Another Epic BRR

BRR 2021

21 men got out of bed on Friday morning September 10, 2021 and decided that “Next Year” was “Today”.  It was the 20^th running of the BRR and the teams were ready to go.  We all loaded into the vans and headed to Grayson Highlands park in southwestern Virginia.  Weather in Grayson Highlands park was perfect at the start, 52 degrees and sunny.  The 8-person team was the first to launch at 8:15 with Swirly as the leadoff batter.  A half hour later, at 8:45, hitchhiker was the leadoff man for the 11-person team.

33 hours later we were at the Highland Brewing Company in Asheville, NC.  Weather was 74 and Sunny.  We were all tired, a little sore, but 21 happy  BRR finishers.  What follows are the highlights of what went on before, during and after those glorious 33.

Christmas in September

We have described the BRR as Christmas in September.  It really is an experience that cannot be duplicated and one that is truly precious.  For me, the whole process from recruiting the teams, putting together the plans, and all the way through to the actual run and race day are enjoyable.  So, when the Thursday after Labor Day weekend dawns, I wake with same feeling I had as child on Christmas morning.  The feeling that something great and special is going to happen.  The feeling that although I do not know what will happen in the next 4 days, I do know that I am about to create memories and have experiences that will last me a lifetime.

As with a lot of experiences in life, the plan that is laid out often falls apart the minute the trip starts.  Our first hiccup occurred early on.  After we got the vans, we brought them to the shop to apply the F3 stickers.  Unfortunately, a set of keys got locked into one of the vans.  Fortunately, or unfortunately, this was not the first time this happened at the shop, so they were prepared for this and were able to open the doors and extract the keys in about 20 minutes.  Not a really big loss of time, but that got us a late start. As luck had it, at the exact same time, several PAX arrived at the meeting spot, threw their gear into the bed of Swirly’s truck, and drove their cars to our long-term parking. The remaining PAX counted to 100 and saw the skies open. Gear was quickly shifted to fill the cab, the PAX scattered, and one goofball hid under the truck (only to be soaked by the end of the downpour). An inauspicious, yet fun, start. And, for all the drama, we were scheduled to leave for the trip at 11:30 and launched at 12:20. In normal life, not a big deal, but an F3 event starts on time! 

The ride down to the race is an experience in and of itself.  It is hard to describe on paper what happens on the ride down.  The best I can do is to say that somehow, suddenly, there are men who enter the van, but what happens in the next six hours on the way down would be more consistent with the behavior of adolescent boys hanging out in a tree house or a locker room.  The subjects are random and silly and the mood is contagious.  The amount of laughter and high jinx is high, and the only adult activity we engage in is actually driving the van. Pass the Korean rice cakes.

A few more minor hiccups on the night before the race.  Two issues with the hotel.  First, despite my receipts showing 12 hotel rooms reserved, paid for and waiting for us, they only had 8 rooms for us.  We were able to secure two more rooms on site, but ended up a few rooms short of what we wanted.  Thanks to those that sacrificed and slept in less than optimal circumstances.  Second, the hotel where we stay has never been the nicest place.  It is a 2 or 3 star hotel at best.  The pandemic and lack of travel have hit this hotel hard.  The normal 2-3 star hotel is trending toward a one star place to stay.  Thing were missing, rooms were not cleaned, some stuff didn’t work, but we survived.  The last hiccup of the night was when we reached our normal dinner spot. Imagine a small town with a little downtown area. Now, add 21 guys moving as a pod while similar smaller groups of runners doing the same. Whoosh. This was challenging before COVID. The restaurant was severely understaffed, and it became pretty clear that they were not going to be able to feed us anytime soon.  Thankfully, due to some quick thinking by team members, other places were called, and we found our new favorite place in West Jefferson, The Tavern. Food was very good, service was exceptional, and the handled a last minute table of 21 expertly. Plus, they had set a table for the 13 American service personnel recently killed during the evacuation in Afghanistan. This is a place we’ll return to visit.

The weather was the best weather that I have experienced on the BRR.  High of 75 during the day and low of 49 at night.  If I could engineer the weather for the race, this is pretty darn close to what I would ask for.  Night runs were chilly, but not cold.  Morning runs were crisp and clear, and afternoon runs were only hot when you were exposed to the sun.  Attire for all of my runs were shorts (women’s Nike) and no shirt.  Let your body do what it is designed to do and keep you cool by sweating.  I really think the weather set us all up to have some great runs.

I love to experience new folks running the BRR.  Again, it is a hard thing to describe.  You can tell folks about the difficulty of the course and the challenges they will have, but until they see and experience it, they cannot understand.  Once faced, though, the sense of accomplishment and pride that I see in folks is inspiring.  We had eight new runners for the race this year and they all did exceptional.  The first year runners were Anthrax, Rip Cord, Faceplant, Shiplap, Bone Thugs, Upchuck, Hitchhiker and Doublemint.

The team atmosphere on the F3 RVA teams is just awesome.  As I watch how we take care of each other during the race versus how other teams take care of each other, I see major differences. 

A note on each of them.  First on Bone Thugz.  Less than two years ago, he had not run more than 2 miles at any one time in his life.  When we first started running, we ran two phone polls, then walked 2 phone polls.  All the way from Mary to Three Chopt and back.  He just ran over a half marathon at the BRR.  Impressive.  Next time you see Thugz, give him a hug.  He deserves it.  He just shows up and puts the work in.  The BRR was the culmination of that work.  Well Done Thugz.  Accomplishment in the bag, many more to come. Plus, as the guys on Thugz team noted, he and Hitchhiker have a budding rivalry for the F3RVA “Fashionable Travel Bag” Award.

Speaking of Hitchhiker, he was also an early commit to the race.  He had made it clear from day one that he wanted to be out there.  He had four tough legs to complete in did exceptional on all of them.  As the first runner, he set the tone for the team and ran the first leg in slightly over 7-minute miles. At 4000+ feet of altitude. Impressive performance and one that tells the team that he is there for them. For a guy who posts every day, he gave maximum effort on each leg. Plus, Hitch came ready with bags (literally) of Korean rice cylinders (delicious) and ramen (still looking for a decent cup of hot water). 

Rip Cord found F3 less than a month ago. He moved to Richmond barely a couple of months ago. With a week he committed to the BRR. When his wife dropped him off, the smile on her face was one of excitement for him to join us. Bamm. In the first month, Rip Cord has completed his first BRR, crushing a few of the hardest legs on the course, Legs 21 and 32.  Rip Cord understood that when offered the chance to hang out in the mountains, watch the stars, and chat with new friends, there is no reason to wait until next year. Plus, he coined the word of the weekend – “slurry.” 

Speaking of slurry, Doublemint roughed through some tough legs. He was an early commit to the BRR, and he was clear he wanted to do this from day one. Not only did he commit to running the race, but he committed to getting ready for it. He changed his workout schedule adding in Tuesday Spider run, Friday long runs, and Wednesday evening hills.  He was there every week putting in the hard work and it paid off with a stellar performance on the course. On one leg, Doublemint came upon an unexpected rural construction project that was adding concrete to a dirt and gravel mountain road. What better than running through a wet, sloppy slurry of concrete and general muck? Perhaps it was the mountain air, but by the end Doublemint was seeing “hot blonde cougars” who turned out to be red board-short wearing dudes named, “Flatline.” Doublemint deserved a nap by the end, so he took three on the ride from the brewery to the house.

Anthrax.  I have known Anthrax for years.   We have done many epic adventures together.  I have been wanting to get him into F3 for a while.  I asked him earlier in the year what it would take to get him to run the BRR with us. He committed to the run shortly after that conversation. He has been posting to F3 a couple of times a week for the last few months. He pushes himself immensely. As UpChuck noted, “He ran every steamy, humid, awful-weather Wednesday this summer, often pushing himself aggressively.”  I had given him a lighter than average mileage on the 8-person team since it was his first BRR.  After the first leg I realized that he could handle far more.  Toward the end, he ran an extra leg.  He really wanted to run one more because “he wanted to feel like he contributed his full share to the team.” You cannot teach that. You either have that or not. He has that and a whole lot more. What an addition to the team.

Faceplant was a warrior on this race. The dude is such a positive influence on the team and is always upbeat and willing to accept challenges. For a first-year guy he was assigned two of the toughest routes on the course: Grandfather Mountain and the first “mountain goat hard” route. He did the whole thing with an easy flow, alternating naps in the van with enthusiastically jumping into his legs. The man runs with a huge smile on his face…including up roads that are intimidating to drive on, let alone run. I will forever remember how wide his smile was at the brewery after the race.

Shiplap got thrown on a team where everyone was at least 10 years older than him and one that is almost twice his age. He fit in perfectly. He was always eager to run and put in over 30 miles on the race. Sometimes when you get close to the end of the race, you see that the race is starting to take its toll on people and they are no longer eager for their runs. The exact opposite was true for him. The race seemed to energize him, so fittingly, he had the glory leg for the 8-person team.

I feel like Upchuck is a veteran BRR member.  Maybe because has committed to the race every year only to have to back out (UPC holds the record for “Cost per Mile of Run.” I am sure glad he made it this year. A calming and positive influence on the team, he pounded out some tough miles on less than healthy knees and took the team home with a stellar final leg of the race for the 11-person team.  Glad I finally got to experience the BRR with him.

When all is said and done, the 30+ hours of the race have many memorable moments, some humorous, some aggravating, some emotional. For example, within an hour, Vinny saw a deer get hit by a car, then witnessed another car accident, and then was nearly attacked by a (very small) dog. (Rumor has it, Vinny was yapping to the dog about Corn Hole). At other points, we had a guy run off the road, which is luckily uncommon. Throughout, we have all forged stronger friendships – something about shared effort and shared challenges brings the PAX together. 

Christmas comes more than once a year.

Thanks

TYA wrote the Backblast, but others have added their thoughts. It is thus appropriate to add a few notes. 

The BRR is a labor, perhaps a labor of love, but it’s work. Every man prepares himself to run. That is about the man and his readiness for the event. Yet, preparation is not just an “on the course” activity. Preparing ~20 runners, 4 vans, and manifold additional logistics requires a substantial commitment of time, energy, and resources. Acquire vans, buy stacks of provisions, obtain lodging in West Jefferson and Asheville, creating notebooks filled with answers to every possible question – every man thanks TYA for his efforts. This does not happen without his dedication to our groups. Many others helped as well – Lab Rat, Circle K, and Gomer were dedicated drivers, advisers, chefs, and motivators. Swiper kept the books, ensuring that we were able to track purchases and manage the money. And, YHC guesses that others did more behind the scenes. For that, we all say “Thank you.” Much appreciated.