Sinister 7 Team Relay - "You can expect to run from 12km to 30km on rugged trail, depending on which leg you chose. Each of the seven stages is different and you can see the descriptions of the legs here. Unless your team can complete the 146km course in 14 hours, you may also be running in the dark. Each leg is a little different and you should expect to be far out in the wilderness, at least for a short period of time. Although you are on a team, the help you receive on course is very limited."
From the Sinister 7 website
Our team, Team Fasttrax/B&B Demolition, defending champions, consists of:
David "The Legendary" Livingstone - Leg 1
Petra "Super Woman" Graen - Leg 2
AJ "Super Man" Rankel - Leg 3
Michael "Machine" McBeth - Leg 4
Glenn "Unstoppable" Mack - Leg 5
Steve "I Get Things Done" Baker (Team Lead) - Leg 6
Fat-Ass Armstrong - Leg 7
It's 7:00 a.m. David is at the start line and Petra is on the bus. The horn blows and David is off like a shot. Leg 1 is revised from last year and has newly added wicked downhill. David is strong and gives the team a great start.
Leg 2 - Petra heads on a 16 km, single track, ATV trail. Better her than me. Petra is an elite ultra-marathoner (actually national level) and is not to be messed with, anywhere, by anyone.
Leg 3 - AJ's up. The man is amazing. If you've never met him, you're missing out. 33K with a 1237 elevation gain. Truly the hardest leg of the race and AJ does it in a freakishly fast time.
Leg 4 - It's all about Michael "Machine" McBeth. 32K straight up and 30C. The heat is oppressive. Cheryl, Steve, and Michael's wife Dorothee catch up with Michael about half way into the run. Michael is in a zone; very focused.
Leg 5 - We are in a fierce battle for numero ono and the perfect runner is up to bat...Glenn Mack. 22.7K. This leg tries even the toughest of racers and Glenn gains 17 minutes on our competition. We are firmly in first place.
Leg 6 - Sure-footed Steve takes off. The heat is relentless. Cheryl overhears a volunteer on a radio saying "the first place team runner is a couple km away and is coming fast". That's Steve!
Leg 7 - Oh god, here I go again. I manage to run the entire climb (as opposed to last year) and survive the equally nasty, nasty downhill. The rest of the run into town in uneventful except for the %^&* headwind I have to fight. My team meets me near the finish line and, like last year, all run in together. Man, I am glad that's over! I realize I'm feeling the effects of Canada Day (run three days before). Not too bright!
We win by 7 or 8 minutes. Hats off to the second place, 3 man, team consisting of Robin Bloom, Gary Poqolin, and Greg Mieklejohn (sorry for the misspelled names)!
The evening ends with pizza, Prosecco, and tunes compliments of the Mack family. I fall asleep thankful I'm not a soloist running through the night. They're crazy....right Jack? Tracy?
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