Deception Pass - Source
We left off at the beginning of our 3rd and final leg. After catching a couple hours sleep on a high school gym floor, we were ready for our final set of legs. At this point of the relay, we'd traveled 134 out of 200 miles. On foot. "Overnight" hours were extended to 8am and then again to 9am because of rolling fog over Whidbey Island. Deception Pass, above, is the gateway to the island, and our Van 2 runner traveled over it at 3:45am, in fog so thick she could only see about 2-3 feet in front of her. So much for the awesome sunrise view Jess was hoping for! Oh well...maybe next year!
The girls getting ready to run their toughest legs - for Frank....
The overnight leg for Van 2 was the toughest....very limited visibility
and narrow shoulders. I'm glad they survived!
Van 2 completed Legs 19-24 and rolled into the exchange about 6am or so. We were coffee'd up (thanks again Baked Potato people!) and ready to go...despite no sleep and on/off rain.
Deidra to Aaron - Final handoff for Leg 25 - 3.1 miles
Our third set of legs took us through Oak Harbor with some very pretty farmlands and beach scenery. But still very foggy....and hilly.
Aaron to Juliet for a final time. Leg 26 - 3.1 miles
All of us had pretty short last legs...except for Norman's leg. It was only 6.4 miles but it had some of the steepest hills.
Ready, set, last run!
Last one - 4 miles for Leg 27
Still wearing our night gear....headlamps and taillights had to be worn until 8am....I finished just before, about 10 till, and they wouldn't let me pass off to Norman without it....he'd left it in the van and I finished a bit earlier than anticipated....so he had to take my very sweaty one off me...thank jebus he was wearing a hat and could wear it over that! I finished going down this rather steep hill...and watched in horror as a stream of runners started coming up the hill on the other side...I was all...'please let that be new runners, please let that be new runners....' And it was. Sorry Norman!
Aaannd he's off - Leg 28 - 6.4 miles
Norman trucked up that hill and made very good time. There was a fine misty rain but it felt warm and humid....not a bad morning to run in...but one where you start out with one layer too many and have to dump it....
Jason's last run - Leg 29 - 4.5 miles
Jason's last leg was pretty hilly as well...but we were almost there! We were done and exhausted....and really really hungry.
Final handoff to April - our speedy mcspeederson...Leg 30 - 3.5 miles
And that was it....we were racing from one exchange to the next in a pretty speedy fashion since everyone just had shorty legs. Last major exchange until the finish was Coupville High School.....a town so tiny that the middle school was also housed in the same building. This one had showers....but I skipped the line in favor of finding food. Baby wipes do wonders if you can fully strip in the bathroom, wipe down and put on clean clothes immediately.
Van 1 is DONE! 158/200 miles.
And with that, Van 2 was off for the last 6 legs and 41 miles. We got cleaned up and then headed out in search of breakfast. We didn't get a real dinner the night before, just van food and the midnight baked potato.....so we were ready to grub big time. Stopped at the first diner/restaurant we saw and it turned out to be the longest meal ever. There were two other teams already there, along with the entire town of Coupville...all being served by two waitresses, a bus girl and a cook. It took forever....literally. We were there for nearly 2 hours and it took us about only 10 of that to actually eat.
We finally got out of there....and headed straight down to the finish in Langley, WA at the Island County Fairgrounds. So exciting to finish this thing and move on to important stuff. Like rehydrating.
Even unicorns like Fireball....way to start and
end the race for us Aaron! Such a team player.
Aaannnnd that's it for Part 3....The finish and my favorite random moments to come! Stay tuned....
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