KIDA Relay -- 24 Hour Ultra Relay

Several weeks ago we were eating dinner at Papa Kelsey's and I noticed a poster on the wall that said "ultra relay" and told Rich that it sounded like fun. We went home and got on the computer to figure out what it was all about.
It is called the "Kida Relay" and below is a picture of Kida with her Dad Heath who organized the event, you can go here to find out more. The ultra relay consists of this: for 24 hours a team of 4 people takes turns riding a 26 mile bike loop (the first 12 hours, 8am to 8pm) and then running a 6 mile loop (the last 12 8pm to 8am)...it sounded like a BLAST so we had to figure out who we could recruit to join us. We knew Monica and Jason were our only hope so we called them up and told them about our crazy plan. I wasn't sure if Jas would go for it or not, he likes to bike but isn't a huge fan of running. Monica is easy and will do whatever (kind of like me) so it was up to Jason. The next day he texted me and said "I'm in." So that is where the story begins.
Now fast forward a few weeks later...Rich only went biking once, I went a few times but 9 miles was my furthest, I am not sure how Monica and Jason's training went but the night before we were all a little nervous and didn't have any idea what to expect. It is the first time they have had this race and we knew there were only 11 teams signed up so it was going to be a rather small event...maybe a good thing, right???
Or maybe NOT!!! We pulled into the parking lot and saw PROFESSIONAL bikers...all of them were but us. I honestly didn't want to get out of the car. Jason and Rich had mountain bikes and Monica had just picked up a $65 "road bike" from Walmart the day before that she and I were planning on using. We were WAY OUT OF OUR LEAGUE, to say the least. We decided that we would get out of the car and just do our best.
The organizer of the race is a pretty "hard core" triathlete and he must have gotten all his friends to sign up and support his cause and I guess we were the only ones that saw the poster at Papa Kelsey's so we were the only "outsiders."

Since Jason was our only "experienced" biker he was first. He got some "looks" at his mountain bike and that is all we would hear about for the next 24 hours. We really had no idea how long it would take to bike 26 miles, since none of us had ever even done it!!! I was thinking it would take me about 2 and a half to three hours based on my "training rides".
The first bikers came back in 1 hour and 3 minutes. WOW that is FAST!!! I went back home to get Mom, Amberly, Amy and the little boys. When we got back Jason had finished in 1 hour and 39 minutes and Monica was out taking her turn. It was such a beautiful day so that made it really enjoyable.
Monica finished in 1 hour 46 minutes and then Rich was off. Monica did have a technical difficulty, her seat wasn't tightened enough and it slid down to the lowest position. She had to ride like that for about half way and then she saw someone who could help her. He got her seat tightened and asked her if she was on the team "with the mountain bike." She had a good ride. We didn't recognize her as she came to the finish line because she looked like a "mountain man" with her hair coming out of her helmet, not really sure why she didn't put it in a pony tail!! Oh well we all had a really good laugh about that!

 

Rich flew through his 26 miles in 1 hour 27 minutes. I was really impressed, I am not going to lie I thought it would take him longer. He is an awesome runner but he NEVER rides a bike. I guess it doesn't really matter, if you are in good shape and athletic you can do just about anything. Way to go Rich...he got the fastest lap time for our team.

 

My teammates set the bar really high and I didn't want to be a complete loser and take over 2 hours to finish. I knew that I had to go hard and fast and not give up. They told us that the course was "flat" but it was not very flat at all. It was beautiful riding around the lake but by the time I took off it was like 1pm and it was HOT!!! I was really pushing myself and it was great when I could go fast and the breeze helped to cool me off but on the uphills when I was barely moving it was SO HOT. I got to this part in the course that everyone had warned me about...a steep little hill, I saw it coming and thought I was ready for it but I was wrong. I peddled a little ways up it and then my legs just stopped working and I had to walk it. Of course that is when one of the other riders passed me, I was a little embarassed but whatever!!
I was able to finish in 1 hour and 44 minutes!! I was so happy with that time!!! There was this long stretch where we were just riding this straight road going north and the wind was terrible but I finished in under 2 hours and that was incredible!!!
Here is a picture of our "campsite." I wish I would have taken more pictures of the spectators. We were so lucky to have Amy, my Mom, Amberly, Max and Owen there with us the whole 24 hours!! We brought bikes for the boys to ride and they had a great time!!! My Mom went and picked up Alexa and Alex after school.

Jason and Monica both took one more lap on the bike course. We had time for another one but neither Rich or I wanted to do it again so we just hung out and waited until 8pm for the running part of the race to begin.

Amy took the boys on a walk to the "beach" Utah Lake is really yucky!!! They saw this dead fish with no eyes and Max was telling everyone about it. Here are his words "we saw a dead fish with no eyes and the birds ate his eyes but Jesus will fix him." It was SO CUTE!!!

They had a few games of BINGO throughout the day and here is Monica playing. They had tons of treats and food for the participants and even brought in a guy to give us massages, that was nice.
They fed us dinner, pasta and breadsticks from Pizza Factory and it was really good. It started to get really windy around dinner time and so we hung out in the tent for a while and Rich took a little nap. My Mom went and got Little Ceasers for their dinner and they ate in the tent.

At 8pm the runners lined up and were off for the first lap. I knew Rich would be one of the fastest and I was hoping that he would be first but he ate two plates of pasta and his stomache hurt pretty bad. He came in just behind the first place guy in 39 minutes.
I ran next and it was dusk, it was a great time of night to run and I was feeling pretty good but my legs were a little jello-y from the biking. I finished a little slower than I wanted to in 1 hour 6 minutes. I wanted to be at an hour or under.
Jason was next up and after biking 52 miles he was a little nervous about running. He did awesome and finished in 56 minutes. Way to go Jason!!!
Monica was next and she also biked 52 miles and she finished in 1 hour 5 minutes. Incredible!!!
Here we are all bundled up, there was supposed to be a movie but they lost a cord so it wouldn't work. Amy, Alexa and my Mom went to Walmart at midnight. I got Max to sleep and Amb and Alex were already asleep. I dozed off while Rich was on his second lap and he came to wake me up when he got back. I wanted to rest for an hour or so but he wouldn't let me. He ended up doing my second lap with me. It took us a long time because we just jogged and talked. It was the middle of the night and it was pitch black except for his headlamp and it was awesome!!!
When we got back Jason took another lap and Me and Rich slept in the car since the tent was full. Mom slept in her car too. Jason came to get us after he got back but no one wanted to go again so we tried to get some sleep. It was COLD during the night. Max woke up and Amy brought him to me in the car, we both slept in the drivers seat, it was not comfortable at all but he did keep me warm.

We woke up just before 8 am and missed breakfast. Rich was planning on running another lap but he didn't wake up.
We sat through the awards ceremony. The first place teams got $500 but unfortunaltly we didn't win...ha ha ha!
We posed under the finish line for a picture and I think we all had a great experience, this is something that you really need to train and practice for. I think there is talk about doing it again next year!!

We got the tents put away and all the stuff loaded up and headed back to our house to shower and get cleaned up. We all went to Barry's for lunch and then had a shaved ice. Mom left for home and we went to the mall. We were all pretty tired so we didn't stay long. The Harris's left and Monica and Amberly came back to our house to stay one more night.