Confessions of an Ultra Marathoner

Last week at this time I just completed running 242Km or 150 miles from the Dead Sea to the Red Sea. A feat that could not have been completed without the amazing strength and endurance of my 9 other teammates. It was one of the longest, hardest things I've ever done, but I did it and was able to smile at the end of it.

Team dynamics with 10 people can either go really well or really bad, but with no sleep, aching bodies, and crowded quarters, the dynamics are mostly likely not gonna be pretty. But team "Bad Idea" surprised me in more ways then one, and that was the amazing team spirit that we built before, during, and even after-cannot WAIT for the afterparty!!

In the beginning, while signing up with the team, I knew I just had to do my part and we'd get through it. I admit selfishness in this thought and can say I was unprepared for what I had really signed up for. And so I give you my journey from a team of "one" to to a team of "ten":

We were divided into two vans, and before long, division unfortunately started to occur as one van did things their way and we did things our way. By midnight and after 8 hours of running, I started to sense a competition between the two vans. Whether it existed or not, is not the point, the fact was that now my team of "one" had turned into a team of "five" as our van began to bond. It was my vans second 3 hour slot to run. I think it was around 1am at this point. In our first 3 hour slot we ran 10 minutes each. In order to finish the race in time we had to keep up a 6 minute K or a 10 min mile. A doable pace, but at hour 10 without sleep, it's a lot easier said than done. We decided to do 10 minute slots again, and so my first breakdown. I was about at minute 3 thinking I have to be at minute 7. Suddenly the van's lights flashed, telling me I had reached my halfway mark. My heart sunk..I could not run 5 more minutes. I just couldn't! My body hurt, the road bended uphill, and I was tired! For those last 5 minutes I fought long and hard with myself, knowing I needed to tell my team, but pride and an unwillingness to let my team down kept me silent. Finally, I handed the baton over and crashed into the back of the van. Yelling as I landed...I CANT DO 10 MINUTES! I further justified that confession with-"I can do 10 minutes, but not at the pace we need". My team listened and dropped it down to a more doable 8 minutes. Team of 5.

At the end of this 3 hour slot we got a call from the other van saying one of our teammates was dehydrated and they were currently dealing with drama from the ambulance. I didn't catch the whole story as I was out running at this point. We caught up to them, maybe asked if she was ok? and told them we'll see them 20K down the road. In retrospect another confession: I am ashamed that we left our team like that. One person down, with only 4 good runners, without even offering a person over to them. If I was to redo the race, I would have stayed, run with them, at least for a little bit. But at 5am, sleep deprivation causes one to do things they normally wouldn't do, and even that is a measly excuse. We parked 20 K down the road and awaited our team, snuggling into our van in hopes of getting a few minutes rest. I was so close to sleep when our phone rang. It was the other van asking if we could come back and help them. Confession: my first thought was. "Seriously? I did my part, why could they not do theirs?" Then I was reminded of my own pride that had to fall in order to ask for help, and knew this phone call hadn't been easy for them to make. As we all struggled to awaken our stiff bodies, groaning, my friend on the phone next to me said. "Guys, they are really struggling, they need our help". Team of 5 to team of 10. Something switched with that phone call and our van of 5 knew that we had to go back and help our other half.

We put our shoes on and drove back 10K to help them finish up their last 5K and took over for them, letting them get some much needed rest. My friend Sarah even pushed past her dehydration and got back into running. As soon as we saw her climb out of the van to catch the baton our whole van let up a huge cheer of surprise! We were so awed by her strength and so proud of her!

It was 8am and the sun still hadn't warmed the cold desert sand yet. For the rest of the time-7 more hours to be exact we each did 1/2K rotations to gain speed and distance. This is when team "Bad Idea" became a team of sheer determination, will-power, strength, and beauty. We knew we had 7 more hours to go, but we were in this together, and we were in it to FINISH it. I can only hope our ambulance friends and police escorts were influenced by the amount of feminine strength that radiated out of our vans. Team members who had joined last minute were running faster than they had in the beginning. Those of us with hurt hips, knees, and feet were pushing through the pain and lack of sleep wall to keep up what we needed to do for the good of the team. We had to SHOW UP. Despite my falling eyelids and sore muscles, I knew I HAD to get out of the van when it was my turn, arm outstretched for the baton. We encouraged. We shouted. We groaned in pain. We danced to our songs. We ran 1/2Ks under 3 minutes. We crossed that finish line all 10 us together with the entire town of Aqaba-well so it seemed- mostly just our friends who woke up to greet us- shouting, honking and welcoming us.

I started that race as a lone individual thinking what a fun experience it would be. I ended 23 hours later, with a new appreciation for what can be accomplished with teamwork, knowing I could not have crossed the finish line without the 9 other beautiful ladies who ran with me.

Thank you for a most beautiful experience ladies.

The dinner on Movenpick at the end was completely worth the run.

The views were amazing-sunset over the Dead Sea

It got REALLY dark. This was my view for the majority of the race. Dark road..lots of stars..pure silence. Amazing.

Yes, we are in the desert in case you had doubts.

Yes. Gotta love my running skills.

Love you ladies!