Christmas Relays is a fundraiser for my running team and also on the PA road circuit. It's unique on the PA circuit in that it's a four person relay, with each person running the same 4.5 mile loop around Lake Merced. There are a wide range of divisions teams can compete in, from men, women, nonbinary, mixed gender, open, 30/40/50/60+, couples, corporate, junior girls, junior boys, under 14....The list truly goes on and on! There are super fast competitive teams as well as super chill teams just out there for a good time, and the race is known for attracting a wide variety of Christmas-themed costumes and outfits. Everyone on our team is encouraged to run as well as volunteer with various logistical race tasks (which works out well since it's a relay and only 25% of people are running at any given time).
Why did I sign up for this race?
Mostly because it's a fundraiser for my club and we are really encouraged to run if we can. Last year I was signed up to run on the women's masters team but then strained my calf and by the time the race rolled around I still couldn't jog more than about a block without pain. So this year, even with one injury/illness after another in the fall, I was determined to stay healthy enough to at least complete one 4.5-mile leg.
And then what happened?
Miraculously, in spite of one injury after another this past fall, I managed to get healthy (if not exactly fit) in time to know I could at least complete my 4.5 miles and anything more than that was gravy. We ended up running one masters women's team, one open women's team, and one mixed team (mine) with two masters women and two open women. So on Saturday night, I dug out my Christmas running shorts and jingle bell socks, packed up the snacks I was bringing for runners, & hit the sack early.
The weather had been pretty rainy on-and-off that week, but we were all excited to see that the forecast was dry with basically no wind, and in fact by the time the first runners took off, we actually had some nice sunshine. (Last year when I didn't run but did go volunteer, it was FREEZING cold! Or at least, much colder than I was prepared for clothing-wise.)
I'd gone into this (very very low stakes) run like, "OK, no need to really race, here, just try not to dawdle!" But you know how it is with races. For the first mile I felt like I was running at a solid tempo-ish clip but not overdoing it (7:45), but by mile 2 it started to feel A LOT harder to keep up the same level of effort (which sounds like a contradiction, but I dunno, that's the only way I can describe it!). Fortunately mile 2 was downhill so I was able to click off a 7:33 mile. Miles 3 (8:01) and 4 (8:01) were both very much about trying not to die but at least I was consistent! If we believe Garmin I ran the last .48 miles in in 3:49 (7:52 pace).
Team #246 (minus one)
I was happy to see in the results that my average pace for my leg (7:51/mile) was right in line with what we ran overall as a relay team (7:53/mile), meaning despite my lack of fitness I didn't slow us down--phew! 🤣
Both times I've attended this even it's been a fun way to rap up the year with my teammates. Even if I wasn't obligated to be there I think it's still lots of fun to pull a team together & put on a fun outfit. 🎄🎄🎄
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