Shredding the Sawtooths
Adam signed up to run the Sawtooth Relay last year. The event takes place, as the name implies, in the Sawtooth Mountains, and while the scenery is breathtakingly picturesque, it's a pretty strenuous race. Six competitors split the 61.9 miles, each running two legs that total about ten miles per runner. Unfortunately, he got injured last year and had to give his place to another runner. After last year's disappointment, he was bound and determined to run this year.
He and five other runners formed Heredegen's Army, in honor of Centennial's head cross country coach, Danny Herdegen. Last year the team did quite well and finished second in the high school division, but honestly, they wanted to win it this year.
They assembled a good team:
All but Conor run for Centennial. Justin, Shaunton, and Daniel just graduated, but Micah and Adam will be back in the fall to help anchor the cross country team. (They're settling for nothing less than a trip to state!)
The race always takes place the second Saturday in June, so one would think that the weather would be fairly reasonable. Rachel and I ran it about four years ago, and it was a wee bit cold in the morning but really quite pleasant. Not so this year! They woke up to snow and 27 degrees. The snow came and went throughout the day, but it got downright nasty at times. Adam's first leg may have been the worst. Mike said visibility was next to nothing.
Here are some pix, which may tell the story better than I can:
And the winner of the high school boys category was. . . Herdegen's Army! In spite of the blustery conditions, this year's team ran more than fifteen minutes faster than last year's version of Herdegen's Army. The team placed third overall. First place went to a team of college and high school runners who either graduated from or currently attend Bishop Kelly. Second place was claimed by runners from College of Idaho. I was super impressed!
Here's the "after" shot. Not only are they all still standing, they're even smiling. They are obviously hardcore runners if they thought that was fun.
All the participants and support staff were so cold and wet that they didn't even hand out awards. The organizers said they'd send them in the mail. I really hope they get the hardware. They earned it!
P.S. I may show this picture to Adam when he asks if he can sign up for next year's race.
Adam signed up to run the Sawtooth Relay last year. The event takes place, as the name implies, in the Sawtooth Mountains, and while the scenery is breathtakingly picturesque, it's a pretty strenuous race. Six competitors split the 61.9 miles, each running two legs that total about ten miles per runner. Unfortunately, he got injured last year and had to give his place to another runner. After last year's disappointment, he was bound and determined to run this year.
He and five other runners formed Heredegen's Army, in honor of Centennial's head cross country coach, Danny Herdegen. Last year the team did quite well and finished second in the high school division, but honestly, they wanted to win it this year.
They assembled a good team:
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| (l. to r.) Micah Drew, Daniel Zarkou, Shaunton Stubbs, Adam Young, Justin Senecal, and Conor Smith |
The race always takes place the second Saturday in June, so one would think that the weather would be fairly reasonable. Rachel and I ran it about four years ago, and it was a wee bit cold in the morning but really quite pleasant. Not so this year! They woke up to snow and 27 degrees. The snow came and went throughout the day, but it got downright nasty at times. Adam's first leg may have been the worst. Mike said visibility was next to nothing.
Here are some pix, which may tell the story better than I can:
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| Daniel ran the first and seventh legs. He has ridiculously long legs which make for an impressive stride. His dad, our stake president, ran on an "old guys" team. |
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| Justin, bound for Idaho State on a track scholarship, ran legs #2 and #8. As you can see, the snow was coming down pretty hard on this leg. |
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| Shaunton took legs #3 and #9. He had been injured and hadn't done much training, but in true distance runner fashion, he dug deep and ran like a champ. These kids seem to like pain. Crazy! |
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| It was blizzardy during Adam's first leg, which was #4. By #10, it had lessened somewhat. I think he's running with his eyes closed to keep the snow out. He said you couldn't see anything anyway. What a fun summer run! Beast! |
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| Conor, an Eagle Mustang, was made an honorary Patriot for a day and obliterated legs #5 and #11. He put his school allegiance aside and ran super fast! |
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| Micah got the honor of running the summit, a climb of 1331 feet in 5.35 miles. He ran it in about 39 minutes. How is it possible to run that fast up a mountain?! He was rewarded with the flat 2.63 mile finishing leg. |
Here's the "after" shot. Not only are they all still standing, they're even smiling. They are obviously hardcore runners if they thought that was fun.
All the participants and support staff were so cold and wet that they didn't even hand out awards. The organizers said they'd send them in the mail. I really hope they get the hardware. They earned it!
P.S. I may show this picture to Adam when he asks if he can sign up for next year's race.
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