Faster than a speeding toddler!  More powerful than a supermarket tantrum!  It’s Paula Radcliffe!  It’s Kara Goucher!  Noooooooo… it’s SUPERMOM!

Yesterday I ran in the Buffalo Marathon Relay with Team Fit4Mom!  (Informally nicknamed Team Supermom because we wore matching “Supermom” t-shirts.)  You may remember that signing up for this relay was one of my bold acts for January – I’m not the fastest runner out there and I normally shy away from group events because I’m worried I’ll let people down.  But I am trying to put myself out there more this year and committing to this race was one way for me to do that.

The Buffalo Marathon is a massive event in our city!  Of course, there are the truly hardcore marathoners who set out for 26.2 miles.  There’s also a half marathon, a 5K, and a relay event.  The relay teams field four runners; the first three legs are 10Ks (6.2 miles) and the anchor runs a 12K (7.4 miles).  I signed up with three of my Stroller Strides friends and was assigned to run leg #2.

The race started at 7:00 a.m., but since I was running the second leg I didn’t have to be there right away.  We headed out the door a little after 7:00, made it downtown by 7:25 and I was at my post, right after the 10K mark, waiting for hand-off around 7:35.  Our first runner was our fastest team member, so I wanted to make sure I was there waiting when she arrived.  While I waited I amused myself by taking selfies and pictures of my feet.

Let’s run!

Our leg 1 runner cruised up to the 10K mat around 7:56 or so (I think; I’d looked at my clock a few minutes before she arrived but had been keeping my eyes on the runners after that, so I’m estimating her arrival time).  She handed me the team belt with our timing chip and I set off on my run, buckling the belt as I went.

I think I lucked into the best leg of the relay, by far.  When I signed up for the team, I told them I’d run any of the 10K legs but would prefer not to run leg 1, just because I figured I’d be one of the slowest team members and I didn’t need start line crowds slowing me down even further.  My team asked if I’d be willing to run leg 2, and I said sure – not realizing until I looked at the map the day before that most of my leg was down by the waterfront.  That meant that, for the bulk of my run, I was treated to views like this:

And this:

I spy a lighthouse in the distance!  Seriously, how could anyone possibly complain about this route?  It was gorgeous and awesome.  I guess it can get rather windy on that part of the course, but Sunday’s weather was perfect for running – just a very light, refreshing breeze – and I had no trouble with the leg.

Spectator support was great on this part of the course, which surprised me a bit because I thought it would be fairly difficult for people to park down there due to the road closures.  I wasn’t really expecting to see many spectators at all, and I was thrilled to discover that most of my route was lined with people – volunteers and folks waiting for their runners to come by.  There was even a band!  As I ran I got plenty of cheers – “Looking good, Supermom!  Way to go, Supermom!” – that turned my big smile even bigger.  I kept an eye open for my aunt and uncle, because my cousin and her fiancé were running the full marathon, but didn’t see them.  (I spotted them after I’d finished and they said they had been at mile 6 – before I took off – and mile 14 – after I finished.)  But I saw plenty of other people and gave out high-fives to all of the kids and to the world’s cutest golden retriever puppy.  Basically, I was grinning my face off the entire time.

After we left the waterfront we headed down near First Niagara Center.  The last time I ran through this little alleyway was in the Freezer 5K.  It was a lot colder, and the roads were covered in snow and ice.  Today was way more fun.

Go Sabres!  I snapped a quick picture of the arena as I ran by, but I knew I was getting close to my finish line (the hand-off to runner #3) and I was cruising.

Mile 12!  I had to get a picture of the last mile marker of the course (for me).  My hand-off point was coming up fast at mile 12.4.

Approaching my finish line – see the huge crowd under the bridge?  That was 20K, the hand-off point for leg 3.  I started to worry that I wouldn’t find my teammate in the crowds, but as I cruised up I spotted a tall red-headed guy, who I thought (incorrectly) was my teammate’s husband.  Her husband is tall and red-headed, but he was running the relay with the dads’ team and had left about fifteen minutes before I arrived.  But I didn’t find this out until later, because my teammate was standing right next to random husband lookalike dude.  She reached out her arm, I passed her the belt, and she was off.

I got out of the way as quickly as possible and took out my phone to call hubby and let him know I was done.  I had a feeling I had finished more quickly than I’d expected, but I was shocked when I saw that it was just after 9:00.  My secret “don’t embarrass the team” goal had been to run under 11:00 per mile and I wasn’t totally confident I could pull it off.  With race-day adrenaline I knew I was running faster than usual but I had forgotten my Garmin at home, so I had no idea what my pace was.  You can probably picture my amazement when I quickly calculated that I was running just off 10:00 – that’s a pretty good pace for me and my fastest 10K by far, even without an official time.  Woo-HOO!

I finished so quickly that hubby, Peanut and my mom hadn’t even found their way to the 20K to see me hand-off to my teammate.  We reunited about a block away from the hand-off point and set off to kill some time while my final two teammates ran their legs.  We headed first for the car to pick up my water bottle, then we alternated between playing in the various green spaces, wandering around the city and cheering on the runners.  Peanut spent a good chunk of time playing in this little square in front of City Hall and cheering on the full marathoners as they approached mile 26.  (As one woman ran by, Peanut shouted “Good finish!”  I die.)  We spotted my aunt and uncle near the finish line and hung with them for awhile, before one of my teammates texted me that our anchor runner was on the course.  I headed over to meet up with the rest of my team and we waited to cheer our runner on for her final mile, then all headed to meet her at the finish.

Go Supermoms go!  Final time: 4:45:11, for a team pace of 10:53/mile.  So proud of us!

I can’t end this post without saying a few words about how much these ladies have meant to me.  When we moved here, we knew very few people in town other than my in-laws.  Aside from a sorority sister who lives in the ‘burbs, I had no Buffalo friends.  It’s not always easy for me to reach out, and the Stroller Mamas provided my first community here.  They gave Peanut and me a reason to get out of the house at least once every week throughout the long, frigid winter months.  They cheered me through laps around Glen Park, hundreds upon hundreds of squats at the mall, an epic 10-minute wall sit, and more burpees than I want to think about.  They consoled me when I didn’t get a job, had a bad week, or was plain old lonely.  They were unreservedly thrilled for me when I got a job and went back to work.  I made a new year’s resolution to attend Stroller Strides classes because I wanted to get back into workouts, but this group has been so much more than just “mommy and me” group fitness classes for me.  They’ve been a lifeline and a community when I had none.  Thanks, mamas – I’ll see you in class next weekend!

Anyone else running strong in a superhero shirt this weekend?