Join the Team and See the Sun Rise!

The other day my only chance to run a few miles was to leave before dawn. Not a problem! Thanks to my Rosie Ruiz Fan Club night time running kit. (Mine consists of a headlamp, blinky lights and a reflective vest.) As a bonus during the run I had a chance to see the sun rise over the horizon. So what you ask? You only ask because you have not been privy to the experience. But if you join the Rosie Ruiz Fan Club for the relay you will be! The race runs through the night and so does our team. The attached photo was taken during the relay two years ago. Now contact us and sign up so you can see the sun rise over the New Hampshire mountains as well!.

Join the Team Today and Pay Less to Run the Relay!

Last year we did not have a team and I had to deal with tongue cancer. This year the goal is to switch that around! Help me reach my goal by signing up for the team. As an incentive to do so I am starting a new cost allocation system. Before you procrastinate read on!

In year's past many people put off joining. They figured that they would wait until the team was nearly full or just hoped that somebody would get hurt and they could sign up at the last minute. No doubt, there was something to be said for this strategy. But it left me scrambling to get 12 runners. Plus it left me on the hook for the whole team's registration and hotel costs, both of which I need to pay up front. All in all, my life is a whole lot less happy than it need be. This year if you help me fill the team early I am going to help you. 

Here is this year's cost allocation structure. When it comes time to split the team's costs for the registration fee, van and hotel how much you owe will depend on when you sign up. The earlier you sign up the less you pay. As a bonus, if others procrastinate and you do not you pay even less! 

Cost Allocation: Depending on when you sign up you will have a certain number of points. The fraction of the bill for the registration fee, hotel and van that you owe will equal your points divided by the sum of the points of everyone on the team. So fewer points on your part mean you pay less. Also, the more points others have the less you pay. As an example if you have 300 points and everyone else has 400 the fraction of the bill you would be responsible for is 300/(300+11*400). In this example that would be 6.4% of the bill. Everyone else on the team would owe 400/(300+11*400) which comes to 8.5% of the bill.

Point Accumulation: If you sign up between now and April 1 you will be allocated 300 points. If you or anyone else signs up after April 1 they will be allocated 300 points plus 2 points for each day after April 1. For example, you would get 304 points if you sign up on April 3. 

Once we have 9 team members I will put down the money for the registration fee and hotel under the assumption we can fill out the remaining 3 slots. Help us cross the finish line with 12 team mates! Sign up today!!!

It is March. Time to Join the Rosie Ruiz Fan Club for this Year's Relay!

It is March which means our annual team recruiting season has started! This year the Reach the Beach Relay is September is September 14 and 15. Come join us! I guarantee you will have a blast. If not, you get to go and not have a blast! :p Interested in signing up? Just send an email to rosieruizfc at gmail dot com and I will get back to you.

Great Year for Pictures!

This year's team wins a gold star for sharing photos! Each year we create a photo drop box to make it easy for everyone to swap pictures. Most years we get a few people to add their pictures and end up with a really nice collection. This year though was off the charts! 

Below are pictures from Dan,

Barbara, 

Bruce, 

Nancy and 

Ragnar's own photographer!

The Morning Run

After a good night's sleep . . . all right that is a total lie. After a brief nap the vans are up and running again! Around 7am the Orange Line pulled into the Van Transition Area located at Bear Brook State Park. Bruce came running around the corner

handed off the wrist baton and stopped for pictures!

This is one of the more picturesque transition areas with a small lake near where the runners perform the exchange.

Kind of cold but Bruce braved the icy waters anyway! Through the whole relay the weather was spectacular. Here Deirdre and Kirsten hang out in the sun while waiting for our runner to appear.

This is a particularly good picture of Nancy and Paul where you can see just how beautiful the day was.

Running by Moonlight

One of the most memorable parts of the relay is running at night. You run down a road with your headlamp, blinking tail light and reflective vest. Ahead and behind you can see a stream of other similarly decked out runners. Occasionally, one is wearing a tutu. Yes, a tutu. It is difficult for teams to identify their runners at night and use things like tutus to help. We used little blinking dots. Chris had the brilliant idea, pun intended! :), to put them on her sneakers. That apparently made it easy to spot her from far away. Expect this to become a regular part of the Rosie Ruiz Fan Club's night running outfit!

Here you can "see" Barbara coming down the road. The bright dots lower down on her vest are little blinking party lights we used to identify people in the dark.

I am not sure how Bruce got this shot at the transition area but he did! Dora is waiting for Nancy to come into the Vehicle Transition Area (VTA) where the Orange Line will take over from the Green Line.

Bruce even managed to get a shot of the transition!

Last picture for today is of Nancy and Deirdre walking back to the van from the VTA.

While not easy you can sometimes even catch a nap at night in the van as Kirsten demonstrates in this picture.

Day 1: Time to Go!

For this year's relay we have stunning weather! Not a cloud in the sky. Temperatures starting in the 40s and working their way up to the high 60s as the day progresses. Kristen started us off with a run up Bretton Woods. Yes up! Way up. To the very top. Then down again. A tough 2.5 mile leg.

We are team 43 and you can see her in blue on the photo's left. Since 2015 the course route allows the two vans to see off the first three runners. So, while Kristen was mountain climbing we had time for a picture of Nancy, Cathy and me.

Team support is very important. Who has the best team support? Why the Rosie Ruiz Fan Club!

Nancy had the van's last run and here she hands off to Dora.

Then it was finally time for the Green Line to stop for lunch.