Race preview: Rouge-Orleans

WHERE ARE WE GOING?
Baton Rouge, Louisiana (to New Orleans, Louisiana)

WHEN?
Friday, Feb. 10

WHY?
Rouge-Orleans

NO REALLY, WHY?
I learned of this race about a year and a half ago and thought it just sounded so cool that I would make it my first 100 (it's 126.2 miles, actually -- sort of a 100-mile warm-up followed immediately by a marathon). I have a good running friend in Baton Rouge and figured she could help throw a crew together and it would be a big old time. But after a while I got tired of hearing stories of folks in 100s practically being carried to the finish by their crews and pacers and decided I would just do the whole thing myself.

WHO ELSE IS GOING?
Most of the field is made of relay runners -- 60-some teams, most with 6 runners each. I'll be one of 50-some solo runners.

WHAT'S THE FORECAST?
Generally, the conditions should be pretty decent. We'll start Friday night with the temperatures in the 50s, dropping to the low 40s. Saturday will be sunny but a strong north wind will hold temps just below 60. The wind blowing across my body should be an adventure. It'll be back down in the low 40s when I finish early Sunday morning.

HOW DO WE WIN?

By living to tell about it. My wild guess was that it will take 36 hours to finish, which is a 3.5 mph average. That sounds extremely slow, but go run for an entire day and then see how quickly you're still moving forward. Either way, the time it takes is irrelevant. I just want to get out there and enjoy the views, dodge the cows and dogs and whatever other critters hang out on the levee, try not to go crazy, and still have a pulse this time next week.


If I can maintain control of my phone battery scene, I'll be posting updates to Twitter here. Seeing other people live-tweeting races usually makes me insane -- just run the damn thing -- but I figure I should keep folks posted for my own safety.