I Ran a Relay Marathon - Again

I have been running relay marathons for the past 2 summers in Delaware. To know about my past experiences read this and that.

Each of the two times, I went alone and ran with folks local to Philly area. This time I was more ambitious. I bullied my wife and daughter to run along with me. Our friends, Maran and Lorency also wanted to run. Suddenly we were a team of five. Swati, Devayani's friend in Philly and two others, a father and son duo, made it 8 which gave us to two full teams. Two months before the race, I filled out the registration form on Jannavi's behalf, put it in front of her to sign when she was distracted and mailed it to out.

During the next 5 weeks Jannavi cried constantly; she hates running, she hates the cold; she hates practice; she does so much around the house and its corollary; how little I do around the house...

As each week passed by her tension increased. Running 1 mile is OK, she had to run 6.55 miles. Additionally I ensured that she was not the last runner and so she could not stop in the middle and go home! Each runner carried a GPS chip that was handed from one runner in a team to the next one. The race organizers used it to track us for timing purposes. The result was Jannavi needed to finish her leg so I could run mine!

Finally with a mere 3 weeks to go I asked her to run with me. Very docilely she ran with me. We kept a steady pace of 12-minute-mile and ran 3 miles. Next week we ran 4 miles and the week before the race she ran 5 miles on her own. That was it; her entire preparation for the relay marathon. Devayani and I also ran a couple of times over similar distances.

The race itself was uneventful. See the attached chart for statistics. Jannavi achieved the goals she had set; complete the marathon and do not walk. I had one other goal, run faster than last time; I shaved almost 2 minutes from my results last year.

I knew she could do it; she now knows it too!