Sunday, September 06, 2009

What next?

So four years of relaying under our belt. Next year is going to be tricky. I'm not really sure people comprehend what goes into getting a full 12 person relay team. Seriously - I'm shameless. I ask people I barely know. I send e-mails to running clubs to recruit strangers (I managed to pick up our ringers, Al and Shaun, that way). I have failed to get 12 2 out of 4 times.

So I'm a little worried to be leaving my running base here in Ames. I'm sure I'll meet runners in Seattle, but tapping into a large group will depend on finding a running group I like. So I really have no clue what relays might be potential next year... Do I do the Pacific Northwest? Do I come back to the Midwest? I seem to be able to get a full team in Colorado, so that state works. How about near other places where I have multiple running friends?

Serena, the team captain of Girls Heart Rockets, who are a bunch of scientist ladies that run faster than anyone on our team besides Al and Shaun, have challenged us to the Canadian Death Race:
I'm actually totally game. This is only a five person relay, so theoretically it should be easier to recruit for. But it is in the middle of nowhere in Alberta, so that might be a challenge. It is only a 12 hour drive from Seattle though...

In typical Danielle style, I totally made a spreadsheet with potential relays for next year. In January-ish I'll send out an e-mail and people can vote on which one they would most likely do. Here are the ones on my list now. If anyone has any additions or comments on any of them, let me know!

Cape Relay Quincy to Provincetown MA May
MC200
Madison WI to Chicago IL June
Green Mountain Relay Jefferson to Bennington VT June
Prelay
Portland to Eugene OR July
Ragnar Northwest Passage Blaine to Langley WA July
Canadian Death Race Grand Cache Alberta August
Wild West Relay Fort Collins to Steamboat Springs CO August
Spokane to Sandpoint Spokane WA to Sandpoint ID August
Hood to Coast Mt. Hood OR to Seaside OR August
Ragnar Great River La Crosse WI to Minneapolis MN August
Colorado Relay Georgetown to Carbondale CO September
Ragnar New England New Haven CT to Boston MA September
Ragnar DC Cumberland MD to Washington DC September

13 comments:

Unknown said...

Grande Cache is on the way to Alaska ...

Just sayin'!

Jenny Davidson said...

I think the Cape Relay is the only one that fits in with my travel and training plans, but I will DEFINITELY do it if you go for that one - and b/c it's relatively nearby, I am fairly certain I could rope in 1-2 other runners...

Al Dimond said...

The September ones might conflict with the Meeteetse Absaroka Challenge, which I'm pretty determined to run again. Unfortunately I don't know what the date of that will be next year, but if one of those is in consideration I'll let you know.

James said...

So, yeah, I like the notion of the Ragnar DC or Ragnar NE. WWR again would be pretty coo', too.

Al Dimond said...

Also, as someone that has some idea what it takes to get relay teams together, I know it's pretty tough and I appreciate all the work you put into it (I had it easy, since we ran the same race every year and started with a running club located within the same state as that race).

Also, I was looking up the Canadian Death Race to see about the date, and saw that it's always on "August Long Weekend". Canadians get the first monday in August off work (except QuebeƧois, Newfies, and Nunavutters) without having to memorialize anything, just for being people in Canada. No fair!

Glaven Q. Heisenberg said...

Wow, sister - when you come back to the blogosphere, you do it with a vengeance!

Good luck!

BrianFlash said...

I think that Mt Hood to the Ocean would be really cool. The Pacific Northwest might be the perfect place to be a runner.

Rainmaker said...

Ok, that race name is brilliant - pure brilliance. I'd love to have a t-shirt from that race.

James said...

Also, Spokane to Sandpoint has a Team Spirit award that we could win in a heartbeat. So, I'm all for that.

Unknown said...

The Cape Relay also has a Team Spirit Award :-)

Al Dimond said...

Oh, it turns out I have some friends getting married on June 19, which overlaps Green Mountain. Which is sad, I've always wanted to run Green Mountain. I'm sure I'll get around to it one of these days.

Danielle in Iowa in Ireland said...

Al - Jenny and I have been chatting and she has volunteered to be responsible for one van of runners if we do the Cape Relay. So it is kind of looking like maybe we'll do that one and the Canadian Death Race next year... But things can change!

I really want to do the VT one as well - one of these years we'll do it!

Al Dimond said...

Cape Relay sounds cool! I would at least finally get to see New England. As we'd be in the first running we'd have to be sure to know our directions very well.