Too Elite to Quit! Beeothes!

I just woke up from the week long nap I had to take after the epicness that was Hood to Coast with Team Nuun.

where's the pixie sticks nuun?

It was effing awesome. Like a sleepover on wheels where you get to shake the sillys out every few hours. I picture my entire van falling asleep as soon as my annoying hyped up face left the car. "Finally that weird muppet is gone, we can get some shut eye." Nerves and excitement make me act like a 12-year-old on a pixie stick high. I loved my van-mates and hopefully the feeling is mutual. 30 hours of Sarah is ... a lot of Sarah.

I was on Team Night, van 2. We rolled out of Seattle around 11am and arrived at the circus (aka Sandy, Oregon) which was already in full swing. Hood to Coast legends "Dead Jocks in a Box" were there rooftop coffin and all. Along with about a million buzzing runners ready to get on the road.  

My van was revved and ready, getting tatted up in the Safeway parking lot and mingling with the other Nuunies.  

jump if you're hydrated

Meet Team Night Van Two

Sweats (Emily: mileage eating, beer slugging mama)

Katie (purple haired rebel, ready to make you laugh and ready to make roadkills)

(me)

Harmony Love (the name says it all, except it's missing the word GUTS and JOY. I've never seen miles run with more joy or guts than this gal)

Megan (badass copilot, badass runner)

Kelsey (sweet as peach iced tea but ready to get 'mean' on the road).

hlove, sweats, starfish, may-may-fay-fay, katierunsthis (running:kelsey) early am, field

kelsey gets some misty early am miles!!

Emily was up first. We got her geared up in the required reflective gear under the hot sun (safety first!) and sent her on her way. I was so excited to finally be moving! It just spiraled from there. I took off for my leg as the sun sunk low and dipped out of sight. True to form I was passed by a tornado of a man in his 50s. I must have a target on my back for that group. Running through the late summer evening into the night I was filled with running-happiness. It was like being a kid, running for a team, running for fun, running to see who you could pass.

stretch it out (fist shake at hurley boys in the background)

split leg photo bombers everywhere!!

i'm not good at hand-offs

sparkle blur (6:13 average pace around 6.7 miles?)

 By the time we made it to PDX for the van exchange it was midnight moving into the next day. We ate some pub grub and then got in the van. Some sleep and then before we knew it, we are at it again!

creatures of the night, bearded split leg shorts creatures

 The next morning I set off on my 2nd leg. It was the most fun! It was a dusty, downhill derby. All roadkills. I was smiling so hard Megan had to tell me I had dirt in my teeth.

wooo hoooooooo! (6:13 pace 5 miles)

During my run the van was hassled by some crabby elites. The Nature Boys elite team said they were driving too slow. RUDE! I just had to respond the abuse. So we all thought of some real gems to write on the van as a rebuttal to the Nature Boys. Sadly for me, Beeotches proved too hard to spell. Over and over. As I tried to correct it. Spelling is real, real hard. So I suppose those Nature Boyz had the last laugh, but we had the hardest laugh.

hooked on funics

After a sleepless night, going crazy with a few cheering sessions and the infamous Beeothces spelling bee we were totally punch drunk. Below Megan demonstrates happy running versus elite running before her leg.

yay! - funner (run + fun)

where the f*** are my carrot sticks? -elite

And then she showed us what she does best: both! Runs fast, has fun.

both may-may and HLove are too elite to quit.

My 3rd leg was hot and I was toast. I drank about 1/2 a bottle of Maalox, a bottle of Nuun and a RedBull and just hoped I would make it. 

here I am looking like a spooked llama in a skirt. (6:45 8 mile-ish)

The last leg was like roadkill heaven as my weird endurance paid off. I made it to the pass off and sent Harmony on her way. Kelsey was our archor, she was ready and excited. We watched her handoff and raced to Seaside to watch her finish. But as we waited for her on the beach we knew it was taking much too long and we began to get nervous. It turns out she was fine, but had gotten lost. I heard it happened to a few teams. I felt for her. That last leg was so tough and to be lost and running extra. I can't imagine. I was so happy to see her smile as she got to the beach. We all got in our corral and finished the race with her! Exhaustion set in and there were tears and smiles. So many hours out there and here we were.

I am so thankful that I had this experience. Like I said, I was spoiled by Nuun. They took care of every detail so we could focus on running and enjoying each others company. It was a honor to represent them on the course. There were so many other brands that hooked us up from GNC to Picky Bars to Sparkle Skirts, Swiftwick and Tough Chik. I was floored by the support.

thanks nuun!!!

post race swim and photo fun

post race celebration