Mit-a-check Madness, Part 3, The Finale!

At this point going into round 3, the final round, everyone was tired.  We were still ahead of the clock.  At one point, someone had made the comment driving from stage to stage that it was starting to look like a scene from the zombies on The Walking Dead...a pretty accurate description.  Our team was still looking pretty strong though compared to some others.  To give you an idea, on my last leg, I passed SEVEN people and only got passed by one (and I am not all that fast)!

We had played musical chairs quite a bit.  Rob took two legs, I moved to a shorter leg, Alex took a harder leg...and Jeri Lyn, our alternate, who lived on the route took a leg.  While we switched things up - the baton was with a runner in movement 100% of the day...River to River.  If we had been working towards a medal, strick rules would have needed to be followed; since we were not, we just wanted to finish to get the t-shirt!  The closer of round 2 came in to hand off to the first leg of the third round...Alex.  He did great; we were lucky to have him on our team. 

Alex then handed the baton to Rob...who then handed it to me...  I lucked out with this leg - it was beautiful and much in the woods.

The baton then went back to Rob and then to Jeri Lyn; we passed her beautiful home on the course and she ended up running a leg just a couple miles away from it.  While she knew she didn't have the speed to take three legs - we were thankful to have her for this one. 

Watching the end of this leg was hilarious...  It was a huge downhill and the runners were just all over the place at this point.  One man came down with his arms in every which direction and everyone at the transition was wondering if he was going to stay on his feet (which he did...and I suppose effectively for he was probably the fastest one down that hill). 

Jeri Lyn then handed off to Brian for "The Hardest" section of the race.  It is unfortunate that the hardest section is towards the end, but alas, everyone knew it was coming.  Brian joined our team wanting to be the sixth runner and to do this leg - we all let him get his wish.  

At this point, the sun was starting to get lower in the sky.  We knew we were going to be close to hitting the finish line by the strict 8:00 pm close.

No worries...Brian was impressive - and finished it in great time!

 

Brian then handed to Beth, the seventh runner...solid.

And Beth then handed to Joe...another "Hard" leg...solid.

We drove the van ahead to the finish line in Golconda.

At this point, it had gotten fairly cool...we anxiously awaited Joe a few blocks before the finish line.  We all then joined together to run the last blocks together.  Of course at the finish line, we were team Mit-a-Check Madness and not Mi-ta-sick Madness...but that was to be expected!

We made it - from the Mississippi to the Ohio River - 80 miles - in a running relay.  And had an absolute blast doing it! 

Congratualations team Mitacek Madness - we finished with just 14 minutes to spare!  And thank you to Aunt Linda for all your pre-race coordination help, accomodations at Lake of Egypt, and cheering us on!