Love is in the Air; Feet are on the Ground

I’m a bit behind in posting blogs – this one is about a race that occurred about 3 weeks ago.  The race was short, and my blog will also be short.

Valentine’s Day for a running couple often involves a run together.  Let’s face it, people in love don’t mind getting a bit sweaty around each other, and a good workout increases endorphins, which enhances…but I digress.

The Fine Valentine Couple’s Relay was a low-budget, high-fun event held on the University of Arizona campus.  This year it was a morning event, two days before Valentine’s Day.  The first member of each relay team started, along with some runners who were racing the entire route.  I ran the relay with my wife, Pam, while my son, Jason, ran the full course.  The start was just inside the main gate on University Blvd:

The course consisted of two loops around campus, including some ramp climbs.  At the halfway point, relay runners had to show “signs of affection” and hand over a candy bracelet, which made for some really fun mid-race activity!  Here is a picture of my friends Jeff and Dianne in the relay transition area:

And here’s one of Pam and I in the transition, notice I wore red for Valentine’s!

Jason ran a nice fast pace, here he is after completing the first lap:

The final stretch was a slight downhill which felt pretty good.  It turned out that the course was considerably shorter than the advertised 4 miles, but I don’t think anyone really got too upset about that.

Pam and I finished first place in the “Married > 10 Years” category.  Other relay categories included Combined Age groups and Parent/Child teams.  This made for some challenging results-figuring by the timing team but the runners all enjoyed hanging out for a while after the race while the results were being compiled.  We won this nice picture frame:

This race has been around for a while, but has undergone significant changes from year to year.  It’s small and very fun, so I hope to see it continue!