May 18, 2008 Beach to Bay run fun despite problems Runners from San Marcos who ran the Beach to Bay Relay Marathon yesterday are resting today and taking a well-deserved easy ride home. The race is actually something like the frosting on the cake, as this event takes a lot of planning prior to the race itself. A group of six runners needs to commit to the race a couple of months prior to the race; and from there, getting in shape during the hot summer months is next. Most runners go down Thursday or Friday to check in and have a meeting of the minds with the group. Details have to be planned out well or the whole system breaks down. The easiest part is deciding who runs the first leg on the beach, which runner will do the causeway bridge and who will bring in the final leg when the weather is really starting to get hot. There is an announcer who calls out the team numbers as they approach one of the five handoff stations; but from runners who have run the race in the past, the word of caution is: do not rely on that as the main alert that your teammate is getting close. Keep your eyes peeled on the runners and hope that you recognize the team’s T-shirt or your teammate. After the handoff, the big thing is getting back to the starting line, as the race is on a point-to-point course and the distance between the start and finish is substantial. That means the seventh member of the team is a non-runner who will pick up the first team member as they finish their leg of the race and make it to the other stations to pick up runners two, three, four and five to get them back to the finish. This may not seem like a major task, except that there are 1,500 other cars and vans doing the same thing on a few open streets that are not blocked off for the runners in the race. If you want to imagine one serious traffic jam when time is of the essence, this is it. Fortunately San Marcos has several teams that have entered this race several times, and they know a few shortcuts and tricks on how to make this part of the race a little easier. I remember my first race. I ran the first leg on the beach and, after I finished, I started looking for my ride. After an hour of running around parking lots and up and down the beach for an extra four miles, I noticed that there were only a few cars remaining. I asked a guy in a pick-up if I could ride in the bed to the next stop. At stop number two I found my teammate, and they were also running around looking for our ride. Now there are two in the bed of the pick-up. This went on up to teammate number four, at which point the pick-up had run out of room with both teams sharing the ride. I found another team that I recognized and bummed a ride for the team to the next stop. If the pick-up bed was crowded, you can imagine ten people in a car sitting on each other’s laps. Ours was a co-ed team, and the women had to sit on the laps of the other team, which was a Masters age-group team with all the members over sixty years old. I am sure they enjoyed the company. When we got to the finish area we found our driver; and she was wondering when she should leave to pick us up. Somehow our pre-race planning did not quite register with her. Planning can only go so far if a team member misses the part they are to play in the race. That was an unusual instance; and after talking with runners from previous races, that event is one that only happens with a few teams. The one thing that is talked about for months afterward is the fun that the Beach to Bay Relay Marathon event is for runners, and how they are already planning for the race next year. To be part of such a large contingent of runners, all celebrating the finish of the race and going over each leg with your teammates, is one reason teams continue to go back year after year. That, and spending a weekend in Corpus Christi, is always a nice break from the week’s routine. If you haven’t tried this race, you can start planning for next year and lining up your running buddies for a fun time at the races. Dr. Maurice Johnson - better known around San Marcos as “Moe” - is a professor in the Department of Health, P.E., Recreation and Dance at Texas State University - San Marcos. Moe has been a fixture in the San Marcos running community - both as a runner and race organizer - since way back when Moby Dick was a minnow. His column on running and fitness appears each Sunday in the Sports section of the San Marcos Daily Record. • Recent “Running With Moe” Columns • Home • About the Club • Current News • Club Runs • Places To Run • TX Running Clubs • Running Links • Useful Stuff Upcoming Races • Race Results • Country Roads 10K & Kids Run • ARA-Moe’s Better Half Marathon • “Running With Moe” Contact Us!