I am super competitive.  Problematically competitive.  The past year or so has been hard on me, surgery – bad crash – more surgery.  Despite running the Baystate Half Marathon last October and doing Florida in November (I’m thinking the best description is that I was a “completitor”), I haven’t had a really great run since before I crashed.  Part of it, a lot of it, maybe almost all of it is in my head.  The string of unfortunate events has made it easy for me to make excuses (“well my knee is misbehaving so . . . “) and to let the monsters win.

Riding the dolphin at the start in Hull, MA

Riding the dolphin at the start in Hull, MA

The thing about running a relay is that its no longer about me.  Its about my 11 teammates.  Its about running my absolute best even if its not as fast as I once was or as fast as I want to be.  There’s something magical about that and there was really something magical about Ragnar Cape Cod this year.

Clearly our van supported #5Q (and I must have tagged at least 100 other vans as well)

Clearly our van supported #5Q (and I must have tagged at least 100 other vans as well)

The boring details are that we ran 192 miles from Hull to Provincetown, Massachusetts.  I volunteered on Friday morning from 3 a.m. to 8 a.m. at the race start and then as a group we started the race at 11:30 a.m.  I ran three legs of 6.2, 4.1 and 5.8 miles for a total of 16.1 miles.  Average pace was in the mid 8s and I had some solid miles in the 7s and some sluggish ones (mostly uphill) that were much, much slower. The toughest part was the running downhill and my less than happy hamstring at the end of my last leg.

Chris and Heisler on our first set of legs (obviously supporting #5Q as well)

Chris and Heisler on our first set of legs (obviously supporting #5Q as well)

In addition to running we had some great meals (at the Driftwod Publick House and the Cottage Street Bakery), spent an inordinate amount of time being silly (“that brings a whole new meaning to ‘Pound the Cape ‘”) and way too little time sleeping (I still have a sleep deficit).  I also must have tagged at least 100 vans with a very neat #5Q.

Pre-run (rocking the #5Q)

Pre-run (rocking the #5Q)

I can’t even really explain the why or how or because; I can only state it was an incredible experience.  I’ll let the remainder of the pictures speak for themselves and let you know that I’ve spent the past 48 hours trying to figure out how to make a 3 person ultra team for the 100 on 100 possible.

Kim and Shira finishing up our first set of legs

Kim and Shira finishing up our first set of legs

Lani was totally committed

Lani was totally committed

Chris handing off to Heisler on our third set of legs

Chris handing off to Heisler on our third set of legs

Starting my final run (Heisler was not happy)

Starting my final run (Heisler was not happy)

Finishing up and handing off to Shira

Finishing up and handing off to Shira

The whole team at the finish in Provincetown

The whole team at the finish in Provincetown

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Kelly Burns Gallagher

mccarter english employment litigator / oiselle team runner / coeur sports triathlete / sonic endurance coach & race director / witsup.com writer / dartmouth '02 / emorylaw '05

1 Comment

David Jones · May 13, 2015 at 5:53 pm

Kelly,
I am just curious as to what you thought of the Hoka Clifton’s you used in the race? What made you change from the Kinvara’s to the Clifton’s? I heard mixed reports on Hoka’s in general(durability issues). I am interested in hearing your feedback on the shoes.

Your cousin Dave

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