last weekly update with some important info

It's ONE WEEK from today!! Woohoo!

I hope everyone is looking forward to it as much as I am.

I ran 6miles today. Oh man it was hard. But I made it. It will be so much easier next week with all the excitement that is to be had on raceday.

Does anyone have any questions? I will try to impart as much knowledge of the weekend here as I can, but I'm sure I'll leave some stuff out. You can check here for some general race FAQs.

Right now the forecast for Sunday is looking good, if not a little warm for my taste. Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 70. The website reports Average temperature for May 25 8a.m.: 50 degrees, Noon: 72 degrees, so we're looking at an average day. For now anyway. As we know these things can change in a heartbeat. We'll have to keep looking all week.

Someone asked about ipods or the like while running. The official word is that they are not allowed. But everyone uses them. I think we all had them last year. There are so many people that it's impossible for them to police it.

For those of us going up to Grand Isle; would you rather we each bring our own food or organize a dinner for the group? Right now it appears that it will be Becky, Matt, me, our 4 kids, Tara, Keith and Elise (Tara's husband and little girl) going up. That's a total of 10 adults and 7 kids (including the ones staying at Grand Isle).

There is an expo at the Sheraton on Saturday. It's fun to go and look around. Here are the hours:
Sheraton Conference Center at the Sports & Fitness Expo
Friday, May 23, 4 – 8 p.m.
Saturday, May 24, 9 a.m. – 7 p.m.

and map to the Sheraton

So here are our specifics for the weekend, listed by person:

Tim: will be camping at Grand Isle. I believe they will be up there sometime in the early afternoon on Saturday (please correct me if I'm wrong) He will be running the first leg so will need to get the yellow wristband from Tara on Saturday. His run starts at 8am.

Britt: see Tim. She is running the 4th leg on my team. Britt, you'll need to take a bus back from the end of your leg to downtown. Ingrid will also be running that leg and will also need to be bused back. The spreadsheet estimates that Ingrid will finish her leg about 1/2 hour before you do so you'll have to discuss what you might want to do, wait or meet back at the finish.

Ingrid: see Tim and Britt. Ingrid is running the 4th leg on Tara's team.

Karen: is running the first leg on my team. She and Kara will be staying near Stowe and will arrive late on Saturday. We wont' be able to meet up with them in all likelihood until race day. The plan is to get the wristband and bibs to them Sunday morning. I plan on being at the start early so I can see everyone. So hopefully this won't cause a problem.

Kara: is running the 2nd leg of my team. See Karen above.

Jill: is running the 2nd leg of Tara's team. She and her family are staying at Grand Isle. I believe they will arrive Friday night. Is this right?

Tara: is running the last (glory) leg of her team. She is staying at the Hawthorn Suites on Dorset St. in Burlington. Tara, when will you arrive? She, like myself, HAVE to go to the expo to pick up bibs, the wristband and the chip. She needs to wear the chip so she doesn't need to give it to anyone. That makes things a little easier. Tara will need to take a bus to the start of her leg. I believe the info that we receive at the expo will detail when and where you need to catch the bus.

Becky: is running the last (glory) leg on my team. She is also staying at the Hawthorn Suites in the same suite with Matt and I. That will make it easy to give her the chip. Becky also needs to ride the bus. See Tara above.

Me: I'm running the 3rd leg. Becky, Matt and I will be arriving sometime in the early afternoon on Saturday. We're carpooling. We'll rendez-vous with Tara when we get there then convoy up to Grand Isle.

M@: is running the 3rd leg on Tara's team.

I don't want to make this email any longer. It's already taken me a half hour to write! If anyone has any questions please ask.

Have a good week! It's going to be a soggy one.

suzy