Rum Runners Relay 2009

What a day!

So. This past Saturday was the 25th running of the Rum Runners Relay, a 10-stage relay from Halifax to Lunenburg – and what a hoot! A group of folks calling themselves the Gonzo Adventure Club dreamed this thing up a quarter century ago, and they’ve been putting on an amazing show ever since. This was my first time participating – but I sure hope it won’t be my last!

The race takes its name from a colourful period in the history of the south shore of Nova Scotia, back when thirsty Yankees suffering under the strain of Prohibition turned to Canada for the spirits of salvation. And we, being the noble and caring folks that we are, supplied that need, running crates of the good stuff across the dangerous gulf of Maine, hiding from the authorities within the numberless coves and bays that sneak their way along the coast.

The race commemorates and celebrates the entrepreneurial spirit of our past as well as our generosity of spirit and our exuberance for the good life (aided by a bit o’ firewater). It also recognizes the heroic and selfless acts of civil disobedience that our ancestors performed during troubled and misguided times.

I guess.

Anyway… the race is just a really fun day of running and camaraderie. 60 teams of 10 or less (if someone runs more than one leg) take to the left side of old Highway 3 and wind their way up and down over hill after hill through hamlet after hamlet until the final finish line in Lunenburg. Each leg is hotly contested, and the accumulated time of each team is tracked and added up, creating drama and tension from 6:30am until 7:00pm. Fabulous.

I was a bit of an 11th-hour addition to “The Outliers,” a team put together by the crazy-fast, Blue Nose Marathon winning Leah Jabbour. I had the honour of running leg 6, which travels from the Yacht Club in Hubbards to the industrial plant in East River – a haul of 10.7km over rolling terrain, but with a beautiful final kilometre of downhill running.

I was a little nervous about running the leg because I’d run it the previous Sunday (as recounted in my post “A Bad Run”) and not held up very well. I also knew that I was in tough against Jeff Courish, a fast runner from the Halifax Running Club team who also trains with the same coach as I do. As a result, I had a few butterflies in my stomach as I did my warm-up run around Hubbards cove (my folks have a trailer in Hubbards, so I was staying only a km from the start line).

But that nervous energy turned to excitement as soon as I trotted down the hill to the yacht club. The finish line for leg 5 was set up, the tunes were blaring, and all sorts of people were gathered – either warming up or greeting their team mates as they finished leg 5. The neat thing with this race is that you can travel the course from leg to leg as a team, cheering your runners on, checking the updated stats, and the whole thing has the exuberant feel of a travelling carnival. So I let myself get caught up in the spirit of the day and didn’t worry about the competition. Besides, it was a perfect fall day – cool and clear with a warm sun – why not just enjoy?

And enjoy I did. I lined up in front with Jeff and a couple of others – stayed relaxed up the hill out of the yacht club behind another runner – but then took the lead as soon as we started the first downhill. I felt good, so I opened ‘er up a bit in the first km, trying to make a bit of a statement to the folks behind with a 3:32. At the same time, though, I didn’t want to push too hard because I knew the course was hilly and because I’ve got the Valley half marathon in two weeks! But my “comfortable” was fast enough to keep me out in front the whole way (by comfortable I mean just on the edge of “I wanna die!” pace).

The fan support along the way was awesome. People in cars travelling to the finish would honk – or squeeze a rubber chicken! – and shout encouragement. Folks were also camped out on the side of the road to cheer for the runners. My team had the first water stop on my leg, so I got a big cheer from them (even though I turned down the water), and whoever organized the second water stop convinced someone to dress in a giant lobster costume: it’s a hell of a boost getting cheered on by a six foot lobster – a hell of a boost.

For me, the run was amazing. The whole time I heard Cliff’s voice in my head telling me to “cycle those hips” and to keep the stride long behind. And it was working! My splits were in the low 3:40s and below, even on the hills. In fact, according to my Garmin, I crossed 10k in 36:36 – a big PB for me! After that, I just opened it up on the final downhill and cruised the last 700m at a 3:17 pace. So much fun! I won the leg and helped my team – I was ecstatic. On top of that, the team finished 4th overall – a great achievement considering the depth of the competition.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t travel the rest of the way with the team to Lunenburg. Next year, though, if I’m lucky enough to get on a team, I’m going to go from leg to leg and get the full Rum Runners experience. What a blast.

Now, I don’t know if I’ve emptied the tank for Valley – but who cares?! That day was what racing is all about for me – I don’t regret pushing a tiny bit harder than I’d planned. I’ll see if I can remember that in the final kilometres of Valley if I run out of gas!

One final note: a huge thank you to all the organizers and volunteers for the event. Also, a big thank you to Leah for organizing the team and giving me a spot on it. 3 bows of gratitude to you all.