Biffle Dinked!

Say what?  Yeah - Biffle Dinked.  I just returned from a short trip to Key West.  It's definitely a cool place to relax for a few days and punish your liver but this post is really about the journey to get there.  It all started Thursday when I arrived in Miami and met up with Jim, Tommy (Timmay), Bill, John, and August.  Collectively we make Team Biffle Dinked and we were running the 198 mile Ragnar Relay from Miami to Key West. I was the new (and young) guy on the team but I think I fit right in.  They put me in charge of the pre-race lodging in Miami so I promptly booked us rooms at the Embassy Suites...more on this later.  The basic concept of the relay was, well, a really long relay.  There were 36 legs mapped out varying from about 2 miles to just over 11.  Since we only had 6 runners we were considered an ultra team.  Most teams were 12 people but that's just weak sauce IMO.  And because everyone but me was old we were technically classified as sub-masters.  So you rent a big van, load it with Gatorade, water, peanut butter, and gels, then hop-scotch your way from one exchange zone to the next swapping out runners as you go, creeping ever closer to the finish at Duval St.

You guys ready to run?

So we all converged on Miami Thursday afternoon to get ready for our 10:30am start on Friday morning (they stagger the starting times in 15min intervals based on predicted finish time starting at 5:30am). We only had 2 things to take care of before getting a little shut-eye...shopping for provisions and dinner.  I mentioned we had rooms at the Embassy Suites.  It just so happens they have a "Manager's Reception" every evening from 5:30-7:30 - FREE BEER.  We decided to grab a couple cool beverages before heading out to the store.  We ended up staying until they turned off the taps and we probably had more than a couple brews.  Shopping went smoothly considering our "situation" - John convinced us to get 3 cases of water and Tommy smartly suggested we steal TP from the hotel instead of buying it.  Turns out we drank most of the water and had plentiful TP for out bung holes.  Time for dinner and apparently a couple more beers.  Nothing like a nice 6-pack (each) the night before starting out on a sleepless 24-hour trek across the Keys.  No problem, we're professional.

Wakey wakey, hands off the snakey!  Time to rise and shine for some (free) breakfast before heading off to the start.  After packing up the van we hit the road but needed to make a quick pit-stop at Party City to grab some window paint to decorate our van. We rolled into the staging area at Historic Virginia Key Beach Park about 9:30 and made our way through the safety briefing and check-in process then headed back to the van to prep it for the journey and track of our progress.  We tracked distance and pace on a clipboard but recorded completed legs and kills on the side of the van.  We also made 400 magnets to tag other vans along the way.  We figured if only 10% actually pad off in Key West we'd break even.  Unfortunately I think we collectively got a grand total of 2 beers out of it but everyone seemed to really like the magnets and we got lots of comments.  Plus it was fun to stalk other vans along the way and mark our territory - very few teams escaped without being Biffle Dinked.

Let's do this...there's beer in Key West.

Locked and loaded - ready to rock.  I had the lead-off leg which was a 6 miler over the causeway and along S. Bayshore Dr. on mostly sidewalk.  I just ran comfortably, pulled away from the other 30 teams in our starting wave and caught 3 teams from the previous wave - 3 kills in the books!  From here my recollection of the next 24 hours is starting to become a blur but I remember bits and pieces along the way.  Everyone was knocking out their legs more or less on predicted pace and the weather was beautiful for running although the scenery through the first 50+ miles left something to be desired for the most part.  I had 1 more leg in daylight and then it was time to don our safety gear - reflective vest, headlamp and blinking rear light.  This was a requirement from 4:30pm to 7:30am.  My 2 longest legs were at night, the first starting from Homestead Speedway (Timmay got to run a lap on the track) and the next was my longest at 10 miles and finally starting through the Keys on US-1.  I think I recorded close to 80 kills on those 2 legs cruising a relatively comfortable 6:30ish pace.  Somewhere along the way we got sick of eating PB&J so we made a pit stop to refuel the van and grab some grub - Gas station burritos!!!  The van never smelt the same after that.  August missed out on the belly bombs because we dropped him off to run the longest leg of the relay (11.8 miles unsupported) while we screwed off.  My 4th leg was short (3 miles) and I figured I'd run it hard...just because.  It was a straight shot on Marathon Key pounding sidewalk somewhere around 6am. Timmay apparently got distracted after the last exchange (go figure!) and the rest of the team had to go on recon to collect him before moving on.  I ran 6:08/mile and got to exchange 25 more than 5min ahead of the van :) 

John was the lucky winner of leg 26 - 9.1 miles including "7 mile bridge" with no van support and no water stations.  He made the most of it though and got to enjoy sunrise from the bridge and claims to have spotted some dolphins too - though he may have been delirious by this point.  We were definitely over the hump with a new day breaking.  I had one more planned leg but we were also going on 24hrs since we originally checked in to start the race.  The sun was coming up and although it wasn't hot by Florida standards the sun and heat starting to come off the road combined with the fatigue was getting challenging.  We were all feeling it but pushed on with whatever we had left.

Day 2 is upon us at exchange 26, mile marker 40 on US-1

Jim reported that the wheels were falling off on his second to last leg.  His last leg was 2.7 miles so we figured he could crawl if necessary - he managed to stay upright but decided to feed the fishes along the way.  Bill pussed out after 4 legs - something about having his achilles reattached 6 weeks ago - So Timmay and I each picked up a bonus leg.  Timmay ran back to back for 7.1 miles and I grabbed leg 35 for my last 3.5 miles.  I was pretty shot by this point but I wasn't going to let myself crash and burn so close to the end.  I took off with one goal - match the pace from my lead-off leg (6:40/mile).  I kept a close eye on the Garmin and managed to hold on for 6:37/mile.

Finish line on South St. at the Southernmost Hotel

Timmay was off on leg 36 to bring Team Biffle Dinked into Key West and across the finish line.  We headed for town and then argued like a married couple about where to park the van for about 20min before circling around to a municipal lot that looked to only have a 50/50 chance of getting towed.  Bill floundered around at the van apparently getting pretty for the finish line photo and we finally made it to the finish line about 5min before Timmay came dragging ass down South St.  He likened that final leg to something of a death march but the rest of us didn't think it was so bad - Timmay likes to bitch.

Mission accomplished!  199.8 miles (our actual measurement) and 26:49:16 later (8:03/mile average) we were just steps away from a cold beer and a burger with our feet in the sand.  We ended up 23/520 teams - not bad for 5 old guys and a rookie.  I had a complete blast doing this event and it's definitely something I'll be back for again soon.  I was pretty satisfied with my effort considering this relay format was uncharted territory for me and I only had a couple of 18 mile long runs logged in the past month.  I ended up with 41 miles at 6:35/mile average and managed to keep my shit together from start to finish.  The next few days were much needed recovery in Key West...drink, eat, sleep, repeat :)

Happy endings from Ragnar FLK 2012