Heels and Hills

Race Recap Report
by Sylvia Pas (Team Member and Heels & Hills Key Race Volunteer)

Another race report here by teammate Libby Jones...

It all started February 1, 2009 when Libby Jones sent an email to a group of women associated with the Heels and Hills Half-Marathon, whether previous runners, future runners, or volunteers. Below is an excerpt from the original email:

“Paula and I are forming a Heels and Hills team for the Texas Independence Relay March 7-8. If you don't know anything about it, it's a 40 leg, 204 mile, 7-12 person team running relay from Gonzales, TX to the San Jacinto Monument in Houston, TX - website is www.texasindependencerelay.com. They have a rule that the average pace for the team can't be more than 10 minutes per mile. … I told him Paula and I know enough gals with Heels and Hills that we would want to form a fun all-girl team, but that we would never have enough folks that we would average faster than 10 minutes per mile. … This may even be a trial run for them that they would open up this option in future years for "slower" teams. I am really wanting to form a team of ladies who have great attitudes, will encourage each other, and genuinely just want to be there to have a fun time and make or strengthen friendships.

For the legs, there are NO rules. We can put teammates in any run order. Legs are 3-8 miles each. On average, each person does 3-4 legs. So you can do all your legs back-to-back, or rotate teammates - we'll try to work with everyone's goals. Maybe someone only wants the longest legs. Maybe someone only wants uphill legs (gosh, I wish!)

Let me know if this is something you are interested in ASAP. We have 4 people confirmed at this time. I'm excited and think it will be a ton of fun!”

Libby

I had never done a stage relay before where a multi-person team takes turns doing single or multiple legs until the entire race is completed. It would be a new adventure so of course I put my name in the hat. I was free that weekend and my family was supportive of my taking off for up to 48 hours (plus travel time).

A few days later, Libby sent out the team list and my name was on it! It was time to find out what exactly I had signed up for. There would be 12 runners on this team. The selected team consisted of Libby, Amanda, Anita, Bernice, Melinda, Jennifer, Sarah, Teresa L, Allison, Kay, Teresa W, and me. Paula and Angie were the designated drivers and key members of the team as well. Most of us didn’t know each other. The only reason I had signed up is because I knew Paula and Libby. I figured the weekend wouldn’t be a total disaster with the pros out there with me. We had several runners from the Houston area – Jennifer, Kay, and Allison. Teresa W from Colleyville had run this race last year so I was already in awe of this woman. She had just qualified for Boston and was fast enough to run this race without the time handicap. The rest of us were from the North Dallas area.

We had a range of ages from 29 to 56, short, tall, lean, and not so lean (me), long term runners, recent runners, sprinters, and endurance runners. It was truly a mixed bag. Some of our more interesting careers consisted of a PE teacher, a lawyer (could come in handy!), IT experts, a fitness coach, and a really cool 8th grade English teacher with tattoos. She turned out to be one of our faster runners but I still couldn’t quite imagine her reading English Lit to the kids! They must love her.

There were going to be 2 vans going to Gonzales, TX where the race was to start. For safety reasons, race start plans changed to 7:04am on Saturday rather than 2am. With a 2am start, our runners would have been running by themselves on the rural back roads with no other runners or vans in sight, for about 75% of the entire distance. We also obtained permission from the very kind and understanding race director to start each leg on a 9:40 pace. That meant that the runner for the next leg started at a time calculated at 9:40 pace from the start of the leg before and she did not wait for the previous runner to come in first. This timing allowed us to finish late afternoon on Sunday and took master planning and organization by Libby and Paula. Each van had to have dropped off the next starter in time for her start.

A few days before the race, we lost 2 members, Bernice and Teresa L, to family emergencies. Paula and Angie who had originally been designated as van drivers now became fellow runners as well. Not a big problem but this change did pose some logistical challenges since the drivers were now going to be tired from running as well as from driving.

Libby and Paula were trying to give each runner their first preference (short versus longer runs, hilly, day versus night time, single or multiple legs, total mileage, etc.). Not thinking through the consequences of my response, I said I’d be willing to run night legs. Since I also preferred to run my miles consecutively, I had the fun assignment of running 20 miles starting at 2am. How bad could that be? I’d just have to stay awake, no problem. And be ready to fight off any dogs. The race website specifically mentioned the possibility of dog unfriendliness somewhere within the 203+ miles and the need to be prepared.

The first van left Friday morning with Paula as driver, Teresa W, Mel, and me. We had each brought enough snacks to last us during an eco-disaster since we didn’t know what to expect during the 203+ miles. As most runners do, we also brought the full range of running gear for all possible weather situations. Texas weather can change quickly but this weekend remained windy, warm, and humid. The second van was to leave later in the afternoon from Dallas with Angie as driver, Libby, Amanda, Sarah, and Anita. Jennifer, Kay, and Allison were coming in from Houston and would meet us in Gonzales.

Van #1 found a local Tex-Mex restaurant, La Lupita, in Gonzales with home cooked food while waiting for Van #2. Later, while Van #2 ate, the rest of us decorated the vans. Kay had laminated posters and high heel shoe cut-outs with each of our names individually etched (for Heels and Hills) for a set on each van, and brought old high heel shoes to tie on the back of the vans. What a great idea! It definitely got the team name across in pink and black to all. You can imagine the expressions we encountered driving between Gonzales and Houston from people not associated with the race.

The start of the race was in the town square. Each team ran a 1 mile prologue together doing a loop through town. Some of the more than 150 teams brought large banners and other signs with which to run. Our two vans split up after the prologue and the race was on.

It was an experience to see how the exchanges worked on the race course. Between being on time to drop off the next runner and pick up the previous runner, both drivers were kept busy. There were 1 to 4 hours of off-time as each van’s runners finished their legs and the next one started. This sounds like a lot but within the longest time slot of about 4 hours, we ate quick dinners, drove to Saturday night’s hotel, took showers, got anywhere from 1 to 2 hours sleep Saturday night, and went back to the next exchange point. There was a lot of waiting for runners to finish. Each leg varied from a little more than 3 miles to almost 8 miles. Each van leap-frogged their runner to offer them water every ½ mile or so since it was very warm. Some of our runners ran 2 or more legs consecutively. Many ran single legs multiple times over the weekend.

This was the first time I had started a 20 mile run at 2am. My previous night running experience was a 25K race at El Scorcho in 2007 which still starts at midnight. This race was run through Trinity River Park in Fort Worth. There were several hundred other runners there and I often saw other runners on the short loop. There was a sense of security even through the dark trees with talk from other runners and aid stations.

This 20 mile run was completely different. I saw other runners infrequently – they would go by me quickly and their safety lights would fade within a few minutes. I’m slow anyway but running 20 miles at night made me even slower. Night running is worrisome for most runners and running through rural Texas with no company other than the occasional view of team vans was a scary feeling.

I had a good flashlight but could see nothing beyond the spot of the beam. There were bushes and trees to the side that hid whatever was behind them. The mind plays tricks in the dark and the dark is disorienting – I couldn’t tell if barking dogs were behind the fence or tied up. Were they going to come after me? I went up and down roadways that were completely deserted. There were times when there were no runners and no vans around me. The moon was almost full and lit up the landscape. I saw surreal landscapes never to be captured again – enormous granaries silhouetted against their security lights, the Brazos river at night with full moon above reflecting on the water, darks roads with bobbing red lights dipping up and down the hills.

Eventually my run did end. We had all forgotten to adjust for the spring time change and my van was worried that I was lost out there somewhere. They found me on the last leg, struggling up a hill. The next van had sent out its runner and we were done for the night. This was now our time to eat, shower, and get in a quick nap.

Sunday turned out even hotter than Saturday. Our runners valiantly struggled through the day. Most of the Saturday runners had beat their estimated times. By Sunday, we were all tired and sore and many struggled to finish in the heat. Running through Houston and suburbs in the humidity and sun was a challenge. Reading city maps, navigating the traffic, and finding our runner simultaneously was another level of difficulty at the end of a long weekend.

At the end of the race at the San Jacinto monument, we had completed the entire race distance of almost 204 miles. We had learned a lot about each other and how we each faced the multiple challenges of too little sleep, erratic meals, long periods of inactivity with short periods of physical challenge, with strangers, in the sun, heat and humidity, in the dark, and for almost 44 hours.
What an adventure! A group of 12 women, many of us novices to the sport of endurance running, achieved a new goal thanks to Paula Robertson and Libby Jones.

Last revised March 22, 2009