Are You Tough Enough?

Up at 5 a.m. on a Saturday morning! Meeting up with my teammates from Missing Toenails at 6:00!! At the starting line by 6:45!! All to answer the question – Are You Tough Enough? That’s the name of the 65 mile relay race we did this weekend. And just the fact that all five of us were all out of bed, fed and ready to get going before 7 o’clock on a Saturday morning is proof that yes, indeed, we are TOUGH ENOUGH, thank you very much.

7 a.m. and ready to start Are You Tough Enough?

It’s the very name of this race that got me. I heard about it years ago and have had it on my Life List ever since. That question, Are You Tough Enough, sort of taunted me, challenging me to get out and prove myself. So as soon as my friend asked if I’d join her team this year, I knew I just had to do it – even if it was just 3 weeks after I had run the LA Marathon.

TEam We Don't Give a Rat's Ass 10 minutes before race time -- yes they're drinking beer before the the race.

This was quite an event. We had 31 teams, some made up of elite runners (whom I refer to as the Santa Barbara Kenyans), 5 ultra-runners (insane people who would be running the entire 65 miles alone), and  . . . then teams like We Don’t Give a Rat’s Ass, who pride themselves on finishing dead last every year. Since it was The Missing Toenails first year in the race, with just the five of us recreational runners, we figured we might be giving Rat’s Ass some competition for last place. We were just out to finish it and have some along the way.

This is one grueling course. Just about all of the 10 legs had some serious backcountry hills, climbs, or descents. Each of us ran 2 legs through some crazy weather (in the mid 30s up on Camino Cielo), through some amazing scenery, and with no support.

Evy running in 30-something degree temps on Gibralter. BRRRRR!

This race has been going on for decades, but they warn you right up front that there’s no support. It’s an open course on narrow mountain roads, so we were warned to be aware. There are no water stations or porta potties, so your teammates hand you water along the route and you relieve yourself in the bushes.

There were no bibs, no timing chips, no big timing clocks at the end. But I’ll tell you this. This is the only race I’ve ever been in that started exactly on time. And it was definitely the most beautiful course I’ve ever been on.

Casey finishing Leg 8 and me starting Leg 9. We were trying to touch without spreading her blood all over me. She had a little mishap.

Me finishing Leg 9 and Greg starting the final leg. Yahoo for sunshine. This was the only time we saw it all day.

Our team did great. We all trimmed our anticipated times and finished the race a good hour earlier than we thought we would. My last run of the day, Leg 9 out of 10 legs, was quite an accomplishment. I actually ran 8 ½ minute miles for 6.9 miles. I know that may sound slow to all you speedy runners, but for me that was downright fast!

We all joined Greg for the final push the finish. He was moving. I had to work hard to keep up!

We finished in 10 hours and 6 minutes, placing 24^th place. (And yes, We Don’t Give a Rat’s Ass finished in last again.) We actually beat one team by only 4 seconds – that’s pretty stinking close for 65 miles of racing. And  . . . we all got the coolest race shirts ever. Nice dry-fit shirts made by Patagonia. Whoo-hoooo!

The Missing Toenails after 10 hours and 6 minutes of racing, wearing our very cool race shirts!!

Most of us ran an average of 12 miles that day. I felt so good afterward that I even went out for a run the next morning. If you ever get the chance to do a long distance relay, I’d say GO FOR IT! It was a great time!