Despite completing my track workout early this morning, I wanted to take advantage of this free evening race that is #2 of 3 in the popular Tidewater Striders Summer Series held at the beautiful Norfolk Botanical Garden.
The race was due to start at 6:30pm, but as the Garden is only a 15 minute drive from work, I arrived early at around 5:00pm – plenty of time to get a few easy miles in as a warm up. The warm up actually turned into a soaking. The sky turned black as a storm passed over, dumping a couple of inches of rain in about 30 minutes. Oh well, at least it cooled the air temperature down a little.
The idea behind the 3 person relay is to be assigned a random race number beginning with either a #1, #2 or #3 (I was #191). You then have to find the person with a corresponding number (in my case #291 and #391) who then become your teammate. It all sounds a bit chaotic but usually works out very well, and makes for an interesting time while everyone locates their partners. Every year I meet new people that I’ve seen at previous races but never really talked to, and it’s a great way to get to know fellow runners in the area.
Just after 6:30pm the race started. All the #1’s started together to complete the first leg of the 2km relay (just over 1.2 miles). The start line is also the finish line and where you “tag” your #2 teammate who sets off to run their 2km leg. Finally the exchange takes place between #2 and #3 and the first team back to the finish is the winner. To be honest, no-one really cares who wins or comes in last – it’s just a fun event and a chance to meet new people and enjoy the beer, soft drinks and pizza after the race.
Here’s me (in blue) in the distance not long into the race, me just after the mile mark, and me again heading towards the finish.
Photographs taken by TriDuo.com Sports Photography who support all the local races.
For the record, my time was 6:57 for the 2km, which equates to roughly 5:37 per mile, and my team finished somewhere in the middle of the pack!