Knowing When to Step Aside
- rickdmoore
- 1 hour ago
- 5 min read
For the first time since the pandemic, I did not participate in the Market-to-Market Relay.
That makes sense, I hear you saying. You’re still recovering from knee surgery.
To be honest, my decision not to participate in the 75-mile relay race has little to do with my healing meniscus. I’d pretty much made the decision to step down from our Body Project team after last year’s race.
Then it must have been a race that you didn’t really like.
Actually, it was one of my favorite races for reasons I’ll get to in a moment.
If that’s the case, then why weren’t you going to run that race this year?
Two reasons. The first being that last spring had me participating in five races - including two half marathons - in twelve weeks. Wanting to take it a bit easier on my body and avoid injury, at that time, I thought it made sense to drop a couple of those races.
Why the Market-to-Market Relay?
That’s a longer answer that’s the subject of this post. But first…
…A Little Background
Like I said, Market-to-Market is a 75-mile relay where teams ranging in size from five to eight members participate in two to three legs that are somewhere between three and six miles long. The fun starts in the small community of Jefferson, Iowa, with runners heading along bicycle trails that take them past freshly-planted fields, towering grain elevators, groves of spindly hardwood trees and thick shrubs, through tiny rural towns before giving way to the suburbs. From there, it’s along park and creeks before eventually finishing on a wide bridge over the Des Moines River just a few blocks shy of the State Capitol.
The race eats up pretty all of a Saturday with runners crammed into vehicles, hurrying from one exchange point to the next and other runners either slugging down water, grabbing a bite to eat or peeling off a sweaty singlet.
Always donating my SUV to the cause, it’s not long before it starts to smell like sweaty runners co-mingled with odors from all those shoes in the back. By the time it’s all said and done, there are any number of trash bags filled with banana peels and various protein bar wrappers as well as unused toilet paper rolls on the back. A good hour or two the following day would be devoted to not only washing all the road dust off my vehicle but also scrubbing out the inside.
Sounds like a good reason to abandon that race!
Not all all! I never minded one bit of the clearing. As for any odors, hey, I contributed to that as much as anyone.
Actually, the race seemed to go by faster each year. And that long shower when I finally returned home would be like absolute heaven!
Still, I knew that last year would be final year with the race and being part of the Body Project team.
Were they that difficult to be with for a day?
Absolutely not! Fine people, each of them! Loved every minute with everyone on our team over the years.
Then why are you dropping this race?
It Sucks To Get Old
Like it or not, since hitting the big Six-Oh, my times have been slowing down. While I was typically in the middle of the pack for our team, last year had me sliding further down. Nothing horrendous. But the writing was on the wall. We’re a competitive team. More often than not, we win the Mixed Open and place in the top six overall. To keep doing that means a younger, faster upgrade.
Fate worked quite nicely as well when I connected with a friend who wanted to get back on the team last year. Recovery from knee surgery made it easy for me to step away and recommend this guy - who is indeed younger and faster.
Are you sure you’re good with that?
Yeah. I’ve known in my head for the past couple years that this day would come. My running coach and I talked about it last year. It doesn’t mean I’m forever shutting the door on this race. There may be opportunities in the future. If so, I’ll cross that footbridge when it arrives.
But in the meantime, let me share some good and not-so-good memories of the Market-to-Market Relay
The Real Price of Road Construction. “Orange Cone” season took quite a bite out of the area close to where we parked for the ‘23 race. We had to cross through some of it to catch up with everyone before we left. Somewhere along that path, I’d somehow come across something sharp though to have sliced off most of the heal of my beloved Nike Vaporfly’s! I didn’t notice anything until I got home, but that gash meant coughing up over $250 for another pair!
This is Why We Need a Coach. The one year that my running coach, Tim Ives, didn’t participate and our two vehicles got our exchanges mixed up - meaning my SUV wasn’t where it was supposed to be for our next runner. That meant another person taking their leg. That snafu also violated some rule, costing our team first place in the Mixed Open division.
Sore Lats Hate Bumpy, Gravel Roads. Ignoring a strained latissimus dorsi muscle in 2023 proved quite difficult when I’d have to drive us along rough, gravels roads where each bounce had me wincing. As it was, running was the only thing that day that didn’t bother than poor lat. I also paid the price in a couple weeks for ignoring it by having to skip one of my favorite races while I let it finally recover.
ENT’s have great stories to share! My first time in this race, one of my teammates was an Ear-Nose-and-Throat doctor. Just by luck of the draw, he rode and pretty much stayed in the other vehicle. I kept hearing my other teammates talking about him. Anyway, when I was picked up after one of my runs with someone else driving my SUV, I found out why he was so popular. Dude was a non-stop fountain of great stories! Nothing with names or anything sad. But damn, just the oddball cases and quirks that come with the ENT territory. And one helluva lot more amusing than anything I could couple up with!
The Rush of Being in the Final Wave. With a large number of teams made up of runners with varying speed, the race directors stagger the start times so that ideally everyone finishes as closely together as possible. Given the talents of my teammates, the Body Project team has always started in the final wave. I have to say that it was always quite the thrill to be in that final group of the most talented teams and to do so as someone in their sixties.
So, you're cool with all of this?
I am. It did feel strange to see those telltale green marker signs along the bicycle path where the course goes along the bicycle path near our home. But that was the extent of it. Besides, it was even better to learn that the Body Project team had a faster time than the previous year!
Who knows about the future. Never say “never.” But I’m also happy to be focused on upcoming races in July.
And what about you? Any similar experiences to share?
