On Saturday, a group of runners stood around my kitchen, munching on barbeque and contemplating such existential questions as: Who wants to go first? Who wants the longest legs? You want to run two short but hilly legs, or three longer but flat ones?
We were discussing how to put together our team to run the Market-to-Market Relay on the Saturday before Labor Day. The race starts just outside of Cincinnati and heads north, mostly along the Little Miami Scenic Trail, to Dayton.
That’s a 76-mile jaunt in 19 stages, or legs. Teams have six, seven, or eight members — ours has eight — and have to divide the legs as they see fit.
But there is a catch — runners must stay in the same order, so on an eight-member team, the person who does the first leg must do the ninth and the 17th. The second runner does the 10th and the 18th. Because there are 19 legs, three runners will do three legs, while the remaining five do two legs each.
Overall, each person will run between 6.6 miles and 13.5 miles. The rest of the time will be spent in a hot van along the side of the road with seven other sweaty, smelly runners, and figuring out what we’re going to eat.
So why are we doing it?
“I had nothing better to do that day,” said Robert Pruett of Florence, who missed our team meeting for a family obligation, and therefore is getting the hardest and hilliest legs. “Seriously, I just thought it would be fun to do a relay race.”
“Hmm,” said Mike SoRelle of Independence, a member of my team. “‘It sounded cool’ seems like a terrible answer when I say it out loud. However, it is the truth.”
My daughter, Corey Long, said she felt roped into it: “My dad said, ‘Hey, do you wanna do this?’ and I said, ‘maybe, I’ll just want some more info.’ And he said, ‘cool, I signed you up.’”
“But also, it sounded like fun, and was a new challenge.”
Which is the reason most people do races of this sort, which are becoming wildly popular.
The Market-to-Market relay between Cincinnati and Dayton is one of three in that series — the others are in Iowa and Nebraska. In Kentucky, there is the long-running Bourbon Chase, a 200-mile relay through the heart of bourbon country in Central Kentucky that’s run over two days.
That race, which is being held Oct. 16-17 this year, has been going on for years and has a waiting list for teams to get a shot at entering.
“The Bourbon Chase celebrates the best of Kentucky,” its website says. “It is a 200-mile journey across the Bluegrass State – through our historic bourbon distilleries, across our majestic horse country, and into our enchanting small towns.”
Each of the 400 teams in that race has 12 members, and the race has 36 legs — meaning each person runs three legs that average 5.5 miles each, but range from just over three miles to just under nine. Again, the teams run the legs in order, so once your position is determined, you have to stick with it.
The Bourbon Chase begins at the Jim Beam distillery in Clermont, which is just off Interstate 65 in Bullitt County, south of Louisville. From there it heads south to Bardstown, then east into Central Kentucky. It passes the Perryville Battlefield from the Civil War, and on through Stanford, the second oldest city in the state, before heading north to Danville. Runners then head up U.S. 127 to Lawrenceburg before crossing over to Versailles, up to Frankfort, and through Midway before ending in Lexington.
Karen Minzner of Independence is a veteran chaser. She’s captain of her team, its semi-official photographer, and its official secret keeper.
“There is a saying,” she said: “‘What happens in the van, stays in the van.’”
Each team has two vans, each with six runners, a driver, and sometimes a navigator. While your van is “active” you are dropping off and picking up your runners at the exchange points. While your van is “inactive,” you are eating, sleeping, touring the distilleries, or perhaps trying not to get lost.
“Somewhere on the website, it mentions that the Chase is part road trip, part running race, and part party,” Minzner said. “It is all true. For the captains, there are a million logistics to consider. The actual running is the easy part. Imagine a few hundred amazing running groups all running and hanging out for two days straight. You spend a good deal of time in the van and get very little sleep. That combination can lead to some very slap-happy moments.”
Minzner, who will mark her fourth year doing the race, has run with her husband, Jon Minzner, her father, Mike Emark, and more than a few friends. Her team changes every year, because some runners drop out due to other commitments, and new runners clamor to join up.
“This will be my first year doing the Bourbon Chase,” said Erin Webb of Edgewood. “Everyone always tells me it’s such a fun event, so I had to try it. Plus, I get to be on Karen’s team.”
Paul Long writes weekly for the NKyTribune about running and runners. For his daily running stories, follow him at dailymile.com or on Twitter @Pogue57