When Robin first mentioned the Great Lakes Relay, I thought to myself, “3 days of running 275 miles in the woods and trails in rural Michigan, with a team of strangers - finally a good reason to visit Michigan!” and so I signed up with the Boston Stragglers.

Being my first relay ever, I was naturally a little concerned about the planning and preparation for this event. Not to worry, Captain Robin, sans the eye-patch, knew her business.

Day Zero

The veteran stragglers Jason, Johnnie and Robin met me at Boston Logan Airport on Thursday afternoon for our flight on the newly Chapter 11 exited Northwest Airlines for to Detroit. After a 90 very bumpy minute delay due to thunderstorms, we met two other stragglers – Lynn and Adam. Rosie and Steve would meet us at the motel in Rogers City, the start of three day adventure. We also realized we had a team of people from 4 continents – America, Asia, Australia and Europe. How cool is that! The representatives of the British Commonwealth quickly piled into one car to talk cricket.

We all knew what the flight delay meant – we had a 4+ hour drive to Rogers City from Detroit and it was going to be past midnight by the time we arrived leaving us just fours of sleep. Were we wrong or what? The State of Michigan does a lot of roadwork at night 2 lanes at a time, leaving just one lane for the jammed up traffic. Make that two hours of sleep instead of four.

After a stretch on the interstates, dinner at a Cracker Barrel, and grocery shopping for carbohydrates of various consistencies and liquids of various flavors, colors and nutritional value, we finally arrived at Rogers City at 2 am and bunked at a very nice little resort run by a wonderful lady who was super hospitable despite the unearthly hour. The second half of the drive was uneventful, and was along the shores of Lake Huron. It’s a shame we had to do the drive in the dark and miss all the pretty little lakeside towns.

Day One

The stragglers met the two new additions, Rosie and Steve, at 4:30 am and we were off to the start. Never underestimate how cold it can be at dawn in the middle of July past the 45th parallel, for we were all shivering along with 75 other teams at the start line in a remote deserted dirt road as we all lined up for a ‘before’ picture.

Without much ceremony, and a low key signing of the national anthem, Johnnie took off for the first leg. Let the coordination begin! One car headed to the beginning of the third leg, while the other headed to the second to drop off Robin and pick up Johnnie. Johnnie got his early morning fix of wet sneakers crossing a river and Robin ran hard for one of the longer legs of race. Since we were two people short of the full complement of 10 runners, we knew we would be doing some extra legs. Fred, the fine straggler with bad travel karma would not arrive until later that day.

We ran through several legs of beautiful trails as the day got hotter and hotter. We quickly realized how efficient Robin was in her planning and organization, and we also realized that the trails were poorly marked and one can get lost – both drivers and runners. Almost every one of us was lost at least for a little while and by the end of the day we had lost over an hour just from, well, being lost. Not only was it extra time, it was extra effort for the already tired stragglers who were sleep deprived and had been living on bagels, bananas, granola bars and Gatorade.

After 4 p.m., the race rules allow teams to run legs concurrently. This provided yet another organizational challenge – who picks up and drops off which runners at each exchange point and how do we converge at the finish, making sure all runners have a ride? Robin to the rescue again with paper and pencil! The day’s running ended at the cute little town of McKinley, by a bridge over the Au Sable River by about 7 pm. Steve ran like the wind for the final leg and confirmed our belief that he was going to be our secret weapon during this race.

After the day’s run and a dip in the river, we drove an hour to Au Sable through winding roads. Even secret weapons have their breaking point and Steve’s lack of sleep and food and sheer exhaustion from hard running made him sick. With attention from his loving wife Rosie and the highly trained medical professional Ironwoman Lynn, Steve recovered enough to eat his dinner.

Time to catch up with Fred - his bad travel karma had not deserted him. He had arrived in Detroit, planning to fly to Flint and ride the bus to Au Sable, where we were staying for the night. But his flight had been canceled, due to flight crew not being available. How is it possible to run an airline that doesn’t have crew is beyond me, but the shortcomings of the airline industry will be featured in another rant. Fred managed to fly to Lansing and took a cab to a small town about an hour from Au Sable. Despite the lack of sleep, running two hard legs, and the exhaustion showing on his face, Johnnie drove the distance while shoving pizza in his mouth to pick up Fred! How does he do it??? This man is amazing!

After a surprisingly good dinner and grocery shopping in Au Sable, we headed to the motel for much needed showers. Cramped quarters of course, but all we wished for was to be horizontal for a few hours before the next day’s running begins.

Day Two

Robin kicked off the day’s running, followed by Steve who got lost and poked in the eye by a tree branch! We were soon running neck-and-neck with the Mt. Pleasant Frogs, a very friendly group and the Thinclads, a group of 13 and 14 year olds. Such well behaved teens! We have never seen the likes of them in the past! It must be the Lake Michigan water or is it Lake Huron?

Poor Fred had to run extra legs today because he needed to meet the minimum threshold of 24 miles a person. The day got hotter and hotter – one of the legs is even called the ‘Brain Baker’ and Robin’s second leg was hard to even drive, leave alone run through the hills and sand! The pain is evident in her face when she finished and Fred ran the Graveyard, the hardest leg in the entire race.

Day 2 also brought out the toga! Johnnie is now the unofficial mascot of not just the stragglers, but the entire race! At every exchange point we heard the runners cheering on the Toga Man! The unmarked stragglers suddenly become the most recognized team in the entire race!

The day ended at Grayling; with a round of well deserved local brews and a motel that is just a couple of blocks from the finish. We went to a lovely old fashioned diner in Grayling, with one of the most efficient waitresses God ever made. She effortlessly managed a team of 9 hungry, boisterous runners and Adam showed us the wonders of the Superman ice-cream - this multi-flavored, multi-colored wonder must be a Michigan specialty. After 2 days of sleep depravation, we finally got a good night’s sleep in the simple motel rooms.

Day Three

Last day - only 60 miles today! But we still need to wake up at 4:30 am and get to the start. Johnnie, of course needed to do the first leg, because it involved a river crossing. As we lined up to see him cross the river, we were surprised by how many people abandon their teams and start yelling “Go Toga Man!” Yes, the Stragglers aka Toga Man Team have made it!

We took our turns running and we finally got the art of navigation and nobody got lost. Concurrent running began at 1pm instead of the usual 4pm and we had our plans squared. Yet another scorcher and Fred was doing the final leg along Lake Michigan, running on the beach.

The rest of the team slowly assembled at the finish in Empire and jumped into the cold Lake Michigan water which did wonders for our sore limbs. While we are all glad our legs were done, we were still anxious for Fred. Teams including the Frogs and the Thinclads finished, but no Fred. Anxiety! Anticipation! There is a guy in a red shirt, but that’s not Fred. Waiting… Finally, Steve and Rosie spotted Fred and we all rushed over to run the final 20 yards together on the beach for our Chariots of Fire moment.

We are done! Pictures at the finish, cold beers, congratulations, goodbyes to Rosie and Steve and a long uneventful drive back to Detroit. Tomorrow is another day – back to life, back to reality. Utility bills, bathroom leaks, index pensions, tax exemptions, day jobs that start at nine, until the next time!