In a rental van.
With people that aren't family and/or close friends.
So many issues with this. Let's just start throwing them out there, shall we?
- The Stench Factor - This one is self-explanatory. 7 people in a van at all times and, at some point, we will have all run between 10 and 13 miles. Someone needs to buy a vat of Febreze from Cotsco. I feel sorry for the guy at the rental company that has to air it out. He'll probably have to burn it.
- The Boredom Factor - This is where not having friends/family there may be an advantage. No one has heard all of my jokes and uber-humorous observations. At some point, though, we're all going to run out of observations and jokes, right? When is it appropriate to just say, "Guys, I'm going to sit in the back of the van and check up on football scores."?
- The Annoyance Factor - On occasion, people annoy me. Hard to believe, huh? I love my family and friends, but I have a breaking point with them, too. We all do. Couple that with the fact, I don't know these people as well as said family/friends and it has all the makings of a low-rent reality show.
It should be interesting to see how things shake down. I'm sure it'll be fine. Maybe we'll all create an unending bond that will never be broken. Or, it turns out to be a scene from Lord of the Flies.
Oh, did I mention that this chick is running the relay now, too? I can't even begin to tell you how exciting this must be for her.
13 comments:
I did a two-day relay back in June in Vermont with 11 other people and had THE. BEST. TIME. I had met only one of my teammates prior to the event, but by the time it was over, I had made 10 new friends.
Couple o' things: Smelliness. After a while, you just don't notice it anymore because everyone smells bad.
Boredom: Surprisingly little. We did spend a lot of time snoozing in the van, though.
Annoyance: Also surprisingly little, which is amazing, considering the wide range of personalities on our team.
The biggest one for us, and this is probably because it was a 200-mile, 2-day event, was lack of quality sleep. There just wasn't an opportunity to rest. I was so tired on my third and final leg I had a hell of a time running an 8:30 pace for one mile.
I guarantee you'll have fun unless something catastrophic happens!
YAY! I'm so excited to hear how it goes and especially excited that xcountry2 is going to be there to annoy the h*ll outta ya! :) LOL!
I'm still waiting for you to puke at one of these upcoming events. Now I'm thinking you might have a better shot in the van - while you're bumping down the road with pit fumes wafting up your nose - than the burrito run. You better hope your teammates haven't been hitting the fiber too hard.
I'm sure the race will be fun despite the stench! Good luck!!!
Yes, really excited. Somebody hold me up.
I have my "holy shit what have I gotten myself into?" post half drafted for today too. This really did seem like a great idea 3 months ago, didn't it?
My prediction is a van in flames.
Pack some emergency booze and codeine. Combined, they can help dull the pain of any one of those factors.
so true, new people can be awesome as long as they adore me. once they stop thinking I'm the greatest thing since sliced bread, I pretty much stop thinking they are nice and beautiful. And nothing bad ever happens being stuck in a car for 8 hours, ever. ;)
enjoy the relay.
I suggest you be "that" guy. You know the one who starts singing songs and tries to get everyone to join in? The guy who plays kids travel games? The guy who brings garlic and onion bagels? The entertainment possibilities are endless.
I second Sun Runner--I loved the relay I did in August and had what sounds like an eerily similar experience to what she described.
It will be a blast, unless you get hurt (I'll spare you the details of the annoying team of guys, one of whom got hurt, that we kept running into at the handoff points. Let's just say, my team knew their amended (and amended, and amended and amended...et al) race strategy to replace that runner, but the time all was said and done. They OBSESSED over it for HOURS. Seriously.)
This is half the distance, half the time--it will be fine. Piece of cake. Just don't get lost in a corn field.
I am doing the Ragnar Relay in November in FL. I hope it's not a stinky, sleepy, grumpy mess as well. Good luck!
I watch the deadliest catch on discovery pretty religiously and have thought those exact same things about that show. It must smell like a dirty foot the entire time. If nothing else, when XC2 beats you, you can always blame it on the stench.
baby wipes are key. seriously.
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