Last year I wrote —>THIS<— regarding the Vermont 50. Though I will not be running the Vermont 50 this year (I can’t be in two places at once), it seems that the State of Vermont will provide one of my tougher challenges of the year once again.
Maybe it was her batting eyes via email or just the fact that I plain love my friend TK, but several weeks ago she convinced me that running the Green Mountain Relay in Vermont would be a good idea and a fun adventure. She had mentioned it in passing last year, but this year she made the hard sell. I looked at my schedule and said, “why the hell not?” and before I knew it, I was on the team – Slow White and the Eleven Dwarves (she’s Slow White, I’m one of the dwarves – though I’m not sure which one…maybe YOU can come up with my name).
As part of the signing up process, we had to submit our 10K race pace. I haven’t run a 10K in a while, so I extrapolated off my recent 1/2 marathon and 5K and came up with ~41+ minutes. Seemed reasonable. What I didn’t realize was that our esteemed captain would be basing leg assignments for the relay on our 10K submissions.
Now, just to give a little background to those who don’t know exactly what a relay like this entails, here are some details. The Green Mountain Relay is a 200 mile team race that starts way up in Northern Vermont in Jeffersonville and ends in Southern Vermont in the town of Bennington. You can find the detailed course description —>HERE<—. Each team is made up of twelve runners with each runner running three of the thirty-six legs. Those twelve runners are locked in order, so if you run the first leg, you will also run the thirteenth and twenty-fifth leg. The team attempts to cover the distance in 24 – 48 hours, running day and night, stopping only to hand off the runner’s baton from one runner to the next. The rest of the time, the runners are in vans – talking, eating, hopefully catching a few zzz’s.
Here’s a shot of the elevation profile:
Those climbs look a little scary.
Last week, TK sent a team email with the preliminary leg assignments. Below is the GMR’s description of how difficult each leg is. I was designated as runner #11.
GREEN MOUNTAIN RELAY 12 x 3 LEG CHART
Each leg’s rating is based only on the elevation gain or loss as the mileage speaks for itself. However, the “Overall Difficulty Ranking” does take into account both the mileage and each leg’s terrain, but not what time of day or night that leg might be run, or whether it is the first, second, or third leg. This is the race director’s opinion – please look at the maps of each leg as the distance and the profile are supplied for you to make your own determination.
Ranking Guide
|
|
Ranking
|
Approximate Elevation Gain/Loss
|
Easy |
< 200 ft elevation gain
|
Moderate
|
200 – 700 ft elevation gain (rolling)
|
Hard
|
300 – 900 ft longer/steeper elevation gain and/or has continuous steep descents
|
Very Hard
|
> 800 ft even longer/steeper elevation gain or long steep descent
|
E – Easy
|
M – Moderate
|
H – Hard
|
VH – Very Hard
|
Runner
|
Leg 1
|
|||||
Leg
|
Miles
|
+ Elev
|
– Elev
|
Net Elev
|
Rating
|
|
1
|
1
|
4.5
|
236
|
-218
|
18
|
E
|
2
|
2
|
5.8
|
284
|
-248
|
36
|
E
|
3
|
3
|
7.9
|
759
|
-521
|
238
|
H
|
4
|
4
|
6.6
|
633
|
-657
|
-24
|
H
|
5
|
5
|
8.2
|
1,080
|
-1,095
|
-15
|
VH
|
6
|
6
|
4.0
|
109
|
-407
|
-297
|
E
|
7
|
7
|
5.3
|
305
|
-190
|
115
|
E
|
8
|
8
|
7.2
|
512
|
-453
|
59
|
H
|
9
|
9
|
6.8
|
727
|
-613
|
114
|
H
|
10
|
10
|
6.4
|
498
|
-235
|
262
|
M
|
11
|
11
|
9.9
|
665
|
-594
|
71
|
H
|
12
|
12
|
5.7
|
327
|
-469
|
-143
|
M
|
78.2
|
6,136
|
-5,701
|
435
|
Runner
|
Leg 2
|
|||||
Leg
|
Miles
|
+ Elev
|
– Elev
|
Net Elev
|
Rating
|
|
1
|
13
|
4.2
|
208
|
-246
|
-37
|
E
|
2
|
14
|
3.6
|
131
|
-212
|
-81
|
E
|
3
|
15
|
5.1
|
436
|
-422
|
14
|
M
|
4
|
16
|
4.0
|
354
|
-247
|
107
|
M
|
5
|
17
|
6.7
|
845
|
-93
|
752
|
VH
|
6
|
18
|
5.0
|
79
|
-572
|
-493
|
M
|
7
|
19
|
6.6
|
209
|
-509
|
-299
|
M
|
8
|
20
|
3.9
|
347
|
-111
|
236
|
M
|
9
|
21
|
5.7
|
437
|
-428
|
9
|
H
|
10
|
22
|
6.8
|
438
|
-416
|
22
|
M
|
11
|
23
|
6.7
|
1,315
|
-262
|
1,053
|
VH
|
12
|
24
|
4.3
|
125
|
-954
|
-829
|
H
|
62.5
|
4,926
|
-4,473
|
453
|
Runner
|
Leg 3
|
|||||
Leg
|
Miles
|
+ Elev
|
– Elev
|
Net Elev
|
Rating
|
|
1
|
25
|
2.1
|
225
|
-289
|
-64
|
M
|
2
|
26
|
4.9
|
361
|
-469
|
-108
|
M
|
3
|
27
|
4.4
|
230
|
-164
|
66
|
E
|
4
|
28
|
2.9
|
197
|
-309
|
-112
|
E
|
5
|
29
|
4.4
|
615
|
-50
|
565
|
H
|
6
|
30
|
5.4
|
669
|
-434
|
235
|
H
|
7
|
31
|
5.4
|
169
|
-1,164
|
-995
|
H
|
8
|
32
|
6.8
|
185
|
-464
|
-280
|
M
|
9
|
33
|
5.7
|
377
|
-306
|
71
|
M
|
10
|
34
|
5.1
|
436
|
-238
|
197
|
M
|
11
|
35
|
4.7
|
272
|
-444
|
-172
|
M
|
12
|
36
|
5.2
|
584
|
-493
|
90
|
H
|
57.0
|
4,319
|
-4,826
|
-507
|
Leg Summaries
|
|||||
Runner
|
Total
Miles |
Total
Elevation Gain |
Total
Elevation Loss |
Total
Net Elevation |
Overall
Difficulty Ranking 1 – 12 Easiest to Hardest |
1
|
10.8
|
670
|
-753
|
-83
|
1
|
2
|
14.2
|
776
|
-929
|
-153
|
2
|
3
|
17.4
|
1,425
|
-1,106
|
318
|
6
|
4
|
13.5
|
1,184
|
-1,213
|
-29
|
4
|
5
|
19.3
|
2,540
|
-1,239
|
1,302
|
12
|
6
|
14.4
|
858
|
-1,413
|
-556
|
3
|
7
|
17.3
|
684
|
-1,863
|
-1,179
|
5
|
8
|
17.8
|
1,044
|
-1,028
|
15
|
9
|
9
|
18.2
|
1,541
|
-1,347
|
194
|
10
|
10
|
18.3
|
1,371
|
-890
|
481
|
7
|
11
|
21.4
|
2,252
|
-1,301
|
951
|
11
|
12
|
15.1
|
1,036
|
-1,917
|
-881
|
8
|
The first leg looks to be hard, the last leg (if I still have any strength) should be fine, but that middle leg scares the bajeezus out of me. Here’s a shot of the elevation profile for leg 23.
Straight. Up.
At over 1300 feet of elevation gain over the course of 6.7 miles, that’s nearly 200 feet of gain per mile…and the climbing doesn’t really start until after mile 2.
When I saw the chart, I had one of those “Wait…what?” moments, wondering just what I had gotten myself into. Unlike the Vermont 50, which had a total elevation gain of 9000 feet but also had an elevation loss of nearly the same, this leg does not finish where it starts. I calmed down once it sunk in that it was really only 6.7 miles.
I’m looking forward to this challenge. I’ve never done a relay before and I look forward to spending time in close quarters with a bunch of runners who are just as nutty as I am.
…and at least I’m not runner #5.
***So, what do you think my name should be? Leave it in the comments below.
It looks like you have some training to do. I KNOW you’ll meet the challenge. It sounds like fun 🙂
The problem being of course is that I’m training for Sugarloaf right now and the GMR is only a month later (with college reunion thrown in the middle just for good measure). Hopefully whatever I do for Sugarloaf will be good enough to get me to the top of my second leg.
Your “Eleven Dwarves” name should definitely be DOPEY! And while you’re at it, you might as well just put in your application for the Idiots Running Club and join Adam, myself and the rest of the gang… Cause you’re an IDIOT! 😉 http://idiotsrunningclub.blogspot.com/
That’s *just* some Colorado-style mountain running. And clearly if I can do it (while whining and complaining about possible imminent death by elevation gain), then you most certainly can too! It sounds like an excellent adventure (love VT) and I am looking forward to race report day. 🙂
As for the name… Flip-floppy?
Im with Doug on the name. You walked ( er….ran) right into that one.
I’m sure you’ll have a blast, where would the fun be in running flat. Since you are a runner that can say “only” 6.7 miles, I’m sure you’ll welcome the good challenge. Can’t come up with a good name though, sorry.
You will love it Matt! My relay team almost signed up for it this year. If your team is going through Ludlow, VT, my family has a place about 1/2 mile from OKemo it could be a better alternative to sleeping in a tent.
Wow, Luau! That is a crazy run. My second leg of Ragnar SoCal was an approximately 1000 foot elevation gain over 2 miles, and it was brutal. Thankfully I was doing it at midnight so the weather wasn’t a factor. Have fun. I had such a great time at Ragnar and my entire team is ready to do it again.
I told you you already!!! Your name is Quickie. ;-))))
Hey, hey, hey!!!