Red Rock Relay Moab 2015

Our team rocked this race starting with the best team name ever, Happy Mammories. We really wanted to get some shirts made but someone thought it might be inappropriate (that person was not me). If you have seen the reviews I have done, you know that Red Rock Relay has been run before. Our team did the Dixie race last year but due to some conflicts with the city of St. George, Red Rock was unable to put on that race this year. We grabbed what we thought would be the next best one day relay, Moab. 

Communication was great as always. The website is great and they send informative emails. Apparently they changed the race guide after we printed it up so we showed up to the captain meeting an hour late. They Red Rock peeps were cool about it, gave us our stuff, got us all checked in, even gave us free shirts for our kiddos (which are way better than the race shirts we got, or maybe my 8 year old just looks better in her shirt).

Red Rock is a super chill relay. It’s not competitive and it’s relatively small. You will always have other teams with you but you won’t get stuck in a traffic jam because there are too many teams in the race. The bathrooms were frequent and nasty as usual. Because it’s a relay there was no on course support provided, it’s all provided by your team. My team offered stellar support which included a megaphone and some interesting commentary, a bag of skittles which later resulted in skittle spittle on a runner’s face, a language monitor, and a destroyed under carriage that you could hear coming for miles.

My least favorite part was the race course. This is probably because I had the worse leg in the history of legs. I was runner 1, which is great because you run first and finish first. We were among the first teams to start and we pretty much stayed in a group for the first tenth of a mile. On a poorly marked road we all ended up down a trail that was closed. We had to turn around and run back up said trail to locate the correct route. Not a good start at 5 in the morning. My second and last leg was the memory builder. In 4 miles, I climbed 1177 feet, according to my trusty Nike app. On top of the amazing mountain climb, I experienced all four seasons. Started out nice and sunny, then there was a slight breeze that reminded me of Fall, then I got to experience the sudden onset of snow. Yup first race I have run in the snow! Did I mention this race was in MAY! I was not dressed for winter running. My last tenth of a mile was downhill and Spring showers were upon me. When I say tenth of a mile it felt like .01 and by downhill I meant it wasn't uphill. If I could have made it up the mountain faster I would have. Maybe next year I’ll let someone else be runner 1.

Red Rock Relay could really use a re-do on their finish line. It’s anti-climactic and a disappointment after spending all day running. They also need to consider amping up their medals. It was a nice medal with a silhouette of the arches in Moab, which we DID NOT run by, but is iconic for the area. It’s time for Red Rock Relay to step up their game. I give this race 3 shoes.