Leg 4: (6.82 miles) – rated “moderate”
Marya Van Metre, an occasional contributor to Run Oregon, ran Leg 4 for our team. Her recap is below:
My leg started with a great, long downhill section. In fact, it is pretty much downhill for the first 4-ish miles, with the biggest drop in the first 2 miles. I made sure to take advantage of that downhill, which took me through a forested section, and eventually led me to the dunes of Sand Lake. I could hear the revving of engines of people enjoying their day on the dunes as I continued along the route.
Eventually the route moved into farm country, took a right turn, and continued on through some mild rollers. As I was counting down my miles, I made the mistake of using some very fuzzy math; instead of having a little over a mile left, I realized I was nearing the finish line with a quarter of a mile to go! Oops! But it was great to see the crowd, and my teammates, as I high-fived Abby at the exchange.
How Marya prepared:
This relay was very easy to prepare for. Each leg is about the same length as I would run on a normal weekday, so it didn’t take any specific training. I only needed to pack one running outfit for the day. I knew about what time I was going to run, and what the weather was going to be like, so I was pretty confident with what I chose to wear. The early morning was a bit chilly, but it warmed up as the morning progressed. We finished just in time for lunch, which was perfect, so I only packed a small snack which worked out great!
Exchange Notes for start of Leg 4: This exchange has a nice wide spot for an exchange, a small parking lot, and shoulder parking alongside the road leading to the parking lot. There was a lot of energy at this exchange, perhaps because the next leg was the anchor and nearly everyone at this exchange was already done. Run Oregon recommends driving down the service road to the parking lot first to see if there are any spots open, otherwise park on the shoulder with your car facing the main road. Take care as people will be walking on this service road and not always paying attention to cars turning in.
