Race Report: Carolina Reaper Challenge - Marathon Relay

So this came about as kind of a random thing based on a group text of "hey anybody wanna join a relay team at the Reaper in a few weeks?" to which I, of course, said "sounds awful, I'm in!" 

What's the Reaper Challenge?

It's a race on one of the hottest days of the year. The format is a ~2.62 (ish) mile loop that you run or walk starting every 45 minutes. You can run as fast or as slow as you want, but you must start the next loop on schedule. The number of loops is based on the event distance you signed up for, ranging from a 50k (12 loops) to a 10k (2 loops). These are all done by an individual, but there is a relay option for the marathon (10 loops) where you can split the run between 2-4 people. 

Our team was 4 people, so we had 10 loops between us all. I met 2 of our teammates (Bethany and Garrett) for the first time at the event, then had my friend Megan who was able to join our team at the last minute! Bethany and I each ran 3 loops, and Garret & Megan each ran 2 loops. I was the second runner which meant I ran the "anchor" leg to finish the race which was fun!

We got there plenty early, set up our tent area to get as much shade as we could, and cheered on the 50k runners while we waited for our event to begin at 10:30am. 

My first loop was at 11:15, and I knew things would only get harder and hotter throughout the day so I pushed the pace on the first one. Ended up with 20:26 (7:53/mi) for the total time, and boy was it warm! The course didn't have much shade at all, so I made sure to keep myself in the shade between loops.

I waited until after my first loop to crack the first beer.

Second loop was at 2:15, by which point it had warmed up significantly. The sun was beating down, minimal air movement, minimal clouds. I slowed it wayyyy down on this one - 23:41 (9:06/mi).

Played rounds of Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza for entertainment between loops.

Third and final loop for me and for the event was at 5:15, and there was thankfully a lot of clouds that had rolled into the area (afternoon storm pending). Minimal sun made this a much more pleasant loop (vs. the 4:30 loop which was incredibly awful for everyone - super hot and sunny). Ran a 22:27 (8:40/mi) and was super excited to be done.

3/4 of the team + our mini mascot cheerleader

Hand-carved medal

Overall this was a super fun event and I'm looking forward to the next one of this style! They run a sister event to this one in January (same format/course) called the Snowbird Challenge... seems like that would be much more pleasant vs. the ridiculous July heat, but obviously cold brings some different challenges!