Leg 30: Shooting Stars & Fond Farewells

A lot easier than expected, needs a new rating (easy). It was mostly down hill with pretty lights and good weather. That run was a perfect way to end our 5th leg. We're finished!!!!! McNamara got to see her shooting stars (2) and is definitely sad that this is her last Jug Run. Definitely one of the most physically and mentally challenging experiences. Shout out to all of my lovely running partners (Alessa, Kayla, Elena, and Sarah Gilly), definitely could not have done this three years in a row without you guys. And to Kelly Hoots for getting me pumped for my last leg haha. Bye bye BRP. It's been real.

Sarah McNamara

Leg 23:

This run lasted forever. It was dark and scary the sound and fear wolves hung thick in the air. so we made the chariot to our travels follow us the whole time. They played music to try and help us along and finish. Our anxiety was swiftly relieved as we went through a few tunnels and the stars were beautiful. But it was by far the hardest run we have ran so far. All our limits and mentalities were pushed!

Leg 16: Cloud Hopping

In the Clouds was a first! We literally ran through a cloud. It was extremely foggy and basically rainy, which made it a little chillier than the last two. We almost got hit by a couple cars who didn't really see us until the last minute.. But we didn't so it's okay. And like usual for our group, we had a lovely slow incline. However, this time we had more steep declines which were very much appreciated. We were voted the buffalo hat winners for this round of legs!!!! We are buffaloooo!! We're all getting a little sore and are ready to catch up on some sleep (we've been watching hunger games).

Leg 15:

With more hills expected, the brothers marshall believed the next few miles of the upcoming run to be some of the hardest yet. Upcoming was craggy gardens, a spot of mountain that holds some of the steeper inclines and elevation changes from Mount Mitchell. The beginnings were tough, with marked increase of 5100 to 5400 feet, and a one lane road in the middle of the run made for slimmer and more narrow divides between these two buffalo and traffic than they were normally accustomed to. Another added bonus for the brothers marshall was a wonderful cloud that descended upon the mountain as they headed back down. It was beautiful as they headed into the last mile, cold, wet, and not nearly close to upset.

 

Calm, cool, collected and content.

 

The brothers. John and Aaron.

Leg 35: Toe Nails are for Sissies

Rarely does the road sign for Sylva or the site of Subway, Walmart or Pizza Hut evoke such positive emotions. It is wonderful to be back in familiar territory. Not even the climb up Catamount Gap can dampen our spirits. The 2012 Run for Research is in the books. Total running time 29 hours, nine minutes and seventeen seconds.

All nineteen who departed from ASU at 5:30 yesterday are in tow. Some slightly worse for wear. As the Blue Ridge Parkway always does, she has claimed her share of casualties. Among this year's injury list are: an Achilles Tendon, an enraged piriformis and sciatic nerve, an exertional anterior compartment syndrome and numerous toenails. This does not include the dozens of sore IT Bands, Gastrocs, and Hamstrings.

But at the end of it, we have met the challenge of the R4R. Many runners overcame physical and mental challenges beyond what they could have ever imagined. That is the beauty of this event. Everyone can be proud of their accomplishments.

Leg 28: Take It Easy?

Maybe it was because it was our fourth leg of the R4R, maybe it was because it was 4:15 AM, maybe Jon Mitzel lied to us, hell, maybe it is Zane Oliver's fault! Whatever the case, leg 28 of the 2012 R4R proved to be "not so easy".

The run began with a half mile gentle climb, followed by the day's. most wonderful downhill. Then, just as we were settling into a fast pace, a long, slow incline in excess of one mile in length greeted us. This uphill, coupled with the low oxygen pressures at 5,600 feet lead to some serious sucking-wind.

Thankfully, the last mile was almost completely downhill. Both Jay and Dan hit their pre-run goal times of 36 and 45 minutes, respectively. Leg four is finished, twenty miles in the books. All is forgiven Mitzel Inc. and Mr. Oliver. Our last run is on home turf. See everyone at WCU!!!!!!

~Jay and Dan~

Leg 24: Hooting with the Owls

Andrew and I begin our fourth leg with enthusiasm of the thought that the quicker we begin the quicker we are to finishing. The whole run was a long gradual uphill climb. I cursed myself through every step for the first two miles then Aaron with his car and music and I heard Sarah singing to the top of her lungs usher "scream"! I pretty much danced myself through mile 4. The hell set in again as we breached the last tunnel I started once again to curse every step. I have never in my life been pushed to the limits like I have even on this run! Again I would not have gotten through without my partner! -Kelly

Leg 21: Blue Lights Ahead

Leg 21 began with a pleasant little slow incline that lasted two miles. It was the kind of gradual hill that was tailor-made for the Queens of the Gradual Incline. Fortunately, it was dark enough that we could not see the hill spilling out in front of us. The only clue we had that we were running uphill was familiar burning sensation in our quads.

Then suddenly as mile two gave way to mile three, we realized we were lengthening our strides....a sure sign of having found some downhill terrain. Our excitement was short lived, however, as mile four greeted us with another gradual incline and the site of flashing blue lights!

Kelly had been pulled over (not really pulled over because she was already stopped) by the po-po. There was Jill frantically running Kelly's purse to her!

Fortunately for us and the R4R, the officer said we just needed to be careful and that we were welcome to continue our trek. Which was good news since Dan and I had already cruised right past the officer and continued our run.

Mile five was a glorious downhill and we cruised to the finish in 2012's first sub-40 leg. Some sleep and a downhill leg 28 are in our immediate future.

~Jay and Dan~

Nice!!

Upon emerging from the mist and clouds of mount Mitchell, we enjoyed the lovely surprise of 5 fun filled down hill miles!! Could it be true, was it a dream, were my achy muscles making me goofy... oh no my friend it was heavenly!

Leg 17: Jog in the park

At the beginning of the run I was told that this leg was difficult, but then right before running I was told that it is all down hill. I was excited so I changed into my short shorts from rugby and ripped my shirt off. I was glad to be nearly naked, because I was still sweating like crazy as I flew down the pleasant decent. Although I had a few aches and pains, I decided to run faster which surprisingly made the pain go away. Although it seemed like we were in one big cloud, people were easily able to see me with my blinding white legs, reflective vest, and "lusty lavender" Mohawk! If only the rest of the way could be that easy. - Team Awesome: Andrew and Kelly

Leg 10 - Look Away, neck punch

Andrew and I had the joy of running leg 10. It was beautiful again! Although we started out downhill, it quickly turned into all hills. Hence the name, it's like the parkway said "Hey! Look over there!" Then straight neck punch.
Kelly did not have fun, but like always she was able to stay strong and beast it out through the roller coaster of death. -Andrew G. & the one and only Kelly Hoots!

Leg 8:

After what was an enjoyable start running out of Boone, the marshall brothers began another enticing journey upon the parkway. This time, a short bit of an uphill climb awaited them upon their initial sprint off the starting line, but much to the chagrin of the brothers, a jaunt of a winding downhill road welcomed us upon their second run. Happily, the third mile marker wasn't noticed by either of the brothers, and an even faster return to the awaiting team occurred, making for dancing in the streets over their triumphant return to the team.

Buffalo up, ride high.

The Marshall brothers. John and Aaron.

Leg 9: Queens of the Gradual Incline

This group has decided we have been cursed with the dreaded slow incline that lasts for miles. BUT we have dominated. This run was definitely a tease! It was definitely more tough than the last one and we continued to have a slight incline. We are a little nervous about what to expect for the next one because we are staring to feel fatigued at this point! We saw some very pretty horses and a mule which was cool. Our next run is rated "hard" soo our goal is to finish ha. Yay parkway!!!!!!!

Leg 14: Sleeping Giant

First of all, I have to say that Meka is my hero! She ran the TOUGHEST leg of this year's R4R in one hour and never walked! This was 4.7 miles of uphill running with a total increase in altitude of almost 2200 feet! And this is from someone who had never run more than 6 miles before training for the R4R.

So, now for Dan and Jay's run. We knew it would be a tough leg with a pre-run rating of "brutal". The run started with a wonderful two-mile decent of nearly 1500 feet. But we both knew this foreshadowed what lay ahead. The further we ran downhill in miles 1 and 2, the more uphill running we would do in miles 3-5.

Of course, right before mile marker two, the sleeping giant that is Mount Mitchell reared its ugly head. The last three miles of our run was a climb to the top of the mountain, a height approaching 6000+ feet. We plugged on with the knowledge that no matter what we faced, it was nothing compared to what Meka, Megan and Jenny had just conquered.

Overall, this run was better than our first leg and we finished without difficulty. Now we can rest and prepare for our two night runs.

~Jay~

Leg 13 Stairwell to Hell

Meka, Megan, Jennie

Before the run started, we took a ride to see for ourself what we should be expecting. We were definitely intimidated by the steep climbs and never ending hills. We came back to an over look area and waited there for a little and then realized that we should probable drive back to the mile marker where we were going to begin the climb. We got there and saw that the other group had been waiting on us so we had to jump out of the car and start running. None of us was ready for this at all. We started our journey of the 5 mile up hill run. We passed some bikers who cheered us on then we passed this lady screaming at us to get off the road. Around each bend we prayed for a downhill but to our dismay none came...ever. We highly debated running straight off the side of the mountain just to put ourselves out of our misery. We all pushed through the pain, cursing at ourselves for doing this idiotic run. We finally came to the end and felt so accomplished! The pain sweat and tears were totally worth it!

Leg 12: Incline of Beauty

We started off strong excited to face off our second run. It was pretty flat for a few seconds and then we met our solid two miles of steady incline with massive blind curves. (We had to be ready to dive off the road at any second to avoid the cars.) but it was very pretty with the leaves all pretty colors and looking of overlooks and seeing the beauty! We then faced the last mile with the twin tunnels, but before we got to the tunnels we had another incline that was killer to us but has nothing on the next leg after us....

Caroline, Brittany, Christine

Leg 11: C7 to the max

3 fun filled up hill miles of various lovely steep grades! Thank you Mother Nature. Our quads and calves are feeling something. For those of you familiar with the WCU campus imagine running buzzards roost for 3 miles!! George, rob, and Corey buffaloed up and conquered the beast! Hip hip hooray for training

Leg 1: The Stampede Begins

Crouched at the starting line, the marshall brothers prepared to begin the buffalo's triumphant stampede back to our beloved home of Cullowhee. It was a dark, windy, and briskly cold morning, but the marshall brothers weren't phased. They were prepared, cool, calm and collected. Completely in the zone. Starting out, running past the rock, and on the footsteps of mountaineers, felt amazing. Wind in their hair, and smooth sailing before them. Within minutes, on the outskirts of Boone, darkness set it. The brothers marshall were faced with a tremendous challenge before them... Near absolute darkness, and the threat of on-comers, unaware of the stampede before them. Within the first uphill grade of the illustrious trot that the marshall brothers had paced themselves at, they were not winded in the slightest... But took in the beautiful sight of a starlit night. With a flash of downhill and the cheers of the team, they made it, safe and sound... The buffalo are on the move, ready to take on the parkway yet again.

Be a buffalo.

The brothers, John and Aaron Marshall

Leg 2: Convection

We (Sarah squared, Elena and Jill) lead the group onto the BRP at about 645 this morning. It wouldn't have been too chilly if it weren't for the wind! That dang convection! Two of the three miles on the parkway were uphill,with a lovely downhill finish. We got to see some very pretty stars and watched the pretty sunrise and the clouds turn pretty colors (pink is pretty). Overall, we can just remember the wind haha. Lookin' forward to leg number 9!

Leg 7: The Sixth Mile

Leg seven could not arrive quickly enough! After more than five hours of riding in the car and watching all the other R4R participants complete their first legs of the run, Dan and Jay were ready to hit the road. The run started out benign enough with some long downhills and some subtle climbs. Then just before mile three, the road turned ugly. A long climb of more than a mile gave way to a teasingly brief downhill that gave no hint of the hell that lay ahead. From mile 3.5 to the end of the run, the runners wound their way up a monstrous, seemingly unending mountain. Each turn held a promise of some relief, in the form of a flat or downhill patch. Yet, all that greeted the runners at each turn was another steep ascent and another winding turn. In the end, the final mile seemed to last forever.... Or as Dan stated, "the last mile felt like two miles!". Thus the name of this leg.....the sixth mile. The bad news for these two is that Leg 14 promises to be even more treacherous. Thank you R4R!

Leg 4

In your face!!!

Yes the parkway stared us directly in the face. The views were amazing, wanted to stop running and soak it all in. Then we turned the corner and Mother Nature gave us a 25 mph wind in our face!!! Hello she said! But like true buffaloes we kept going to the viaduct were we out ran the park rangers. We buffaloed up with Mother Nature!!

Leg #5 Scream in the Wind

It all began with the wind...at mile marker 305. We were racing to the top of the mountain screaming at the skies to reach the moon before the sunrise! Along the way the swift eagle rose to meet our expectations, the scurrying flying squirrel took fast to the wind, while his friend the bear watched from his breathless peak with wisdom from his many years! We yearned for the longing of rushing waters around us. At last we ended as the sun and moon met around us and the thought of many runs to come fluttered our minds with wonder.

Caroline, Brittany, Christine

Leg 3: Bitter Sweet

As we stood on the edge of the road we saw that it was slightly starting to get brighter out.  We tagged hands with group 2 and started off down hill with a cheerful attitude and fresh legs.  I was reminded to take it all in and enjoy the view and the experience.  This made Kelly look like a true upperclassman with her wisdom.  Not far into the run we got to a bridge with a man taking pictures.  Kelly told me turn around only for me to see one of the prettiest sunrises i have seen yet.  I knew that no matter how difficult this run was going to be, it was well worth it.  Continuing down the road i saw colorful leaves all around me.  I felt almost like I was back in New Hampshire.  Not only was the scenery familiar, but I also had my old sweatshirt on from middle school.   I began to think about the good days when I first started running. Then all of the fun and good memories went away when I saw the sign for grandfather mountain and started my assent up the terrible hill.   -Andrew Godinez 

Starting our first leg this morning, the sun was still ascending as Andrew and I were stretching to begin our run. At the first sight of sunlight we were joyful. I knew that amazing scenery was to be expected. Throughout the 5 miles not even words could describe our views. The sunrise, the mountains, and the fall leaves. Although I had previously taken into account as to how hard the run was going to be, I didn't realize how much I already relied on my running partner. I am sincerely excited about our next four legs! -Kelly Hoots

Leg 6: Picture Perfect

Megan Meka and Jennie
For our first leg this run was perfect. At the beginning we had one small hill and then the rest was all down hill and flat. We had many strange looks from many strange people and we all jumped a little at the site of a dead raccoon. A car full of boys stopped right next to us within touching distance trying to get our numbers obviously it was a fail on their part. After this run we have an awesome run to look forward to. This leg is rated as "insane" and many people have named it as total joint replacement. All I have to say is that this is going to be an adventure but we are going to accomplish it!

2012 R4R

The 2012 Run for Research kicked off this morning at 5:34 AM from the campus of App State University. We will be blogging along the 175 miles to Cullowhee over the next 28+ hours.

Leg 22: Manergy

Josh’s R4R SAT prep analogies:

Manergy: raccoons.

Rawberry: Rain Berry.

Gratuitous amounts of energy: Gratuitous amounts of lactic acid.

Mother Nature said slooow down: Mother Nature called.

Kenyans: White people.

Kenyans: White people.

Kenyans: White people.

It was a pleasant slight decline for about two miles, which was abruptly interrupted by a steady hill that progressed for the rest of the run. I don’t really remember what mile it started cause I couldn’t see it past an enormous cramp in my side. As we progressed, I realized that a small flood parasite from Halo 2 had latched onto my right side. I thought nothing of the dark brown, green gooey, nasty little thing and kept going up the hill (nothing compared to Alessa’s hill, she is a beast!). By about mile 4, the parasite had spread its tentacles to the rest of my body and I was no longer human. I ate Wesley and used his fresh flesh for energy, and ran the final mile at a 3 minute pace. I then got a big DQ from breaking the WR for using banned substances and a parasite for an unfair advantage…

Wes: I would like to first start off by saying that after that run, I feel like my legs are made of lead. That was the hardest run so far. I was tricked in saying by Jay telling me, “oh, you got the easy run, it’s all down hill.” Little did I know that he was lying like a fat lying about not eating all of the cookies. The first two miles was all down hill, but the rest of the three was ALL UP HILL!!!!! I felt like that hill swallowed me whole and spit me out at the finish line. All I got to say is dang, I’m so glad that run is over with.    

Leg 23: The Mexican Carlos

Run numero quarto for me and my ese Carlitos.  Mi amigo mikko estaba gritando pero por un tiempo poco porque el tunnel estaba muy corto. La corrida era muy facil pero estamos muy cansado.   Translation: the run was ok. 

-Mikko

I still luve Enrique Iglesias <3<3 

leg 29: Hallelujah it's over!

Josh: As the machine moved towards us, we knew it was time. The moment of truth, the oil our training was seeping through our pores (what?). It was time to use our bodies like they have never been used before. We were sleep deprived, our glycogen stores were low, lactic acid was pumpin, we were sleep deprived, cramps were rampant, we were dodging big ass cars, we were sleep deprived, and we were not supple secondary to being immobilized in the van. That didn’t stop us, and we conquered our final run.

A couple of minutes before our run, Meko was bitten by a nasty spider that he was playing with (who plays with spiders??) and I laughed at him. As we were running, we realized that people really don’t know how to handle runners on the side of the run, following the rules and going against traffic. Not only did I feel that my final run was 50% a trail run, I got a good lateral jump workout in when I was leaping out of the way for dear life.

Halfway though the run, I thought I saw Meko hanging upside down from a tree. I quickly realized I probably was hallucinating, since I was going at like 150% of my VO2 Max. I heard a screech and a sudden thud, Wesley was mauled by a bear. When I looked closer I saw that it was no bear, but Meko! This was no ordinary Meko, he had hairy arms and legs, and two giant spider fangs on his face. The fangs had punctured Wesley’s neck, and the area was turning a dark bile color. I thought this whole situation was kinda weird, so I just kept running. With one mile left in the final leg, I was caught in a thick translucent substance and demolished by mutated Wesley and Meko, they were finally at peace and finished the run.

Overall, a very productive run!

Leg #28: Elevation

My fourth run was taking off at noonish on Saturday. I called ahead to the lead van to get a scouting report of my run. The report back was not very promising. DL called the run "mountain goat hard" and informed me that it was uphill the entire five miles. That news mentally defeated me before I even started the run. After taking the "hand-off" from Sarah, I covered the first mile in 8 minutes and the second mile in 9 minutes. As reported, the run was mountain goat hard. By the time I hit the two mike mark, my quads were spent and my calves were cramping. Miles three and four became a walk / jog (it might be a soft "j"...."yog"...I am not sure). At any rate, miles 3 and 4 were miserable. Finally, when I reached the four mile mark, I realized that the last mile was actually downhill. I managed to cover the last mile in about 8 minutes. This is my 4th R4R and my 19th leg completed. None of my previous runs can even come close to the difficulty of this leg. My final time was 52:04! A far cry from my previous sub-40 runs. One more run to go... the final leg to ASU. At least I know that one is flat.

Jay

The Magic Elixir

When Rob pulled out a bottle of Head and Shoulders wrapped in duct tape, I had to read the Sharpie inscription. It read "Ha-Haay Robbie the Juice, The Social Elixir". Whatever is in that stuff makes Rob blaze trails, scale mountains, and wrestle bears with his bare hands. Now everybody wants some, but the girls are afraid it will give us beards and laughs like Santa Clause. Sunrise...new energy!

Leg #21: Mount Mitchell Magic

Run number three is always a tough one because the legs are sore and stiff and because mentally you know you are not even halfway finished. This year proved no exception. The first mile of what I anticipated would be a five mile climb met my expectations. My legs were stiff and dead as I trudged up Mount Mitchell. The first mile seemed like an eternity and the idea of four more just like it was not very appealing. Then something miraculous happened, the road flattened and slowly started to descend. My pace quickened from ten minutes per mile to closer to seven. I was able to open my stride and the long, steady downhill did much of the work for me. Much to my surprise the remaining four miles featured more flat and downhill running than uphill running. What an amazing and welcome surprise.... maybe even a Festivus Miracle! I cruised past the top of Mount Mitchell right before my leg ended. This is likely my last sub-40 minute run of the 2011 R4R. My finishing time was 39:24. Two more runs to go....the sunlight will be a welcome companion.

Jay

!@#$%

Run number 3 for me and my amigo Carlos.  I was finally able to convince Carlos to run with out his music.  I had some one to talk to!  However, after the second mile, we were greeted mr HILL and he was not very friendly to us.  I then found myself saying words that were not very pleasant, hence the title !@##$%.  

-MIKKO  

I still luv Enrique Iglesias 

-Carlos  

Leg 15: Oh S#%T

Josh: The darkness coated the surrounding area like a blanket. The moon was peering through the branches at the upcoming road. Bush that was five feet away from me to my left started to rustle. Two things raced through my mind; bears or zombies. My sympathetic nervous system kicked in and I knew I was gonna outrun whatever beast was about to attack me. Bears run at a speed of about 25 miles per hour, I was gonna be bear food. We never actually saw the bear, but we were sure it was watching us and licking it's lips. We continued on our trek at a fairly good 8 minute pace. All of a sudden a zombie came out of the woods and bit Wesley, and ran off to chase an old cougar. He was unconscious for about 5 minutes, then reanimation occurred. He chased me with a ferocious grimace and we finished the run in record time.

Wesley is being a sleeping beauty currently, but will add to it fairly soon!

Leg 13: "I'm Running Late and I Don't Need an Excuse, I'm Wearing My Brand New Shoes"

Sarah: Well, this isn't exactly surprising, but we started out in not the best of moods. Haha. We slept for all of two seconds (okay like twenty minutes) and it wasn't enough. Soo we weren't thrilled to be starting this second leg of ours. BUT it was fantastic cause that shiz was 4.5 miles downhill. Holla. First of all, shout out to KELLY because she's awesome. Our lovely support van drove up beside us blaring "New Shoes" and Kelly was singing to us. Definitely put us in a good mood.
We saw a skunk! My first real life spotting! We thought it was a cub at first and were like.. Uhmm excuse me? then we thought it was a turkey, which would've been okay. But then we saw it was definitely a skunk, which wasn't something I was ready to get involved with.. so I crossed the street. We went through two tunnels. The first was super loud because the wind was blowing. The second was super creepy because it was dead silent. Oh gez when the wind blows leaves across the road it totally sounds like someone is running right at you. Not okay. Running at night is definitely a mind game. Over all good run. We're breaking out the costumes in a bit. We're just ready to sleep right now.
And to whoever is actually up reading these as we post them, you're the bomb.

Kayla: Everything that Sarah said. this leg was 10 minutes faster than the first. That's pretty obvious since our first leg was basically uphill and the second was  all downhill. Downhill runs are my jam. Also, I really enjoy running at night. You could see the stars really well and the moon was UBER bright and it was really cool. Seeing the skunk was pretty scary because it turned to spray us with with nastiness. I would've died. Overall, the run was great. And I just want to go take a nap!

Leg #14: Bridges & Brake Lights

My second run started with a wonderful downhill. The weather was perfect....55 degrees and calm. Could not ask for better conditions to run. I managed to stay under control this run and paced myself much better. After a glorious 1.5 miles downhill, the Parkway again rose up and presented a long, gradual, 3.5 mile climb. The positive was that the darkness of midnight masked the length and incline of the hill, so I just kept chugging along toward the top oblivious to exactly what lay ahead. As I ran past AVL, crossing two bridges, one over the French Broad and another over a highway, I tried to enjoy the view of brake lights hundreds of feet below but my fear of heights quickly focused me back on the task at hand.... Finishing the run. I moved past AVL and finished one last climb to the finish. Although I felt like I was running much slower on run #2, my time was almost as fast at 36:30.

Jay

From the driver's perspective

Being the first third of the "Motor Support Vehicle drivers" I would have to say that from my view of things that the runners are outdoing themselves this year. All of them have finished at least two of their legs and are now enjoying a delicious meal of mcnuggets. John, Christa, and I are supporting as best we know how. Doing whatever it takes to keep everyone on a positive note, while also embarking on our own adventures along the way, we found some interesting sights.

Man on the side of the road with swimming trunks on, a flannel shirt, fishing rod, and two dogs. Didn't understand that combination.

"John's rock", HUGE.

"Graveyard field's"...of bears. Know before you go!

Some moments you'll want to tell your grandkids about.

Breezy

Greetings! This is Ashley, Rob and Brittany logging on after 2 runs. We have enjoyed the contrast of our downhill run, cool breeze and ibuprofen let us shave 14 minutes off of our time! The support brought us chicken mcnuggets. We love chicken mcnuggets. We are now parked looking over Asheville. Beautiful!

items that I found in Jay's car

1-Green sparkly headband
2-Ninja turtle mask (courtesy of Sarah)
3-Viking helmet

..All of which will be utilized during the run.
-Kelly

Leg Seven: The Great Wide Open

This was my first run of the 2011 R4R and after watching everyone else run, I was ready to go. The first mile was a beautiful downhill path that probably got the best of my enthusiasm. I clicked off the first mike in 5:30 pace and felt pretty good. Then the parkway reared it's ugly head. A long climb of about a mile and the realization that I was running at 6000 feet altitude slowed my pace significantly. Miles 3-5 were a combination of short climbs and nice decents. Definitely not a tough run on the Blue Ridge Parkway... Pretty much your standard 5 miles of ups and downs. By mile 5, I was sucking wind and was ready to grab some water and jump in the van. I hoped to keep my early pace going and run inder 35:00. Alas, the hills and altitude took their toll and my time was 35:40. Overall, a very good start to the 2011 R4R!

Jay

Leg 8: Death Tunnel

LEG 8: Death Tunnel

Josh: As Jay sped towards us, I coulda sworn I heard gears in his legs changing. Jay, it’s an unfair advantage to be a machine. He also never eats while he runs. This reinforces my hypothesis that when we were filling up gas, he put the nozzle in his mouth and not in the van. We began our descent downhill for a good 2ish miles, which was very painful from the eccentric loading (not really, it was smooth like butter).  After the descent, we started uphill for a good mile and went through this tunnel. Then it was black. I look to my left, nothing. I looked to my right, nothing. I looked behind me; Wesley was being eaten by one of those creatures from the movie “The Descent”. Blood squirted on my eyes and I was blinded. Suddenly, my massive 15” biceps were bitten off by one of these bastards. I judo threw “The Descent” monster off of my back, grabbed Wesley, threw him over my back, and bounced out if that ish. With a ruptured distal biceps tendon and a nonexistent biceps brachii, my stride faltered. I pushed through it with my sweet VMO’s and Wesley ran it out even though he had dismembered organs and a nonexistent iliopsoas (They always go for that area, a peer reviewed journal hasn’t proved why yet). We finally made it to the van and drank some gatorjuice and chocolate milk and called it a fairly productive run.

Wes: The last mile felt like three as hoping turn after turn there would be the van, but tragically I was always disappointed. The scariest part of the run was going through the Devils Courthouse, the name itself still haunts my soul today……

Leg 6: Shady Scenery

Kayla: Our first leg was a lovely little climb to the highest point in the Blue Ridge Parkway. And by little, we mean ridiculous.  Luckily nature decided to give us a couple of breaks from the constant uphill battle.  One section was about a mile and a half uphill and it was pretty brutal. We definitely weren’t very happy while we ran up it.  We just decided to only look a few feet in front of us so it wouldn’t be as bad. Surprisingly, it helped.  A huge RV also almost flattened us, and that was pretty scary. 

The views on this run were absolutely PHENOMENAL! Being able to look down into the valleys from the overlooks was amazing. All the leaves are changing and it is absolutely breathtaking.

As we reached the highest point, everyone was taking a group photo.  We still had about a mile and a half left to run, but we decided to hop into the photo anyways. We really wanted a photo of our own, but that didn’t happen.  Instead, we finished our run and ate about 5 pounds of food.  This first run was supposed to be our most difficult run, so hopefully that’s true and we can just jam out for the other 20 miles.

Sarah: Why do big vehicles always want to run me over? This stupid RV almost killed us but we jumped off the road to not die. But anyways. We had some really pretty views! The sides of the road sloped down and we could see all the ranges and such. We had this one uphill mile and a half that was awesome. Wait, no it wasn’t. But it was to the highest point on the parkway. Which is kind of cool to claim. So we got to the highest point and everyone was out of the cars by the big sign taking a group picture (minus us) so we stopped and jumped in one as we went past. BUT I really wanted one of my own.. Hopefully [that person] will post that picture?? So we ate a whole bunch when we finished. Kayla did some driving. I’m still waiting for the opportune moment to get outside (even though it’s cold now..) to eat my tuna. I’m being nice. You’re welcome Jay’s van. Duces.

Leg #3- Where is that dang hill?

Emily, Alessa, and Taylor started off with a nice downhill, but sadly that only lasted for about .25 miles.  The next 4.75 was hellacious and all uphill.  Hopefully Jay was right that this is our hardest leg of the run! There was a lot of wind and a several large trucks passing by us.  We will be glad to drive up Balsam Mountain next time!  21 Miles to go!

By the way, Emily now knows how to turn the lights on in the van.   It happens to be a different button than the windshield wipers, who knew?

-Alessa, Emily & Taylor

LEG 2 you leave me again, ill kill you

The second run started at Subway.  I ran it with Carlos and the first thing I told him was to not make his music too loud.  He did not listen to me of course.. He made a wrong turn and me and Jay tried to yell at him.  However, our yelling was no match for Carlos' Enrique Iglesias mix.  I had to sprint to him because he was too focused on his run.  The run was really difficult due to the hot weather. It was about 75 degrees.      
-MEKO

I, Carlos thought the run was quite difficult as well. The heat killed me and there were times where I wanted to give up but I kept going. My music kept me going so I loved pumping my music up on high volume.  <----I LOVE ENRIQUE

The Maiden Run

We started the Mountain Jug Run off with a truculent attitude. I would like to credit this to the awesome crowd (and my performance shorts) we had to officially "see us off" to our journey to ASU. Wes and I had a nice little epinephrine rush at the beginning until we got to highway 107. The professional photographer was great at his job and continued to stalk us down Catamount Gap. 

As our run continued, we realized that we were neither acclimated or acclimatized for the steamy weather. Oddly enough, we were honked, whistled, and yelled at fairly often during the run. This may have been secondary to the performance shorts. I think half of these people were elderly ladies....

This gave us our idea to name the first leg "HOT!!!!! Ass Cougar Tail."

Wes and Josh OUT