In The Taproom And On The Trails: Bourbon Chase 2013

Stonemill Streakers at the start of the 2013 Bourbon Chase Relay.

Writing a blog with a vizsla in your lap makes for a bit of a difficult endeavor, but I will try to persevere and give a short summary of this year's Bourbon Chase Relay.

Back in 2004, a number of my former college cross country teammates decided to put together a team for the Hood to Coast Relay. This is the granddaddy of relay races. Relay races are usually 200 miles, completed by 12 runners, rotating thru 36 legs, each runner running 3 times, with the race taking about 24 hours. They are a blast and we began to reunite every year to do a different race. Now, in 2013, we would be competing in our 10th annual race.

2004 : Hood to Coast (Mt Hood to Seaside, OR)
2005 : The Relay (Calistoga to Santa Cruz, CA)
2006 : Mt Rainier to the Pacific (WA)
2007 : Reach the Beach (NH)
2008 : Wild West Relay (Loveland to Steamboat Springs, CO)
2009 : Hood to Coast
2010 : Bourbon Chase (Jim Beam Distillery to Lexington, KY)a
2011 : Ragnar Las Vegas
2012 : Reach the Beach
2013 : Bourbon Chase

We went off at 5:30pm on Friday evening, under blue skies and with wonderful fall foliage. The race begins at the Jim Beam Distillery in Clermont, KY and runs thru the Kentucky countryside, past 6 distilleries in total and numerous, gorgeous horse farms, before finishing in downtown Lexington.

Jim Beam enjoys a glass of bourbon on a fine fall day.

The Start.

This time around I had the privilege of being in Van 2. Each van has 6 runners and a driver. When Van 1 is running, Van 2 is resting and visa versa. So after watching Dr. Tscholl take off, we had some time to kill. Luckily our first set of legs started at the Maker's Mark distillery, so time to kill meant tasting some bourbon mix drinks and roaming the grounds.

Maker's Mark

Night time approaches.

At about 9:30pm Van 1 came rolling in, and soon after Allison handed off to Maggie to start our 1st set of legs. My first leg was run from Lebanon to Springfield. At 8.5 miles it was my longest leg in the race. Nice to get that long one out of the way first.

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It started out okay, but soon became a slog. 6:30 pace became 7:00 pace, which then slowed even further to 7:30 pace. Some fatigue from Jungfrau Marathon surely set in. Add in the fact I hadn't really run much since the marathon, I clearly wasn't in prime shape to run fast for a leg this long. In the end, I averaged 7:00 on the dot. Not to bad as it was uphill from 4 to 8. Another positive was that my left hip which had bothered me since Jungfrau, wasn't too tight. But now after running 8.5 miles, I was sure it would tighten up significantly while riding in a van for the next few hours.

Our homes for the next 24 hours. Running and then sitting in one of these does not help tight hips or most other nagging injuries.

We had reserved a hotel room along the course. This was the first of many dysfunctional moments in van 2 that seemed to plague us the whole race. While waiting for van 1 at Maker's Mark, we pulled up our reservation to confirm where the hotel was. At this point, it was realized the hotel room was reserved for Saturday night not Friday night. After calling the hotel to find there were no rooms available, we had about an hour of worrying before they called back to say that our reservations were indeed for Friday night. Minds begin to do weird things when tired and have no sleep. This was a bad sign that we hadn't run yet and were operating at full mental capacity and were already having odd moments. (Our next dysfunctional moment was to tell Van 1 the wrong city for our next exchange point. Luckily it was realized before it was too late and they arrived just a few moments before Monahan.)

The hotel room ended up only having 1 bed. 4 people laid across it. 2 other slept on the floor. And 1 slept in the van. Still 2 hours of sleep on a hotel floor is better than in a van with 6 or 7 people. I slept fairly well. My hip was really tight when I awoke.

Leg 2 for me was shorter at 6 miles. I massaged the hip with a lacrosse ball and did a good warmup to get the hip loose. My leg ran from Harrodsburg north along KY 127. After getting the exchange from Riley, I went out hard for 1/2 mile before gettting stuck waiting at a train crossing. One other guy was there. He already had been there several minutes. It would be 3 or 4 more minutes before the train passed thru. I could have run easy that first 1/2 mile. Drat.

This leg was a bit dangerous. The highway had a very small shoulder, where the rumble strip was. So I was forced to run in the lane. It was dark when I started but the sun was beginning to rise. For the most part, cars moved over, but a couple cars for no reason, blew by me much closer than they needed to. The hip was okayish, but I could feel my stride a bit off. I did run faster, completing this leg in 6:46 pace.

Leg 21
http://tpks.ws/q9FF

Someone's idea of being creative. At the exchange for legs 22 to 23.

Rain soon began to fall lightly as we finished up our 2nd set of legs.

Saturday morning brings chilly temps and rain.

Finishing our 2nd set of legs at Four Roses Distillery.

After handing off to Van 1, we drove to the outskirts of Frankfurt, where Riley's Aunt and Uncle live.

Determining if the van can safely cross this creek.

After 2 legs, most everyone is sleepy.

Our intrepid driver stays focused as the weather turns worse.

They had graciously offered their home to us the last time we did the Bourbon Chase, and once again were extremely hospitable. She made us bacon and eggs. Along with a hot shower and nap on the couch, I felt rejuvenated. All the while a gusty rainstorm was raging outside. Sorry Van 1. (After they completed their 3rd legs, van 1 also was able to swing by the house for some southern hospitality.) We headed out to meet van 1 at Woodford Reserve.

Woodford Reserve Distillery

Water is the key to good Bourbon

Small taster before setting off on our 3rd set of legs.

Van 1 arrives having survived the rain storm.

The Tscholl Brothers

Maggie (Van 2) and Laura (Van 1) consult on how things are going.

These guys were really into this race.

The cow team's driver.

The cow teams van. Not only was it cool, they were handing out chocolate milk.

Allison finishing her 3rd leg.

Handing off. Van 2 is now on the clock for a 3rd time.

Leaving Woodford Reserve.

With the race stopping and the sun starting to poke thru the clouds, my 3rd leg was run in the perfect fall conditions in absolutely stunning country. A short 5 miles, a oddly completely painfree hip and a rolling course (rather than long grinding uphills), all led to me feeling good for the first time in this race. I cruised along in 6:29 pace.

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The finish was in a quaint little town. Midway, KY. Of course, after handing off, I would direct us the wrong way out of town. We would drive a rather circuitous route before meeting back up with the race course.

The exchange point for the start of my 3rd leg.

Finally, people to pass and downhill to run fast on.

The locals weren't all that interested in my running.

Why the long face?

A sight for sore legs.

After 200 miles, 36 legs, 24 hours and 27 minutes, we arrived in Lexington. Monahan leading us home.

Finishing strong.

The team runs in together.

Post Race Bourbon Tasting

Another successful relay in the books, the Streaker's than enjoyed a Sunday Funday at Keeneland Park, watching the ponies.

Tailgating before 1st post.

Keeneland Paddock area.

Race #2. Horse #6. To Win. My first bet and only winning bet of the day.

Keeneland

And they're off!

Close races captivated the crowd.

Along with our traditional Sunday Funday, the Streakers once again stayed in style post-race. We rented out a house along with a guest house on a horse farm outside Lexington. On approximately 100 acres, the property had multiple barns, a pond, and a 533 yard long driveway.