At 10:00 AM
RWS began to arrive at
"g's" home.
They were RTB bound!

Part 3: RWS - Ready To Rock!

After months of preparation, RWS were on the move - finally! At 10:00 AM the team assembled at "g's" home. Coffee and doughnuts awaited the early birds. Soon, two massive, 12-passenger vans pulled into the driveway. The first order of business? Decorate and brand the vans with RWS and RTB slogans! By 11:30 AM, RWS were on the road to Littleton's (NH) Hampton Inn (ETA: 4:00 PM) and then to register the team at RTB headquarters at Brenton Woods Ski area (ETA: 5:30 PM). And, yes... there was also the RTB BBQ later that night!

			With the vans ready to rock, RWS headed north, stopped off in Rutland (VT) for lunch and arrived at Hampton Inn ~ 4:30 PM.

When RWS arrived at Breton Woods Ski Resort (NH), van loads of relay teams were already filtering into the parking lots. Although there had been 3 team training runs leading up to RTB, the team registration at Breton Woods was the first time the entire team had been together. Long Shots (AKA Bill), who drove to NH with his wife to attend NASCAR racing on Sunday, joined the team for a quick "howdy" before retiring for the night; he'd be back the following morning at 7:45 AM ready to rock. On race day, there was the official team pictures at 8:00 AM and a start time of 9:20 AM. Long Shots would be running Leg #1 - the 3.1 mile run up/down the Breton Wood ski trail.

As team captain, "g" brought the required check-in gear and paraphernalia to the registration desk at the ski resort: 2 manuals (one for each van) with copies of the race course, course narratives, and RTB Handbook, two reflective vests for night time running, two sets of blinky lights for the vests, and two headlamps. TWO HEADLAMPS?! "g" had left them both back at the hotel - 35 minutes away! Panic! And... to the rescue? Elaine and Meg... for some reason, they had left their headlamps in Van #2. (Whew. The process continued!)

The indoor BBQ was good; the free Sam Adams was great!. Having dinner together was super! RWS started to become RWS, especially when Maureen quietly circulated to the hundreds of dining runners that we were about to sing Happy Birthday to Meg! When we started the jingle, everyone chimed in! It was cool. Very cool.

An unsuspecting Meg (gray top) becomes pleasantly embarrassed by the banquet version of Happy Birthday.	Seated across from Meg is her husband, Jim. He would be| the non-runner and designated driver for Van #2.	A time for mixing.

It was a long day. Marathon Jeannie had traveled from VA the night before and spent the night at "g's" place. "g" was up at 5:30 AM packing coolers and tending to the many "final" details of the trip. Kris, 18-Wheeler Steph, Driver Jim, Boston Jim, Mo and Natalia had met at the Albany airport at 9:00 AM to pick up the team's vans. For others, it was simply a nerve wracking day packing gear, anxiously awaiting race day, and traveling the northeast with folks they may or may not have met before. But, the day went very well. By 10:00 PM RWS were back at the hotel for a brief team meeting, and the dispensing of team race numbers and event T-shirts. It had been a long day. It was time for bed.