TIR Report

I’ve been looking forward to TIR since I worked the Team In Training booth at the Houston Marathon expo in 2007. The TNT booth was near the Texas Independence Relay booth and I had many chances to talk to race directors Jay and Joy Hilscher throughout the day. I knew that day that I would be entering a team in their event.

A few months later Jon Walk and I were discussing entering our teams and setting up a Texas Throwdown Challenge. We both sent in our entries, Jon was first in and was the 33rd team to enter the event and my team was the 39th team.

Over the next month or so we set up our rosters and picked our team names. My team would take the name “Texian Road Warriors” and Jon’s would become The Battleing Bloggers of the Texas Republic.

The name of our team was a combination of the word for Texans of the time period, Texians, and to pay tribute to Jon Blais, the triathlete who after being diagnosed in 2004 with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) finished the Kona Ironman in October 2005 before passing away last May. Jon Blais was known as the Warrior Poet and his charity is made up of Blazeman Warriors. We also requested race number 179 which was Jon Blais’ number at Kona.

My original team was stacked having two speedsters with Kim Hager and Andrew Perry on the roster. Kim would eventually take the sideline after sustaining injuries while chasing after an Olympic Marathon Trials qualification time. Andrew would draw the short straw at Luke’s and have to work event weekend.

The Texian Road Warriors final roster was made up of 9 TWRC members including myself, Gena and Greg Alvarez, Michelle and Stewart Comrie, Paula and Doug Stiles, Juliee Sparks and Dee Akers. Triathlete John Laskowski, former HARRA VP of Communications Doug Spence and WoodlandsFit runner Scott Mayer would round out our line up. Club member George Roffe would be our driver.

The Bloggers final roster included TWRC club members Jon Walk, Karen Felicidario and Dave Smart. Other team members included, Edwin Quarles (Brazosport Area Road Runners Association), Cassie Mondragon (Houston), Holden Choi of The Woodlands, Sarah Graybeal (Bay Area Running Club), Joe Carey (Bay Area Running Club), Keith Kelleher (Clear Lake Fitness Club), Tommy Stunz (Lake Jackson), Adrienne Langelier (Seven Hills Running Club), and Katy Lampson (Seven Hills Running Club). Jon’s team had two dedicated drivers.

The Blogger’s were about 35 minutes faster than us on the TIR pace predictor worksheet.

Since our group was perfectly split with triathletes and runners we organized our rotation keeping that in mind and instead of Van 1 and Van 2 we called our selves the Tri Van and Run Van.

Our Tri Van included co-captain Gena, Greg, Dee, Paula, Doug Stiles (Tri Doug), and John. They would share driving duties. Our Run Van was Stewart, Michelle, Scott, Juliee, Doug Spence (Run Doug), and myself. We did have a dedicated driver with George Roffe.

While we could have been very creative with how we set our rotation we chose to keep it simple alternating vans. Everyone would experience a little of everything, daylight, heat, hills, night, daylight again, and sleep deprivation. We also opted for the sleeping accommodations in Wallis for its location, supporting a good cause for the school, and to experience the relay under Spartan conditions.


Texas Tough Throwdown
Jon Walk and I made our Throwdown Challenge official on February 9 and were featured on the TIR web-page. We also requested a start time a minute apart, we would go first and the Blogger’s a minute behind us. As a side bet Jon came up with "If the Texian Road Warriors beat the Battling Bloggers of the Texas Republic, I have to run the Rocky Raccoon 100-Miler next February. But, when the Battling Bloggers win, Bill will do the Rocky Raccoon 50-Miler!"

Friday Feb 29
I had planned on taking a day off from work. What that means for an overachiever is going into the office for about 6 hours and leaving early. On the way Jon called me. He had just picked up his mini van for the weekend and was letting me know he was ahead of me. The strange thing was he had just flown in from LA, picked up the van, and was heading to his home in Spring exiting the Hardy Toll Road at FM1960. A couple of minutes later I would be at the same intersection getting on the Toll Road.

I met up with a few of my Texian teammates in the early afternoon to organize our vehicles. We would have one Toyota Mini Van and one Ford Expedition. The plan was for a very early Saturday departure.

I stopped by Walmart to pick up some supplies and who is just ahead of me doing the same, Jon & Waverly Walk. We talked a bit about our plans and were off on our way. I also swung by Academy and saw club member Jana Jordan looking for pepper spray, a must have dog deterrent for the relay.


Saturday Mar 1
We had two meeting locations in The Woodlands for Saturday morning. The Tri Van was meeting one place and the Run Van another. We would then meet up somewhere on I-10…or in Gonzales. Our run van was a perfect departure and we were on the road shortly after 3:30am. The Tri Van had a little delay with one member running a little late but was on the road around 3:45am. They would actually pass us along the way. Jon called to see where we were at 4:30, we were about 15 minutes behind him….see a pattern starting to develop here?


Gonzales
When we arrived we met up with the Bloggers and everyone was introduced to each other. We had a team prayer to give thanks and pray for a safe event for everyone. We were shuttled to the start, picked up our bibs, t-shirts and maps. We saw another TWRC team getting ready, the Athletic Girls Next Door. We wished them luck and after a few group photos we lined up for the Prologue. The Bloggers lined up right behind us.

Prologue
We lined up in front of a giant Texas flag. Each team would have a member hit a gong at the start. Juliee Sparks was our starter. We took it easy the first 1.15 miles. The prologue is a very nice touch. All the team members run it together and the race starts in earnest as we pass behind the giant Texas flag as other teams are lining up to begin.

Tri Van Active – Legs 1–6, Run Van Inactive
We hustled back to the shuttle to get back to our vans. The Tri Van wouldn’t have a lot of time to get to the first exchange so they were off in a hurry. The Run Van would be inactive for several hours so we took our time. We followed the relay route out of town. It was a foggy morning. Seeing the runners with the fog as a backdrop was pretty cool. We passed John Laskowski who was running the second leg. We stopped and cheered and took some photos. The Bloggers passed us during the first leg and with their faster runners coming up it didn’t look good for the Throwdown. We headed on to Shiner for fuel, saw Mary Kershbaum and Kristin Collins (How About Them Apples), and then drove the route to Flatonia where we ate breakfast at “Donna’s”. The Tri Van would call us when they had two legs to go. When we got the call….it went something like this…We have the lead (over the Bloggers). Paula ran fantastic, everyone’s doing great….!!!!! The Game was on ! We hustled to the exchange for leg 7.

Run Van Active – Legs 7- 12, Tri Van Inactive
We arrived at leg 7 for our first leg. We saw TWRC club members Pam Meaux, and Les Ellsworth (Tejas Renegades) in the van parking area. We would see familiar faces throughout the relay, always cheering each other up.

Our first runner was Juliee who is a very tough competitor. She ran a hot and hilly route putting several more minutes on the Bloggers. I would come up next and it wasn’t pretty. We lost time but maintained our lead.

I handed off to Michelle who kept us in front running the leg with the highest elevation of the course. We were ahead of the Jon’s team but close enough that we would see each other at each exchange. I will say it was fun watching them begin to look a little nervous as we were maintaining our lead. (At least I hoped they were nervous)

Stewart was next and increased our lead. Scott brought us into Schulenburg with a solid leg and we finished our rotation with Run Doug who kept us safely in front.


Tri Van Active – Legs 13- 17, Run Van Inactive
With the Run Van now inactive we were off to Frank’s in Schulenburg for dinner. Not long after we sat down I received a call from Bill Crews in The Woodlands. Dana-Sue of the Athletic Girls Next Door team had called him from a borrowed cell phone. She’d been bitten by a dog and was in need of help. I called her team to let them know to get to her as quick as possible which they did. After we left Franks we came up on Dana-Sue who was being taken care of by an ambulance crew that happened to be driving by and were first on the scene. The Athletic Girls team was there and we stopped to give her a big hug and see if they needed any help. With dog hazards now being reinforced as an actual potential threat we stopped at the Walmart in Columbus for some dog deterrent. I had packed some small air horns but somehow they seemed inadequate after Dana-Sue was bit.

We checked in with the Tri Van and were informed that the Bloggers had passed them. We had no answer for their runner Adrienne Langelier of the Seven Hills Club who won the Huntsville Half Marathon last October and the Surfside Beach Marathon February 9th. She’s quite a good runner.

Run Van Active – Legs 18- 23, Tri Van Inactive
Exchange 18 was a little past Columbus. We were there early and were greeted by a spectacular view of stars that you just don’t see around the Houston area with all the lights. Jon was there already waiting for his runner. Our Tri Van arrived and the word was we were catching back up to the Bloggers. John Laskowski ran a great leg and we were back in the lead as he handed off to Juliee.

Juliee ran her best pace of the event and began opening up a lead again. Another sold effort from Stewart, then Scott who ran really well. Run Doug also ran his leg very well clocking about a minute a mile faster than plan. Michelle was up next and would put in a solid performance. We were losing some ground to Jon’s team but didn’t know it. I had hoped we would be about 10 minutes ahead as we started leg 23…my leg.

No such luck. This was going to be a classic Texas Tough Throwdown.

Jon would write later that “the Texian Road Warriors had a minute and 40-second lead over The Battling Bloggers of the Texas Republic in a spirited and tense battle that had been nip and tuck all day long.Twice Juliee Sparks opened up significant leads of 20-plus and 8 minutes, in head-to-head matchups against Edwin Quarles, who particularly battled with the heat, in leg 7 going through Moulton. But leg 23 went into Wallis and it was a matchup of the captains of both teams."

I held him off, well for about 4 minutes anyway. Jon slipped by me and drifted off ahead and out of sight. It came down to the two team captains, and I was losing more time than we would ever make up.

I actually enjoyed this leg once I got over the fact that Jon had crushed me. It was past midnight, cool temperatures, mostly down hill. Seeing the other runners with their blinking lights and reflective gear in the darkness was almost surreal. Wallis was all lit with street lights and they had an announcer greeting the runners as they apporoached to make their exchanges. I handed off to Greg Alvarez of the Tri Van as they would go active during the early morning hours. I saw Gary Van Kuiken’s team (Runnin’ on Empty) for the first time at the exhange in Wallis.

We headed to the school in Wallis where we would catch a luke warm shower and about 1-1/2 hours of sleep.


Tri Van Active – Legs 24 – 29, Run Van Inactive
It was good to shower, stretch out, and catch a little sleep. I set my cell phone alarm and was asleep as soon as I closed my eyes. It seemed like the hour and a half was just a couple minutes as the next thing I know the alarm is ringing. Our next exchange was at the HEB parking lot on Mason Road. We started making our way east. I called the Tri Van to see what was happening. John Laskowski had rolled his ankle and lost about 15 minutes finishing his leg. He wouldn’t be able to run his last leg (his 4th) in Houston later. Our new plan would have Juliee running his leg and keeping the effort really easy. The Bloggers were too far in front to mount any kind of comeback, especially with their speedster Adrienne coming back up in rotation. We would dial it back.

The HEB parking lot on Mason Road was a busy place. The Blogger’s were beginning their leg, How About Them Apples, Running on Empty, and Athletic Girls Next Door were all there.

Gena Alvarez ran the leg ending at Mason Road. She ran her fastest of the event and handed off to Stewart who would run through George Bush Park.


Run Van Active – 30-36 (7 legs), Tri Van InActive
Stewart ran a strong leg through George Bush Park as the sun came up. He would hand off to Juliee who would run her third strong leg bringing us to Terry Hershey Park. Waiting for her to finish we saw Jon and the Bloggers a little longer at the exchange. We were probably catching them some but the lead was too big to do anything about other than some good hearted…”hey, we’re catching you”. Scott would finish off Terry Hershey and bring us into Houston where Run Doug would navigate the sidewalks near where he lives.

My office is just a few miles from the finish and one of my co-workers volunteered to set up our club tent. We got the call that the tent was set up at the finish line. I was hoping that it was secured down well as it was getting windy. I kept having the thought that we would find it blown over when we got there.

Run Doug would hand off to Michelle for her last leg. She would run part of the Houston Marathon course and finish up at the picnic loop at Memorial Park were I would start the Captains Leg.

I have been a runner for a long time. I used to workout at Memorial Park quite a bit so I was very familiar with the route the Captain’s leg would take. The bad thing about having been a very good runner in the past is all the memories of the easy runs along the route that today would become a death march. At the exchange at the picnic loop I would start slightly ahead of Mary Kershbaum (How About them Apples) and Alana-Rose Lynes (Athletic Girls Next Door). Since about 50% of what I would be doing would be a walk both quickly passed me. They both said some very encouraging words as they went by.

My instructions for the Run Van was to head on to downtown to wait for me to finish at the exchange, “I’ll be slow but the positive is that Juliee will have more rest before her unplanned leg.”

They didn’t listen to me as I was chased down by everyone from the Run Van along Buffalo Bayou. They brought water, and cheered me up. They didn’t care at all how slow I was going, they were there to help me along. It was quite a moment.

As I came into the exchange in Downtown Houston I was greeted by all of my team members from both vans who made a tunnel and cheered my finish. This big second dose of love and compassion from the team was very emotional and a moment I will never forget. I handed off to Juliee and she was off on her extra leg (her 4th).

We shadowed Juliee through east Houston. This was an area listed as having potential dog hazards. Juliee ran well again and finished the day handing off to Paula across from a Hillary Clinton Rally that someone said Bill Clinton was speaking at. We didn’t care, we were in a relay race. Juliee ended the day with over 27 miles and her marathon split was 3:44. When she runs her first marathon it could be a fast one.

We would find out later that Dana-Sue Crews of the Athletic Girls Next Door team, who was bit by the dog earlier, would ask to run this same leg though the risky neighborhood.


Tri Van Active – 37-40, Run Van InActive
With the Tri Van bringing us home we were off to Deer Park for some food and to wait for the finish. Along Hwy 225 we had to do a quick maneuver around a couch that blew out of a pick up truck in front of us. It got the adrenaline going in everyone. We did stop at exchange 39 briefly to say hello to the Clearlake TNT coach Miranda Mallet. Then off to Burger King which was right on the run route. My favorite Deer Park restaurant wasn’t opened yet. We organized the race t-shirts and socks for the team, talked about the day and watched the relay runners run by.

After killing some time we drove over to the San Jacinto Monument where we would wait for Greg Alvarez to finish. He ran the first leg and would be running the last leg for us. The Bloggers were waiting for their last runner Holden Choi. The Athletic Girls vans rolled in. Then our Tri Van arrived. It was a very special atmosphere. Thirty plus hours running the relay did some incredible team building and bonding.

Epilogue
As we waited for Greg, the Bloggers last runner Holden arrived. We lined up and gave him a big cheer. While we pushed hard to beat them the day before somehow now it seemed unimportant and we were all celebrating what we had accomplished, running from Gonzales to LaPorte.

When Greg arrived we gathered together and walked in to the finish enjoying the moment. It was quite an experience that I really can’t put into words. The race directors Joy and Jay Hilscher’s obvious love for what they do had worked it’s way into all the teams in the event.

We received our finishers medals, thanked Jay Hilscher for a great event, made our way to the Papa Johns Pizzas, took many pictures, hugged each other and congratulated the other teams. We were tired so we didn’t stay too long heading back to The Woodlands after about an hour or so.



The Final Results
The Battleing Bloggers of the Texas Republic – 31:42:36
Texian Road Warriors – 32:24:57



Observations in The days after
We forgot to log roll the finish. When Jon Blais finished Kona he log rolled the finish. We’ll do it right next year.

Yes – Next year we’ll be back. I hope to have the exact same team but rumor has it that the Tri Van and the Run Van may split. Kim Hager would lead the Tri group. I would lead the Run group. Andrew better ask for the weekend off now.

I have had many reflections on where I am in my training, or lack of, and how it didn’t matter to the team. The love and support was incredible. It was so much so that I now have to make a good effort to cut back some of the group coaching that I do and work more on myself. I owe it to both the team and myself. Oh – and we lost the Texas Throwdown so it’s a 50 miler in February 2009 at Rocky Raccoon.

Jay and Joy did an awesome job organizing this event that will surely become a Texas Classic.

Dana-Sue – after suffering a dog bite during leg 14…was able to run leg 36 and continue to contribute to her team. She’s one tough Athletic Girl Next Door.

Texian Road Warriors – I had the time of my life because of you. Thank you for making the weekend incredible.