Once the initial e-mail effort to recruit runners for "g's" 12 person relay team hit the 3W, responses came back like lightening on an umbrella. He received messages like: Are you kidding?; Yes! Absolutely YES; and, Therapist heel thy self!

The Reach the Beach Relay (RTB) is a 210 mile race. It begins in Bretton Wood ski area in northern New Hampshire and ends at the Atlantic in Hampton Beach. There are 36 legs, ranging from 3.1 to 8.9 miles. Each runner runs approximately 17.5 miles over the course of 3 legs.

The RTB is limited to 300 teams - last year there were 285. Once a team's captain registers his/her team and pays the registration fee, individual runners on that team register and declare (based on half marathon times) their anticipated average pace per mile for their 3-legs. Teams who self-report a collective average pace per mile of 10-minutes (or slower) will not be allowed to compete. Teams who "sandbag" their times (and pull way ahead of their projected times) can be held back at a transition point for up to a half an hour in an effort to keep the race fair. Teams who fall too far behind in the race because of over-reporting their average pace per mile, injury, etc., can be taxied up a few stages to keep them in the race.

Below are two tables that represent the mileage of each leg and the legs/mileage for each running position on a 12-person relay team.

Table #1: 36-legs of the RTB and Corresponding Mileage

Table 2: Running Position on a 12-person Relay Team and Corresponding Legs/Miles

Since his early commitment to the race, "g" had become smitten with RTB-drive. He became the student of RTB charts, diagrams and web site blogs. For companionship, he downloaded the 3-minute 2005 RTB video on his daughter's I-Pod Video MP-3 Player to watch race highlights... over and over again!. Man-o-man, "g" had it bad! Real bad. He was becoming RTB Relay!

Yes. "g" was hungry for RTB like the warm scent on freshly baked bread. He was in! However... he still had one-little-detail to close... getting a complete, 12-person roster to register for the race! So far, he had recruited the likes of Marathon Jeannie, Long Shots, Iron Al, Tony the Compass and 50 5K-Gal! But, at the close of January '06, he was still short 3 female runners to form a MIXED relay team.

Will "g" develop sleep apnea over this problem? Will he break out in huge, anxiety-triggered purple-blotchy-hives from head to toe like he did when registering for the Marine Corps Marathon last year? Will he be too anxious to sit still and be stuck with a half-inked tattoo of the 2006 RTB-Relay logo on his chest? Folks... stay tuned as "g" and the Runners with Sole head towards the running adventure of their life!