a 6.2 miler and I started off at 8:30pm (after waiting for ~2.5 hrs to start as I met up with my team after the first rotation). I had my headlamp and reflective vest on and was ready to venture out through the rolling hills of Petaluma. My run began at dusk and fell into night and it was magical. There is something very therapeutic and powerful about running in the night with the starts all around and having the sound of your breath and footsteps as your music. And it was empowering to be part of a stream of fellow night relay runners with their bobbing headlamps and reflective vests lighting the path.
3. Everything becomes funny when you’re ~20 hrs into The Relay. You just start loosing your brain cells, and you chuckle over the little sayings or one liners that are funny, but now seem hilarious because your brain is running on chips, snacks and no rest.
4. Pepto Bismol for an EARLY run after no sleep is a GOOD thing! Kelly Cooper kept recounting stories of past Relay’s where they chugged Pepto Bismol during the midnight legs, and I would shake my head wondering how the heck that could help. Well my friends, I found myself begging Kelly for a swig of her Pepto Bismol sub 10 minutes before my early morning run (Tracy has some pics of us doing pepto shots). Because I felt anything had to help the complete whack job my stomach and body was feeling. So I swigged away…and I think it helped. It definitely gave me the green light to make it through my last ~5 miler.
5. It takes an EXTREMELY insane amount of organization and coordination to put on a ~200 miler relay. And it takes almost as much organization for a Team to participate. And Athleta had TWO teams! That’s a LOT of organization/commitment. Penelope was THE leader/organizer for Athleta and God bless her for all she did for the team. She made it happen. We all did I know collectively, but SHE made it all come together. I think it shows the spirit of Athleta for committing this much time/energy to have 2 Teams.
6. If asked to do the Relay with Athleta again next year, I’d say yes in a heartbeat!

Click to see Team Athleta’s Relay photo gallery »

ANNE MARIE SEBASTIANI is a USAT Level 1 Triathlon Coach, Certified Personal Trainer, and a fit model for Athleta. She loves all things related to mommy fitness and racing, as she's a mom to four-year-old twins. She has been participating in triathlons and running events for the past six years and is always on the hunt for family friendly races, inspiring stories, and ways to stay motivated. You can read more about her work at GoalsForTheWeek.com »

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