WBR 2011

Ryan and I decided last minute to jump on a team and run Wasatch Back Relay this year. Ken Garff (the car dealership chain) sponsors a corporate team every year and they were short a few runners, so my friend from work recruited us to join their team ("The Blazing Saddles"). The relay is 191 miles (split between 12 runners) from Logan to Park City that takes about 24 hours. This year was especially beautiful because we've had so much rain in Utah. The weather was awesome, not as hot as in years past. I was Runner #1 and I handed off to Ryan. We had such a great time running our guts out, cheering our team on, and trying to recover to do it all again. Run, eat, sleep (yeah right), repeat. Sounds fun, huh!

Ryan tearing up the pavement.

We found a beautiful little meadow at the top of Avon Pass to take a few pictures. Ryan didn't get any decent pictures of me running, so you'll just have to take my word that I was actually on the team. I ran 20 miles overall, which was great training for my marathon.

Jason was our team captain. He is the VP of Sales at Ken Garff. He is quite competitive, so he kept us on our game and took good care of us.

This is Dan, Jason, and Mark from our team. We didn't know any of them before the race, but you become quickly acquainted after being in a van together for 24 hours. It was fun to get to know everyone.

One of the nighttime exchanges. You gotta love all the reflective vests! The night runs are what make you feel like you are really doing something insane. After only 3 hours of sleep, wearing head lamps and reflective vests, you run from one little town to another in the pitch black night. The race was such a fun experience and it is always a great feeling of accomplishment to be done.