When: Saturday, March 30, 2019 to Sunday March 31, 2019
The PAX: Backhoe, Brexit, Britney, Hacky Sack, Lunch Money, OBJ, Robinhood, Snooze, Taco (YHC)
Conditions: In the place of where the first shot was fired for the Texas Independence, conditions were ideal with cloud cover and crisp air. This changed towards Houston as we were hit with cold air, wind and rain. Ask Britney about leg 26.
The Thang:
9 Pax posted down range in Gonzalez, Texas to run 183 miles back to where we came from. 07:53 the cannon boomed for F3 Meteor. After a prologue through downtown Gonzales, OBJ launched Team Meteor toward Houston. After a strong start, OBJ handed it off to Hacky Sack who kept a speedy pace over 5 miles before handing it to Robinhood who ran just about 5 miles through a very rural part of the course before handing off to Backhoe who ran towards Shiner when he handed off to Brexit to take us in to downtown Shiner. All the while Snooze, Britney and YHC were enjoying a Shiner at the Brewery. Brexit handed off to Lunch Money who fired us out of Shiner and enjoyed some beautiful countryside. Before Lunch Money handed off to Snooze, we made our first van transition. Just as big a part of the relay as running is the organization and perseverance. We had it all. Three runners in the Inactive Van got into the Runner Van (next year, the Active Van), and runners 4,5,6 got into the inactive van. Snooze enjoyed a beautiful three and three quarters mile run before passing the slap-it bracelet to Britney for a 5.18 mile run continuing on dirt roads. Britney handed it to YHC for 4.68 miler when the cold air hit us. YHC handed to OBJ for round 2. We completed round 1 with an average pace of 8 minutes – far faster than anticipated. Rinse and Repeat.
| Leg | Runner | Leg Distance | Accumulated Distance | Description |
| Prologue | 1.15 | 1.15 | Toured historic Gonzales | |
| 1 | 1 – OBJ | 4.26 | 5.41 | Leg 1 runners leave Gonzales. |
| 2 | 2 – Hacky | 5.15 | 10.56 | Straight down Hwy 90A to Shiner |
| 3 | 3 – RH | 4.86 | 15.42 | Most rural part of the course |
| 4 | 4 – Backhoe | 4.08 | 19.5 | Finishes on outskirts of Shiner |
| 5 | 5 – Lunch | 3.92 | 23.42 | Direct shot to downtown Shiner |
| 6 | 6 – Brexit | 4.1 | 27.52 | Back to beautiful countryside |
| Pro Tip – Runners 4,5 and 6 were able to enjoy a free cold daddy at the Shiner Brewery after their first leg. They also brought some refreshments (not Gatorade) to the active van. | ||||
| 7 | 7 – Snooze | 3.71 | 31.23 | Panoramic views of Texas hillsides. |
| 8 | 8 – Britney | 5.18 | 36.41 | Dirt Roads and country pavement, finished in Old Moulton. |
| 9 | 9 – Taco | 4.68 | 41.09 | Some dirt roads with decent climb at finish. |
| End of first round. Average pace 8:00 per mile! | ||||
| 10 | 1 | 3.97 | 45.06 | Finished in downtown Flatonia at the Lyric Theater. |
| 11 | 2 | 4.31 | 49.37 | Hack Sack left Flatonia in the dust. Blazing Speed! |
| 3 | 5.8 | 55.17 | Picturesque countryside leg. Robinhood finished with a cold beer. | |
| 13 | 4 | 6.38 | 61.55 | Ended in festive Schulenburg |
| Backhoe was a Beast this leg before handing off to Brexit to continue on some tough hills. | ||||
| 14 | 5 | 3.83 | 65.38 | Crossed beneath I-10 just before the finish. |
| 15 | 6 | 4.22 | 69.6 | Finished in downtown Weimar. |
| 16 | 7 | 4.69 | 74.29 | Overall descent ending in Borden (population: 50) |
| 17 | 8 | 7.11 | 81.4 | The “The Slurpee” leg finished just west Highway 71. |
| 18 | 9 | 4.35 | 85.75 | This leg took a tour of Columbus. |
| Runners 1,2 and 3 back in Active Van after enjoying an early dinner and siesta in the van. Round 2 complete just before nightfall and still far ahead of pace. | ||||
| 19 | 1 | 3.7 | 89.45 | Started at Snappy’s and finished at the Columbus airport. |
| 20 | 2 | 6.82 | 96.27 | Last leg with some dirt road, and finish in Altair. |
| 21 | 3 | 6.82 | 103.09 | Crossed over train tracks and over long narrow bridge over the Colorado River. |
| 22 | 4 | 2.84 | 105.93 | This leg ran through Eagle Lake |
| 23 | 5 | 6.52 | 112.45 | Flat, straight, long leg that finished at the giant grain elevator. |
| Lunch Money might or might not have picked up some steak fingers during his run | ||||
| 24 | 6 | 5.05 | 117.5 | Middle of the night run on the same quiet road (FM 1093). |
| Pro Tip: Call M if you get lonely on the course. | ||||
| 25 | 7 | 6.09 | 123.59 | A flat and short run that finished in Wallis at Brazos High School. |
| 26 | 8 | 6.4 | 129.99 | Started at Brazos High with left on Simonton Road where it Britney turned into a 20 mph headwind and rain.. |
| 27 | 9 | 2.77 | 132.76 | Ended at Anthonie’s in Simonton |
| Round 3 Complete. OBJ puts on 13 gallon trash bag to run in the rain. | ||||
| 28 | 1 | 5.02 | 137.78 | Straight flat leg that finished in downtown Fulshear. |
| Volunteer informs us we are the leaders on the course! | ||||
| 29 | 2 | 6.1 | 143.88 | Suburbia is “officially” reached on this leg |
| 30 | 3 | 4.82 | 148.7 | Finished at Good Times Running Company. PRO TIP – Runner 3 finishes here to enjoy beer and tacos |
| 31 | 4 | 5.32 | 154.02 | Runs into George Bush Park |
| 32 | 5 | 6.79 | 160.81 | Continues on the George Bush Trail. And Barker Dam. Long and strong run for Brexit |
| 33 | 6 | 6.61 | 167.42 | Hardest leg on the course due to rolling hills through Terry Hershey Trail and long distance. Lunch Money crushed it. |
| 34 | 7 | 4.85 | 172.27 | Leg puts us in reach downtown via Briar Forest. |
| Snooze pounded a donut right before taking the baton. Incredible. | ||||
| 35 | 8 | 5.31 | 177.58 | Tours the The Marathon and Orbit, before going around the north side of Memorial Park. Britney is cheered on by M and 2.0s along the way. Duggar and Lep also sighted. |
| 36 | 9 | 5.8 | 183.38 | Started at the #TheHogg fun deck, and continued on the Buffalo Bayou Trail before finishing at the site of the GrowRuck physical fitness test. |
| Finished in 25 hours, 59 minutes or 8:30 pace per mile and 9th in our division! | ||||
NakedManMoleskin
We killed it. A group of guys came together to do this relay, and even better than our fast pace, was the great fellowship along the way. Beers were enjoyed, vans were transitioned, steak fingers consumed, spreadsheets coded; donuts crushed and Team Meteor dominated.
Pictures: https://photos.app.goo.gl/kwXqjp2dz452SV3Q8
We will be there again next year! Who else is in?
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