On Your Marks, Get Set...

Let’s get this show on the road-

It’s our last night before the big day tomorrow…So I’m indulging in a glass of Aardmore that just happened to land in our RV. I noticed Gavin flinch a bit when I asked my dad to pour me a drink…”Don’t worry young jedi, this won’t hurt me – trust me (just ask Cyrus)”.

Tonight we got our first chance to stand head to head with the competition – Kind of like watching a pack of dogs sniff each other – strutting their stuff…who will be the leader tomorrow? Who will last the entire week...? Gavin’s ready, I can tell – he’s calm…then again I think he’s always calm. Like a rock. And me…Yesterday I was still tired, today I’m much better – tomorrow I’ll be as good as I get (Don’t have much of a choice either!). I’m looking forward to the race start-

Gavin standing in front of the 'tunnels' - when we reach these tomorrow there will only be 5kms left!

The day started off pretty slow. I woke up to the smell of coffee that my dad brewed for us – Dad is part of the TR Crew this year. He is a new member of the ‘I’m retired’ club, and as such has been spending much his time entertaining my bro’s 2 little girls. So lucky for me, I managed to drag him away to help me set up tents – all 200 of them actually! Hey, he said he liked camping…

Perks of being part of the TR organizing committee - TR Race Office - Our home for the next few days...(until we get kicked out!)

In order to avoid the heat of the day (31C!), we headed for an early run and cut across the valley from our campground to catch the last few kms of tomorrow’s stage 1. We stuck to the flats running the course backwards and talked shop and strategy while ‘warming up’ for a bit of intensity. After 30min, we stretched out the legs with a 10min threshold pickup and eased off wanting more…perfect.

A quick hitchhike downtown, lunch and then it was time for registration – Swag fest is more like it. I’ve never been to an event that swags its participants as much as the TR Run – Here’s a quick list: Jacket, mug, water bottles, steel drinking bottle, socks, more socks, shoes, Salomon Reelax, shirts, caps, maps, detergent (kind of useless without a laundry machine…), visor, Timex watch, hand bottle holder thing-a-majigee…Am I forgetting something. I think you get the jist…and there’s more to come during the week!

The 2009 Gore-Tex TransRockies participants in line for the opening ceremonies

I’m not going to bore you with the rest of our day…it was the usual pre-race yada, yada, yada…I’m sure you’ve all been there…Gavin’s got a beer now…A Michelob Ultra (beer sponsor). At 95 calories and 2.6grams of Carbs per bottle it packs a punch – grin. We’re ready…Tomorrow is going to be a fun day!

Stage 1 Stats:

20.8 miles (I’m a metric boy…that’s 33.52km)
2,721feet (824.5m)
Starting Elev: 8,000ft (2,424m)
End Elev: 8,409ft (2,520m)
Max Elev: 9,329ft (2,843m)

Feel like wasting more time at work? Visit: www.youtube.com/transrockiesrun