Race, Rest, Repeat

I participated in my first Market to Market this past weekend.  I have been trying to get on a team for the last four years that this event has been in existence so I was delighted when my co worker's hubby had an opening on his team.  This race is practically impossible to get into - you either get in as a previous team- which sold out in 2 minutes- or you get in through a lottery system.  The race is 78 miles and you run from Omaha Old Market to the Lincoln Haymarket in teams of either 8, 7 or 6 people.  We had a 7 person team this year- 4 men, 3 girls. 
One runner in each team runs from one checkpoint to the next and then you hand off to your next runner and so on.  There are 21 legs of the race so depending on how big your team is you run anywhere from 7-13 miles the entire day.  I was runner number 4 so I had to run 3 times that day each being almost 4 miles a piece- so almost 12 miles for the day.
I have been waiting for this race since May and let me say all my well laid plans fell apart on Thursday when T came down with the stomach flu.  I had been forgoing working out in the morning all week to get some extra sleep as I am a person that is very particular about my sleep schedule.  Well Thatcher had the stomach flu- aka- vomiting all night- so I had very little sleep on Thursday night.  Friday I left for Lincoln after work to meet the rest of my team to head over to Omaha.  That ended up being another late night with a "power" nap and an early morning to get our first runner to the start by 5:30.
You spend the entire day getting in and out of the van going from check point to check point and then running your designated legs, trying to stretch quick, and doing it all over again.  Race, Rest- Repeat!  It is a very well organized race you run on trails, gravel, highways, streets, fields - all over.  The checkpoints are in the most random places- a intersection on a gravel road, a school, a movie theater, a field- you never know.  The book tries to tell you what to expect but their description and my interpretation are very different.  The book said my second leg was rolling farmland.  My arse!  It was a hill and then a flat section then another hill- over and over for 3.79 miles- I was praying for a downhill.  Not to mention you can see the water tower you are running to the entire time praying it would get to you faster.  We were "racing" another team from Kearney so I couldn't slow down because I didn't want to lose our lead on my leg.  My last leg started through a bumpy field with hay bails and then down a patted down grass path that was uneven and very thin.  I even questioned the volunteer when he directed me down that path! "Here? Really?"  By the last leg I was felt like I had been ran over by the van!  I think I would have done better my last leg if I would have had more sleep the prior two nights. 
It was an running experience that I have never had and it was awesome!  I met new people and you just get immersed in runners and spend the whole day talking about running.  I loved it! 
Here is a picture of one of the checkpoints.  Just some random gravel trail in some small town. 

 The finish is over the Haymarket Bridge and you all come in as a team.  It took us 11 hours but we did it!