The Relay

I should probably have written this review years ago. I have been captain of a Relay team Short Shorts Drive Us Nuts (SSDUN) since 1997. The Relay has changed many times in the years past; sometimes it is 190 miles, 192 miles 199 miles 201 miles. It changes ending location from Santa Cruz to Davenport and back to Santa Cruz. But one thing for sure; the Relay staff does an awesome job of organizing the event year after year. They’ve had title sponsors that have come and gone (Providian, Saturn, to name a few) and less resources to work with during many years. But the staff of Relay always puts the event together and get all of the 36 runner exchanges going. I“ve done the Hood to Coast, Ragnar Washington DC, and I can say without a doubt The Relay is the best organized, most scenic, most challenging, and without the exorbitant entry cost. If you are a fan of doing these 30 hour+, 200 mile team challenges, the Relay is the one to do. Great views running through Napa, Marin, across the GG Bridge, along the beach, Crystal Springs, through the Santa Cruz mountain valley. I love this race!

This is awesome. Running for organ donation.
I ran this 3 times. Always fun and touching.
Each person has 3 legs. 12 people/​team. Start in Calistoga and Finish in Santa Cruz (Davenport). 2 vans (6 people/​van). In my case, I am always in van1. 1^st leg in Napa at 1 p.m. (sooo hot), 1 a.m. in north of GGB, 8 a.m. near Stanford. It is always nice to have teammates to cheer me on, and cheer my teammates on.
PRICELESS!!!

The Relay is a truly magical experience and one of the best ways to both bond as a team and appreciate the natural beauty of the Bay Area.

The Relay last weekend was probably the best event of this kind that I have ever attended. So absolutely fun the entire sleepless weekend and I was constantly amazed and inspired by the team work and determination and just crazy fitness of all of the runners! Many of the teams decorated their vans with hula skirts, bunny ears, blowup dolls, christmas lights, adult-​themed humor, etc. and some of the teams ran in costume (my favorite was the team of guys who ran in white gowns.)
Thank goodness I like my co-​workers. Sharing a van with 5+ other sweaty and exhausted runners for 30 hours could have turned really ugly (one of our team coaches warned no chili or bizarro foods prior to race — great advice!)
The event was very well organized and communicated. All the turns seemed well marked. They organizers introduced teams at the start and made the start fun and dramatic. The finish line was also great as so many teams joined their final runner across the finish line. Volunteers at all the transition points were friendly and helpful. It seemed to me there were plenty of volunteers. The portable toilets were gross but I don’t know if there is an alternative to this.
This was the most GORGEOUS race route ever. You can’t help be amazed the entire time by the views of vineyards, quaint little towns, rolling hills, lakes, the Golden Gate Bridge (we ran across at midnight in the moonlight), Crystal Springs Reservoir, Santa Cruz mountains & redwoods, and finishing at an organic farm across the street from the Pacific Ocean.
I highly recommend you have at least 1 – 2 people on your team who have run the event before so they can provide advice on how things work. Good preparation is so important. This was my first time and we are absolutely going to do it again next year. Watch for Team ConnecTV!

The relay is a 36 leg race from Calistoga to Santa Cruz covering 194 miles. My team was separated into 2 vans of 6 people each. Each runner covering distances of 3 miles to 8 miles, uphill and downhill, along scenic roadways.
After the first leg is done for each member in one van, the van smells. Everything turns into a pillow. The hygiene of your peers comes out and sits itself right there in front of you, leaving you speechless, and breathless.
We ran a total of 3 legs each. We only got maybe 1 – 2 hour naps at most in between team exchanges.
This is no ordinary race, as there are time you will be running alone with no one in sight in front or behind.
There are signs at every turn to help you if you might get lost, but I do wish the arrows were more obvious or possibly bigger and brighter.
I could describe this race in more detail, but it would do no justice to actually doing it yourself.
We took under 30 hours to complete.
There was free chili (meat or veggie), potatoes, bread, and beer (Alaskan Amber) at the finish.
Everyone on the course was friendly.
The majority of the participants are goofy white people.
It was still a very memorable experience and I would definitely do it again.

Nothing can describe the feeling of running alone across the Golden gate bridge at 1 am. What an awesome experience. Good people good times. You won’t get any sleep and will initially be a hassle but it will be time well spent. Doing this with my team mates this again this year.

It’s a fun event that combines team work and lots of challenges. This year, the distance is 200 miles.
The 2009 event was characterized the rainy weather. It was really cold and windy in legs 19 and 20 when runners passed the Ocean Beach in San Francisco during midnight. The wind was salty and cutting into your skin.
As runners continued through the Santa Cruz county, it became very hilly. The last 3 miles of the relay were along the beach, great views!
But again, if you enjoy being challenged by bad weather, hilly terrain, sleep deprivation, and team work, then you should consider this event.

Amazing event! 12 (or 6 if you want to go ultra) people run 3 legs of about 15 – 20 miles from Calistoga to Santa Cruz. If you’ve never done a night run this is the time and the place to do it — nothing beats picking up the baton at the base of the golden gate bridge and running along the great highway at 2:30 in the morning with only a headlamp.
This is also an amazing way to see northern California — run through the vineyards, spread out marin, the city, the coast into the south bay, highway 9 down to santa cruz, and then finish on the beach!
I can’t wait to do it again next year. It’s a great way to make running a team event.

199 miles. 12 people per team. 160 teams. 27 hours. No sleep. This was by far and away the coolest endurance events I’ve ever been a part of. To give you an idea, the way it works is each team member has three legs to run over the 27 hour period and each leg is between 3 and 9 miles. My legs totalled just over 18 miles. The first one was at 7pm through some vineyards in the Napa Valley. My second one was at 4am along the side of Crystal Springs Resevoir and parts of 280. My third one was at noon along the side of Highway 9 through Boulder Creek and Ben Lomond. The start is in Calistoga and the finish is at the Boardwalk in Santa Cruz with a bunch of stinky, salt-​encrusted runners who haven’t slept a wink in the past two days. If you can throw together a 12 person running team, I highly recommend taking part in this amazing event. We got 7^th place out of 67 co-​ed teams!!! Run on!