We made it!

Sorry for the tardy report but there was the rental van return and a sleep record attempt.

I'll leave it to others to offer details of the glorious finish but it does appear we improved on our times of 2005 and 2006 though for me the important thing was that we arrived early enough that there were more than just vegetarian Subway sandwiches. THREE varieties were still available.

One more thing: if anyone has been so desperate for news that they've been trying to phone me, it hasn't been just the dead sleep that has prevented you from reaching me. My phone was the "runner phone", carried by sweaty hand from Madison to Chicago, and though it showed clears signs of life through much of the journey (rings and voice mail beeps), riding in Randy's fanny pack was the end. It showed a flashing blue screen and the faint sound of a child's fire truck (that truck needs new batteries; the phone was drowning). I removed the battery and I'm hoping with a good rest, it will recover.

I have the same thought for myself. I forgot how difficult it was to get from there to here. Have to get busy forgetting again so it can seem like a REALLY GREAT IDEA again.

(Photo is of the team prior to the start in Madison: left to right - Eric, Renee, Mark, Anne, Marc, Jeff, Art, Pete, Randy, Denise, Dave. I'll put a few more pictures up on the right-side of the blog; stand by for the annual photo book!).

Last leg

Randy is on the course for the closing 9 miler. Our estimate of a finish
at approximately 1:30 is looking good!

Hot and breezy.

Van 2 reflecting on cheerfulness of Van 1

Mark's van is a few run legs (and perhaps 2 1/2 hours) away from us and
seemingly a million times less grumpy than this cranky Rank Stranger.
Perhaps our visit to the fabled Zion breakfast spot will help.

What am I sore about? Randy, Dave and I are covering the extra miles that
would have been a 12th runner's, and early this morning was my turn for
bonus miles. I ran 6.6 miles (finiishing at 12:21 AM) and then 4 miles -
handing off to Van #1 and Mark at 2:15. Again, after pancakes this may
start to seem like a good idea.....

Van 1 back on duty

Van one here again; we took over at about 2:15am; Mark, followed by Pete, who is out as I write this, with Anne on deck. Birds are starting to sing and the sky is lighting up in the east. Sunrise is about 30 minutes away! More importantly, breakfast is only about four hours away.

Dark

Marc is looking very sporty in headlamp and blinky vest.

Van 1 Checks In

Van 1 checking in here...we've just finished our second rotation and are heading to Racine to get a bit of sleep before heading out again at about 2:30. Everyone has done two legs except Renee who took an extra leg from Art--he's saving up for a marathon next weekend. Everybody's in good shape and looking forward to rotation 3.

Ham talk

Marc sized up the ham operator's rig at Root River Parkway: "Cushcraft 18
element horizontally polarized Yagi with about 27 dBi gain and he's up
about 30 feet. That's just the antenna, man.".

Mama Mia!

Van#2 has finished its first rotation and moved on to a much anticipated
dinner in Wales, WI.

It is likely that we pushed too hard through our first runs; we were very
keyed up after hours of waiting for our turns. We pick up again at about
9:30 - we'll know then whether we went out too fast!

Waiting for Dave...

When Dave hands off to me in a few minutes we will be 44 miles into the
race.

Van#2 into action for the first time

We are finished waiting. Marc is leading off with leg 7 from Lake Mills on
the Glacial Drumlin Trail (a crushed stone trail that runs 60 miles from
Madison to Milwaukee). We predicted a 1:38PM start for Marc AND GOT IT, so
after more than 4 and a half hours of running we are right on schedule.

Here is the Course Guide's description of running between us and dinner in
Wales, WI (ETA approximately 6PM):

Leg 7: 3.0 miles: Lake Mills to Hwy Q. Leg 7 leaves Lake Mills continuing
on the bike trail to Hwy Q.

Leg 8: 3.4 miles: Hwy Q to Jefferson. Runners continue on the GD trail to
Jefferson Junction bike trail lot. Course is open and scenic, crossing two
long wooden bridges on their way. TA 8 is located across Junction Road at
the east parking lot of the Mid State Auto Auctions.

Leg 9: 6.1 miles: Jefferson to Helenville. There are game farms located
to the right just after Coffee and Bakerstown roads. This section is tree
covered.

Leg 10 : 5.8 miles: Helenville to Sullivan. Leg 10 leaves Helenville on
the GD trail. The next transfer is in Sullivan.

Leg 11 : 5.7 miles: Sullivan to Dousman. Runners continue from Sullivan
to Dousman on the GD trail. TA 11 is located on the right hand side of the
trail across from the Bicycle Doctor.

Leg 12 : 6.6 miles: Dousman to Wales. Runners head east to Wales
continuing on the GD trail. TA 12 is located at the Trail Bike Depot off of
Main Street.

Weather, you wonder? Sunny and warming up.

Lunch for the loafers

More weather (can't stop myself!!): 64 degrees according to the Lake Mills,
WI BP station (regular gas $3.29). The Van#2 gang (still waiting their
turn for running action) has jumped ahead for lunch (the Subway is packed
with runners). We'll link back up with our pals at about 1:30PM when Marc
hits the Glacial Drumlin Trail.

2 legs down

Mark and Pete are in and Anne is on the course for her first run. Burly
clouds are blowing around but it isn't hot and there's no rain so there's a
lot for a runner to like. There - enough about the weather for a while.
Unless it rains.....or scorches....

We're under way

Mark started 5 minutes ago. Both vans are giving chase.

The blue sky that filled my hotel window at 6:30 is gone, but the breezy 55
degrees looks good for running.

Ready...Set...

Almost time -- Rank Strangers will assemble in an hour for introductions,
van packing, and breakfast.

There will be a moment of silence, a toast (coffee/water/juice), or some
other suitable salute Gina, held back by injury.

Chicagoans Eric, Marc, Renee, Randy, Denise and Dave rode up together last
night. They'll be joined by Anne (Chicago) and Mark, Pete, Jeff and Art of
Madison -- 11 runners for 192 miles.

Van#1 will run Mark, Pete, Anne, Art, Renee and Jeff, in that order.

Van#2: Marc, Denise, Dave, Eric, Randy.

It looks like we'll have good weather this morning - yesterday's big wind
not completely blown out but we have a blue sky. (Be prepared to hear a lot
about the weather!)

Mark will run the first leg. Here's the Course Guide's take on that: "Leg
1: 5.1 miles: Madison. The race begins at the Coliseum Bar in Madison,
heading north on the John Nolan bike path. Runners will follow the bike
path around Lake Monona, past Monona Terrace before heading east through
the Williamson Street neighborhood."

And then Pete. And then....for more than 27 hours of continuous fun. Our
best guess is a 1:20 PM finish tomorrow at Montrose Harbor in Chicago.
We'll see how that projection holds up (I mean, how well WE hold up!).

Rank Strangers tune up at Madison Marathon

Time for the pre-GMA taper? Not for Rank Stranger Jeff, who was on the course of the Madison Marathon on Sunday, May 27. Two weeks earlier Jeff tackled the 20 mile Syttende Mai Run. Sound nutty? He knows what he is going -- this was the 3-time Rank Stranger's tune-up routine in 2005 and 2006. Monique, a Rank Stranger from 2005, was another Madison finisher on Sunday.

'06 Stranger in the news

2006 Rank Stranger Ryan Lipscomb was in the news last week when a delivery truck ran over his head, leaving him only with a concussion and a mangled helmet.

The team has dedicated 2007 legs 12 and 13 to their comrade - wishing him a quick recovery and a good result in his UW exams.

"It feels really strange to have a truck run over your head," Ryan said. More at (and hundreds of other places) http://www.canada.com/topics/news/oddities/story.html?id=ee9584b4-658e-425d-b1e7-962502bb4149&k=89384

Photo: Jamie and Ryan at 2006 GMR

The AVON Foundation has designated the Chicago Abused Women Coalition ( http://www.cawc.org/) as its GMR Relay fundraising beneficiary for this year's event.

The CAWC mission statement: CAWC is committed to ending domestic violence. Using a self-help, empowerment approach, we provide a shelter for women and children, and counseling, advocacy, and a 24-hour hotline for people affected by domestic violence. We work for social change through education, service collaboration, and institutional advocacy.

Please join Rank Strangers in supporting this cause. It is easy to make a cash donation: select Give to Avon Foundation and follow directions to "Support Rank Strangers!"

The Great Midwest Relay is part of the Avon Foundation's series of relay races to bring awareness to the issue of domestic violence. Please join Rank Strangers in supporting this cause. It is easy to make a cash donation: select Give to Avon Foundation and follow directions to "Support Rank Strangers!"

This blog is for Rank Strangers third outing at the Great Midwest Relay, June 8-9, 2007. Please watch this space for reports during the 24+ hours of our trot from Madison to Milwaukee to Chicago.

We will have a great run but experience tells me we won't win the race. We will likely finish 6 or 7 hours behind the winners, who will be about 2 minutes per mile faster than the Rank Strangers. We certainly have accomplished runners -- 80+ marathons, a couple of Boston Marathon-qualifiers -- but our goal is to have fun, not just to burn up the trail.

We have 4 Rank Strangers who will be running their third GMR: Mark, Art, Jeff and Eric.

Pete and Randy will be running their second GMR.

Gina, Renee, Denise, Anne, Dave and Marc are first-timers with us, though Renee and Anne have run with teams in other events.

Last year we finished 39th out of 61 teams, 6 hours and 20 minutes behind the winning team. Our time was 28 hours and 12 minutes.

In 2005 we were almost an hour slower, 29 hours and 6 minutes, and finished 42nd out of 68. (8 hours and 24 minutes out of first).

Mark will start us off in Madison at 9am on Friday, June 8 and Randy will finish at Montrose Harbor in Chicago on Sunday afternoon, June 9. Each Stranger will run three times; everyone will get a chance to run in the dark (outfitted with blinky vest and headlamp) and the weather will either be blistering hot (as it was in 2005), cold and rainy (2006) or something in between.

This is fun, honest! I can't wait!

Finally, my co-captain Mark and I want to express our appreciation to family members who allow us to take Rank Strangers away from their homes for more than a day - it is big sacrifice.