Race Report: Tuna Run 200 Relay
The Tuna Run 200 is a 203.9 mile relay race running from Raleigh to Atlantic Beach, NC. The race is split up into 36 legs of 2-10 miles each and teams consist of up to 12 runners. This is my second year running the race. My team, "Tuna Gives Me the Runs", was a bit short with 11 runners, but that was a significant improvement over last year when we only had 9.5 (one limited by injury). That made this year’s mileage totals a bit more manageable and I was "on the hook" for ~17.7 miles when we started.
Last year, I was impressed with the race organization and on course support and this year was no different. For a 200+ mile race running through multiple counties and rural towns, course set up was a monstrous task. The route was very well marked with signage to both indicate the route to the runners and alert drivers to the presence of runners on the roads. Every turn was clearly marked with signage and at night the turn signs had strobes to ensure they weren't missed. In addition, the race handed out temporary tattoos with route details for each leg.
The exchange points between the legs were all well stocked with bathrooms and space to park and nap. The churches used as exchange points were very welcoming, as well, offering everything from free meals to bonfires to the opportunity to stretch out and nap on pews. We felt welcomed and supported throughout the course.
In order to give teams the best chance to finish before the course close and after party, starts were staggered for the race. As one of the slower teams, we were in the 5:45am starting wave Friday morning. My first leg (#10/36) was a relatively short 4.3 miler at 2:00 on Friday afternoon. It was starting to warm up in the sun by that point, but at 68deg it was significantly cooler than last year’s race and WAY cooler than the summer temps I’ve been training in. Pacing was a big question mark going into the race. I had no idea how I was going to feel after Chicago two weeks ago and I was planning for a conservative 10-11min/mile pace. When things started, though, I felt good and settled into a much faster pace (8:36/mi) than I was expecting and cruised through to the next exchange point. At the exchange points you handed the "baton", one of those flexible reflective wraps, to the next runner and the race officials logged the exchange time.
After that, it was a pretty short wait until my next leg at 5:15. It was slightly warmer for this run and I felt the effect of pushing the pace in the first leg through the 7.4 miles of Leg #14/36 at a 9:32/mi clip. In the previous year’s race, we pretty much went exchange point to exchange point as a full team and rest opportunities were at a premium. We learned from that mistake and this year our two vehicles had dedicated occupants and legs were grouped by vehicle. After a couple more legs, ending at a church with a bonfire and big potluck spread, we were done for the day and drove on ahead to our morning start and got a solid-ish night’s sleep in the van.
Saturday morning our legs kicked off again around 7:30am with Leg#30. I wasn’t scheduled to run again until Leg#33. Our runner for Leg#31 wasn’t feeling great heading out for a long 8.4 miler, so we drove out to roughly the halfway point to wait for her and I got ready, just in case. As we passed her on the way out, things didn’t look so good and sure enough, as she found us mid-Leg she gave the cut sign and I took off to finish the last 4.5 miles of the leg. Things still felt pretty good and I knocked it out at 9:24/mi.
The down side of hitting that substitute leg hard was that it was less than a 90 minute turnaround to my final scheduled 5.9 mile Leg#33. I took the baton and immediately felt the effects of the previous day’s paces and pushing it on the substitute leg. I probably hadn’t eaten enough that morning, either. My legs were dead and I fought to hold onto what I could until the end, bringing it in at 10:26/mi. With the addition of the substitute leg, I ended up leading the team in mileage at 22.1 miles.
We closed out the last couple of legs to finish the 203.9 Miles somewhere in the neighborhood of 31:45. That’s a huge improvement over our time of 34:57 from last year! Beer, barbecue and tuna sashimi on the beach for all at the finish!
We'll find out a bit later where we finished overall, but this is a run for the experience. I cannot recommend this race highly enough as an experience. I hope to run it again in the future. I'm a solo runner by nature and this race gives me a great feeling of being part of something bigger. A true collective effort. The camaraderie and mutual support is fantastic!
Thank you for reading this far, if you're still with me! Especially if you read it all last year, too! I know it's a long post, but I did have 203.9 miles to cover. This race once again goes down as one of my best running experiences and I hope everyone gets to try something like it some day.
