Moran Constitutional Relay
In the first days of October I journeyed over to Orcas Island to run the Moran Constitutional Relay with Team Run Determined. After a busy workday I was able to hitch a ride up to Anacortes with two teammates: Jayson Hefner and Bret Jorgesen. We arrived fairly late and settled into the house that Chris Gregory had rented for the team. We went for a short night run in the neighborhood talked over strategy that evening.
There were a total of eight legs on the first day and four on the second day. Our team consisted of six people and each person completed two legs. I was proud of our team’s performance and we handily took the overall win.
The race got underway at first light under cloudy skies from the Ecology Learning Center at Moran State Park on the west side of Orcas Island. We ran each leg with a small peg that we would insert into a corresponding receptor at each legs transition. It was awkward to switch from a full sprint to such a precision task, but we made it look – weird and harder than it actually was…
Leg 1 ELC to Mountain Lake Landing 5.9 miles 1207 feet gain and 717 feet loss
Bret Jorgensen took the win for us on this opening leg in a time of 43:22.
Leg 2 Mountain Lake Landing to Mountain Lake Landing 3.9 miles 528 feet gain and 528 feet loss
I took the win on this leg in a time of 24:09.
Leg 3 Mountain Lake Landing to Cascade Lake 4.4 miles, 535 feet gain and 996 feet loss
Chris Gregory took the win on this leg in a time of 29:40.
Leg 4 Cascade Lake to Little Summit 5.2 miles, 2260 feet gain and 680 feet loss
Sophie Blackburn took fifth in this leg in a time of 56:29.
Leg 5 Little Summit to Mountain Lake Landing 7.3 miles, 863 feet gain and 1959 feet loss
Troy Haeseler took the win on this leg in a time of 48:30.
Leg 6 Mountain Lake Landing to Mount Constitution 3.1 miles, 1724 ft gain and 192 ft loss
Jayson Hefner took the win on this leg with a time of 28:45.
Leg 7 Mount Constitution to Mountain Lake Landing 8.4 miles, 847 feet gain and 2385 feet loss
Chris Gregory took fourth in this leg with a time of 1:01:48
Leg 8 Mountain Lake Landing to ELC 5.3 miles, 579 feet gain and 1083 feet loss
Sophie Blackburn took second on this leg in a time of 39:32 to close out the day and keep us securely in first place after day one.
After a solid first day of competition, we headed back over to the team headquarters and we spotted a Northern Alligator Lizard, which was a real highlight of the day for me. This was the first time that I had spotted this very cool reptile of the Pacific Northwest. In addition to the wildlife sightings the evening consisted of making a homemade apple pie with apples that we picked from a tree near the start finish area. Bret and I went to the store and found all necessary ingredients for a gluten free and vegan pie. This was my first time baking something that was gluten free or vegan and I was impressed by how easy it was and how tasty it turned out. Unfortunately, I was overtaken with a migraine and turned in early to prepare for the penultimate day two of competition.
We began day two at the same place we started and ended day one – the Ecology Learning Center. The weather was almost identical to day one, which was perfect conditions – partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the low 50s. Our team was well prepared to defend our lead in the overall race.
Leg 9 ELC to Cascade Lake 7.7 miles, 2041 feet gain and 1998 feet loss
Troy Haeseler took the win on this leg in a time of 1:01:50.
Leg 10 Cascade Lake to Mount Constitution 4.3 miles, 2211 feet gain and 185 feet loss
Jayson Hefner took the win on this leg in a time of 38:13.
Leg 11 Mount Constitution to Mountain Lake Landing 8.6 miles, 1854 feet gain and 3336 feet loss
I took the win on this leg in a time of 1:04:21.
Leg 12 Mountain Lake Landing to ELC 7.7 miles, 1246 feet gain and 1836 feet loss
Bret Jorgensen brought home the win in the final leg to secure the victory for Run Determined in a time of 53:59.
Results
Day 1: 5:32:15 1st place with a slim 2:07 lead
Day 2: 3:38:23 1st place with a 25:58 lead
Overall: 9:10:38 1st place with a 38:05 margin of victory.
It was exciting to notch a big team win in my first relay since college track. I had an excellent time hanging out with the team and I appreciate Chris Gregory orchestrating the whole weekend. Thanks also to Troy Haeseler for helping me to get back home on Sunday.
