Didn't get enough Relay pictures?

Here's some more pictures of team Sirens adventures during the 2007 Relay:

• Sara M.'s pictures (Van1)
• Sara C.'s pictures (Van2)
• My pictures (Van2)

And some videos:

• Relay 07 Sirens Van2 leaving Santa Cruz: Chit chatting in the van before heading up towards Calistoga -- just before Audrey breaks into her house.
• Relay 07 Sirens prerace prep: Each van getting ready for the start of the race
• Relay 07 Sirens Announcing Teams: Announcing Sirens teams at the start.
• Relay 07 Sirens the start: Heather starting off the relay for our team.
• Relay 07 Sirens eating breakfast: Lara's daughter stealing Lori B.'s pancakes at breakfast after our finishing our second legs.

Not thinking but still breathing

So, where have we been? (for those of you who aren't actually following along)? We have been running, not sleeping, and trying not to throw up (we are going to name ourselves the Queasy Queens next year) - However, Van 1 has finished their last leg and Van 2 is on their way to Santa Cruz (should arrive around 6:30pm ish - if anyone wants to come out and cheer us on!) Everyone is doing well and finishing strong!

Claire and Krista warm up - So beautiful and very HILLY! Can we say 15 minute miles?

Heather bonds with Hey You (Bart Simpson's mentor)

Kathy & Krista - Kathy's done with her last leg - YAY!

Kathy finishes her last leg - Audrey warms up with her before her leg - ITS HOT OUT!

Oh wow - that's cold!

Audrey is getting ready for her run & its hot out - best advise: as little clothes as possible! Heather applies sunscreen on to Audrey so she doesn't burn!

Heather finishing her legs - she is HAPPY!

Sara Takes Control - where is Heather? Oh, she's running!

Yahooooooooooooo!

We love the Yahoo team! They even gave Claire, Heather and Audrey a ride! GO YAHOO!

Running at night

Leg 2 time for Van 1 - running at night - well it was quite an experience running at night... couldn't get many good photos but most of runners felt strong and great running at night (except some of us - Audrey really didn't like it).

Summary of our night runs (7:53pm to 2am):

• Heather almost got run over by a semi-truck (there was no shoulder to that country road!) but felt great anyway


• Heather met a Hispanic family fishing in the lake at night -ummm....she plans on running with pepperspray next year


• Kathy picked up her pace at night and entertained herself during her run by thinking about the Texas Chainsaw Massacre and the bull frogs were her serenade!


• Audrey became the Naked IPOD Runner


• Sara had a lot of turns at night, went through a cute town (at least what she could see of it), oh, and her flashlight broke, though she didn't get lost


• Krista was the Strob Light Runner - she got lost, freaked out a little bit, but found her way


• Claire became the Prison Gate Runner over the Golden Gate and even made time to go to the bathroom - off the bridge? I am glad we couldn't get that photo! Heather, Audrey, Krista, and Kathy were planning to run accross the bridge with her but the cops stopped us from entering... bummer! Claire's run was beautiful and this was her strongest one yet!

Disorientated Audrey

Conversation in car:

Audrey: Where is Kathy?

Van: She is running.

Audrey: Where is she going? (seriously)

PS Audrey was a little disorientated

Lori finishes her first leg and Van 1 took off on their second leg at night

Good thing it wasn’t as hard as I expected

My first and hardest leg was 7.1 miles thru Petaluma. The first three and a half miles were thru city streets but were all basically flat. A couple stop-light breaks, but overall a nice steady pace. A little draw bridge & barge reminded me of how crew was my first introduction to running. The whole way thru the city I was dreading the change to uphill at 3.5 miles.

As the scenery changed from pavement and houses to a curvy road and rolling meadows, the grade began to increase. Would it increase further at the next turn? Fortunately, the steepness was constant once it started. I only need to make it to the crest at the 5 mile mark.

Two miles down hill, but at every turn I was leery that it there was a hidden increase in steepness. At one point I saw a van stopped and I was just hopping that it was the exchange, even though I knew that it wasn’t. Since I had some extra energy, I speed up to a quicker sustainable pace and when I made the final turn I sprinted to the exchange and handed it off to Lori.

One down two more to go.

Socialization time - AND WE FOUND OUR TWO ITALIANS

Claire and Audrey went out socializing and Heather came along to chaperone at our rest point (we have about a 6 hour rest time!). Though our reactions were not always positive, we have good intentions and had many laughs! Claire and Audrey were curious about all teams and where they we from and their decorations (Gary calls it “stalking”). Some were not very friendly and didn’t appreciate our very weird sense of humor. However, we were touched by monkeys and offered a pasta dinner from five fire fighters and even asked to accompany one rather good looking fellow on his run! In addition, we found our TWO ITALIANS on site (the Yogathletics team)! We also were offered free gear from Mountain Hardware! Many of them commented on our slow pace . . . here is how one conversation went: Our question: What time did you start? Their response: 2pm Their question: What time did you start? Our response: 7:30am Their response: Oh wow... you must be slow

What's happening with Van2?? Where are you?

How are our drivers doing?

Well, Gary is doing well - he is hanging in there - he loves his naps, has become very fond of the backup noise of the van, and even has become a pro at making illegal U-turns! And he even serves us Lemonaide!

How is Lori doing? Well, pictures speak louder than words! But we have yet to hear from van 2 - they are running strong, I'm sure!

Slow and steady took the pace!

Report from Lori B. on her first leg:

Give me a vineyard, some cows a lizard and a lake and the start of my run was awesome! I was tempted to stop and pet some cows as I ran through their pasture but knew my time would slow my team as it was so I passed up that opportunity. Laughing to myself wondering if this was it for me..........”woman trampled by cows”. So in my blissful start I followed two runners who look like they knew more than me and then by the grace of god I heard someone hollering at me and we were going the wrong way so after I turned around and got back on track, slow and steady took the pace! First time runner 7.4 miles kicks Bare Butt!

Claire is coming in and handing off to van 2 - they are amped and ready to go!

The Road Kill Report from Sara M.

One pigeon No Head
Three Butterflies
A snake skin carcus
Two smashed lizards
Something unrecognization but it was furry, and, yes, dead
One shiny black beatle missing three legs
No photos
I was running

Sara passes the baton - Off Krista goes (our fastest runner!!!)

Sara gets a water from her van at the half way point - she is going strong - AND IT'S HOT

OMG guess what happened on my run??? Audrey is awake now!

Sara has the longest run of this set - off she goes . . .

Heather is napping and still keeping track!

Here comes Audrey - is Sara ready?

This was the 6th runner Audrey Passed - Yahoo~ great timing!

Get the GPS ready - here comes Kathy!

Moderate… the new hard

Report from Sara C. on her first leg:

I ran the first leg for van 2. It was 6.9 miles from Napa (I passed the premium outlets near the start) to somewhere in Carneros. It was rated as moderate, but I thought it should have been rated as hard. It was hot (about 73 degrees), very bright, and there was a gnarly headwind. Although the wind helped with the heat, it made running harder and slower. I finished with about a 9 minute average, and was glad to be done with my first leg. Yay! I’m angling to go to a running store somewhere near here to replace my running shoes, which I think are shot (even though they are only 1 month old)! Looking forward to running at night when it’s cooler! :)

How much caffeine does Audrey need?

With being woken up at 4am by her lovely "roommate" Audrey was quite tired and needed to wake up.... here comes Kathy, gotta be ready for that run!

Kathy Finishes Strong!

Our first handoff ---- Go Kathy Go!

Kathy waits in the vineyard for Heather to arrive

Heather stretches and leads the way . . .

We arrived early at 6:30am to register our vans and get on the way. We were looking forward to an nice Expo – maybe buy some Sports Beans at a deal – to our surprise, there wasn’t much of an “Expo” at all – however, there was plenty of time for Heather to stretch!

Then the “Siren” went off (or the man shouting to start… not exactly the most “professional” of races) . . . and Heather leads the way to Santa Cruz . . .

Get Start, Get Ready, Go . . .

Group photo at the starting line ---- we look fresh now....

Oh and we had a good talk about the Rules from our friend Buff (did he just come out of prison??) His advice to us was "Stand Tall and Don't bend Over!" . . . Who told him that before???

We are glad Buff isn't riding with us!

Getting Started Nice and Early - Out by 5:30am!

Enjoying Dinner! Or at least . . . seriously eating!

We aren't in Santa Cruz Anymore!

Welcome to Cloverdale - the land of milk, cows, and potholes! After driving 4 hours, we arrived at KOA campgrounds and went to explore the town, only to find markets with expired food, houses transformed into gas stations, and town folk who are more lost than us! However, with only one real street in the town, we did find a italian restaurant ran by Mexicans with the name "With Pleasure". We were served with excellent food and Lori C. was even offered "Two Italians" - luckily her husband is home! However, due to a miscommunication after dinner, one cabin at the KOA was left without keys and another breaking and entering attempt was made. But without Sara C. to break in, they had no luck!

And the adventure continues . . .

Gas Station Man - does he live here? He doesn't know much! Oh, the comedy of Cloverdale!

So we went to a house down the street to get gas in Cloverdale . . . and were looking for a place to eat... given that there is only really one road in town... you would think the man would know... but he had to get out the phone book! Oh, the town folk of Cloverdale!