My favorite running event so far — the 200-mile Bourbon Chase.
I started running when I was 15. A friend had an extra number for the Peachtree Road Race (the world’s largest 10K) and asked me a few days before the July 4th event in Atlanta (in case Peachtree didn’t give it away) to join him. Always willing to try something new, I gave it a go.
Over the years, I’ve run close to a hundred 5Ks, 10Ks and marathon relays and enjoyed nearly all of them (there seems to a direct correlation between training and enjoying race day. Go figure.). Someone asked me the other day which was my favorite. At the top of my list is the 200-mile Bourbon Chase relay. If you’re looking for a great team related event, you need to check this one out. Here’s an overview and some useful tips and templates you can use for just about any team related running event.
The Bourbon Chase 200-mile relay, now a Ragnar Relay, is typically in October each year and runs from the Jim Beam distillery near Louisville, Kentucky along the Bourbon Trail finishing in downtown Lexington. It runs through rolling hills and, of course, through many other distilleries including Maker’s Mark, Wild Turkey, Woodford Reserve and Four Roses. The countryside is spectacular!
The general concept
You and 11 others make up a team. The 200 miles is broken up into 36 legs. Each runner on the team has 3 legs. For example, if you’re runner 1, you have legs 1, 13 and 25. Each runner runs a combined total of anywhere from about 12 to 20 miles depending on which legs they have.
6 team members (runners 1-6) “live” in what’s referred to as Van 1 and the other 6 (runners 7-12) spend the two days in Van 2. While runners 1-6 (Van 1) are active, runners 7-12 (Van 2) get to lay low (e.g. eat, sleep, tour a distillery, play cards). Then, while Van 2 is active, Van 1 has a few hours to lay low.
Exchange points
There are 35 “exchange points” in addition to the starting line and finish line. These are the points where a runner transitions or hands-off to the next runner. For example, at the start of the event, runner 1 begins running. Van 1 drives to the first exchange point and gets runner 2 ready. They wait for runner 1 to arrive. Runner 1 arrives at the exchange point and runner 2 takes off running. Van 1 (with runner 1 now in the van) drives to the next exchange point…and so on. The last runner in each van (runners 6 and 12) will always transition to a runner in the other van (e.g. 6 to 7; and 12 to 1). These exchange points are called “major exchanges” because both vans 1 and 2 are at these exchange points. They’re especially fun because your full team is together at only these locations.
The night run!
I’ve led four Bourbon Chase teams over the last few years and the most anxiety new relay runners have is running in the middle of the night. Yes, each team member will run a leg in the dark sometime between 9pm on day 1 and 7am on day 2. The relay doesn’t stop just because it gets dark! When your team starts (let’s say at 12noon on Friday), you run until you’re finished (maybe 4pm on Saturday). Guess which run nearly everyone says is their favorite after the event? The night time run! There’s a stream of headlamps and belt lights for as far as you can see.
Here are my tips for preparing for and running a 200-mile relay:
- If you want to have a team, know how team’s are sold and the deadlines. For many, just head over to the Ragnar site and register your team (and pay the team fee which is typically $1,200-1,500). The Bourbon Chase, and a few others, sell out the day the go up for sale. In recent years, the Bourbon Chase has granted prior teams first rights, then had a lottery for the remaining team slots.
- If you’re the team captain and put up the money for the team, get your commitments (and $) from runners at least 5 months in advance!
- Have at least 2 alternate runners committed as well. If didn’t happen for me every year, but someone could get injured a week before the event or have a work emergency come up and have to drop.
- Have a pre-meeting 30 days out. Assign runners to each of the 12 spots so everyone knows what they’ll be expected to run (and so there’s some time left if someone needs to up their base).
- If you can find van drivers, take them.
- If you can’t find van drivers, don’t sweat it. Most years we didn’t. Just have the runner which just came in drive to the next exchange point. They’re awake and alert, so they can drive!
- Don’t worry about the night run! Trust me. You’ll enjoy it. Remember what that wise person told you about getting out of your comfort zone!
- Get 2-3 hours of sleep while your van is “off” during the night. Don’t worry about limited sleep. Your body and your energy level will be fine.
- Take newspaper to stuff in wet shoes if it rains.
And here are two useful templates for managing your team and tracking all of your times:
Team communications/newsletter template to share with your team and look like you’re the most organized captain out there. This four page template lets you easily add team member pictures, phone numbers, your team number, meeting locations and times, and more. Time Log and Calculator to manage both anticipated and actual times by leg including over/under (lots of formulas to make all runners and times easy to track).
Running Time Log and Calculator to manage both anticipated and actual times by leg including over/under (lots of formulas to make all runners and times easy to track).
Note: These templates were created on iPad using Pages and Numbers. So, the Pages and Numbers versions work best. Some of the formulas may not work as intended in Excel. My advice: load it up on your iPad and take it with you during the event to track times.
For more details on the Bourbon Chase, visit: www.bourbonchase.com.
For more details on other Ragnar Relays, visit: www.runragnar.com.
Enjoy!