Friday am … picked up at 8am for race briefing at 9. Met the other part of my team in van 1 … organized our gear … think I 
may have over-packed but honestly, I used just about everything I brought – will need to pack more efficiently next time … 368 teams some were ultras but for the most
check out the TP taped to his shoe
part x 12 people per team, 2 van per team plus other support, lots of people out there – looks like the first waves went off around 7am … Pirates, Waldos, Prisoners, checking out the teams and their creativity was half the fun. The Waldos went all out having magnets made and tagging all the cars in 
the lot before the race even started … Down at the start, we cheered Eileen on as the race 
started …
And they were off … on the first leg of the 189 mile run to P-town … 
We jumped in the van to cheer Eileen on as she made her way to the first exchange …
With our “flag” in hand we crossed the road and cheered Eileen as she ran past … long story but a girl we named “Helen” flew past everyone and was kicking butt on the first leg … let’s just say … Helen” stayed 
with us for the rest of the race!
Eileen handing off to Tom
Made it to Exchange 1 and Tom was up … and on the road …
Then I was up next for my first leg. 4.18 miles in Carver. I did just under the 11mm that I projected – Eileen & Tom 
were pretty fast so the time they gained, well, let’s just say I was passed by about 5 people … one of the pirates kept me company on the last hill to the finish. We made it through the first 6 exchanges without a hitch and before schedule
Joe, me & Tom (EFS) in Plymouth
by about 15 minutes.
After our first go around we fixed the headlight on the van, then found lunch. 
I was starving and ate like a pig!!
my lunch
Then we met up at the next major exchange for our next 6 legs.
Tom, with the paint stick, a dangerous thing, went to town tagging as many cars as he could with FLK. It was funny because everywhere we looked other vans had the little FLK mark on it … a few times people would walk by 
and say, so that’s FLK because we had marked their van. Even in traffic, when stopped on the road, no car was safe. Tom would 
jump up & sneak behind it ducked down and get our “logo” on there … he was so good at it that many times people were still in the car & didn’t see him.
before leg 2
Leg 2 was my night run so we had to pull out all the reflective gear. Things sort of went to hell on this part of the race. We didn’t gave the right address for REI and we drove in circles. We got stuck in traffic on the Sagamore Bridge, Tom wanted out because he thought the exchange was close but we were totally off and it was the
from all our mistakes - the navi-guesser earned these :kills"
other bridge, thank goodness Helen (Jess) wouldn’t let him out (and believe me Tom tried and if our van doors opened when the van was in drive I think Tom might have just jumped out) or we would have been in trouble … after crossing one bridge, we had to make our way back & cross back to the other side and find the exchange … driving in the wrong direction, Eileen saw us pass … Helen pulled up to a spot where a cop was directing traffic & it said NO U TURN – she yells out can I turn, he waves NO, she waves thank you and turns anyway, good thing he wasn’t 
in a car. Tom jumped out and ran up to the exchange and found Eileen then made his way across the Bourne Bridge. More wrong turns to come … After Tom made it over the bridge, he starts calling us, yes as he’s running along the canal … he wants his heartrate monitor … I find it in the car and after 4 different conversations, tell him we can’t get it to him without not making the next exchange. So off we go to find the Sandwich exchange (for my leg) and get lost again. Whatever we did, let’s say about 6 vans joined us in the mistake and were sitting there trying to figure it out. I was dressed & ready to go but we couldn’t find the exchange. Finally we get there, and I make my way to the beach, someone yells to me Tom is already here, I run up and he puts the slap bracelet on me as he’s have a somewhat heated conversation with one of the officials about the poor condition of the part they just had to run on the beach (rocks & soft sand). I ran down the boardwalk to the road – no other runners were out there … it was dark … looking for the blinking signs to tell me where I was going, I had no idea … this was my 5 mile leg … all I knew was that there was a big ass hill with a long 1.5 mile climb – Tom told me no walking!. The van was waiting for me almost at the top, Tom ran over with water and ran with me for a little bit. Let’s just say I really had to go to the bathroom and I had been contemplating it for most of the run. It really sucks when it hits you running … I asked Tom to bring me back some TP “just in case.” He came back and started running
Joe
with me again … I was waiting for the TP but he wouldn’t give it to me, he said I can make it and he was going to run with me … Uhhh, well easy for him to say, it wasn’t his pants that the disaster might occur … but I did say they’d be stuck in the van with me if his plan backfired. So I had a runny partner for the last couple miles … almost got hit by a car
one of the decorated vans
pulling out of a store … the kid had so much crap hanging from his rear view mirror he didn’t see me crossing in front of him and started going, I yelled, he stopped … and of course Tom wasn’t there, he was taking a pee … go figure, and he made me keep running, but it wasn’t a pee I had to do … we finished our 2nd go around pretty much without any more hitches … everyone was running great and making good time. I was the slowest in our group but no one seemed to mind and they cheered, encouraged and made me feel “accomplished” just the same … to be continued …
I will post part 2 later today ….
