RELAY OF THE GODS

ROTG -

Hello and welcome back to another blog, I’m writing this 24 hours post Relay. To fill you in it was the second edition of a 160 km team relay here in Bali. Last year had 6 teams, We decided to put together the rock star team and it was the best decision. If your team isn’t going to be the fastest you might as well have some awesome people to hang out with. This year we had one substitute and the addition of an all girls team really helped solidify the essence of our run club. 

This post might be a little long so maybe grab some popcorn and buckle in cause this years event was a rollercoaster. 

Having the beta from last year and a considerable amount more running experience amongst the team there was still a bit of nerves leading into the event but we were all very excited to be part of the day. The overall energy was much higher with 30 teams taking part. This meant a different start times and way more action on the road. 

We decided to bring our mate Noah along very last minute to be our navigator. The biggest surprise last year was the mental side of logistics of both the runners and the driver. Again, google maps cannot be trusted as what is said to be a road here does not mean it’s good for a passenger van.

We started in Sanur at 3 am. We arrived with about 5 minutes to spare. I ran the first part which is one of the longer sections without the van or support bike. A dark, sandy and fast 6 km stretch along the path next to the beach. There was 12 other teams starting with us and as race energy seems to go everyone took off at an unsustainable pace. I started easy knowing if I kept my pace consistent I would catch them just after half way. It was 3 of us for the last 2 km with some funny little hiccups and plenty of opportunity to twist an ankle. Once we all connected back with our crews it was back into go mode of figuring it all out and settling into a rhythm. 

The team ran 2km intervals each pretty much the whole time last year. We decided to change that to 1km to keep the legs fresh. This required a lot more communication and the turn over often came faster than expected. We were going back and forth with the ASCNT team for a majority of the first hour. One of their members passed me and I could tell he was working hard. I came back in the van and told the boys we should do 400m runs each. This made that turn over much quicker but kept the heart rates up and energy a lot higher. We were really cruising.

We would have the media team beside the runner guiding them, Noah in the van telling the driver where to go and Risky on the bike always putting the next runner 400m ahead so the turnover was really efficient. We quickly broke away from most of the group as this strategy probably took off a minute from each KM. We would go back and forth with the aforementioned team for a while. Super cool to have that energy of a race pushing each other that little bit more. It took about 90 minutes or so to begin catching the teams who had started the hour before us. This was super cool to be passing people but still cheering one another on. At one point Noah said “ my heartrate is so high and I’m not even running”. he was having a great time.

As the sun was rising we caught up to the girls team and that was really special. The growth in not only physical ability but in friendships, relationships and life long connections built through our run club is so amazing. To see both of our teams out there doing what might seem unimaginable when we all started running is the most rewarding feeling. At this point we had figured things out a bit and everyone was settling into their jobs and we kept pushing forward.

About an hour after sunrise We had just began what would be another few hours of uphill to Kintamani. The rice fields were sparkling in the morning light and we continued to keep pushing a pretty good pace. 400 m allowed the team to run a lot faster without getting too tired, but your next turn also came as soon as you caught your breath, had a sip of water and a couple bites of food. 

*this next section could be sensitive for some readers.

It was about an hour after sunrise, I had just finished my section, got into the van and Jophy started to run. I hear Noah mention something about a dog and as I looked through the front on the van it was as if the window turned into a slow motion VR headset. I saw a blur of people falling off the bike in front, the sound of a heavy bike hitting the ground and the collective noises of witnessing what just happened. I realized as they hit the ground with such force that it was our team!

That same energy we were just putting into the run was quickly adjusted to helping care for our friends. There was a good cluster of other teams running, their vans and a bit of mayhem all around. Everyone quickly took responsibility for something or someone without much panic. 
As soon as we all hopped out of the van Rai was visibly bleeding the most from his face, Risky who was driving was shocked and quite pale lying on the ground. He had alot of road rash on his face and whole left side. Yogi who was on the back still had some good road rash on his hands and hip but thankfully had space and time to react in the moment. 

I ran back to the van to grab my first aid kit. It’s a tiny one I would keep in my pack for ultra races. I quickly realized this was basically useless and that a towel was the best way to keep pressure on Rai’s wounds and minimize the bleeding. I also wrote in the group chat we needed a medic. It didn’t take long to realize that urgent care on the island is hard to come by. The girls van had just passed us with enthusiasm that quickly turned into shock as they realized what happened. Thankfully Banyu ran over with a first aid kit and Samson squeezed Saline into Rai’s wounds. We picked up Risky off the ground as he couldn’t put pressure on his left leg, lifted him into the van and we decided to take ourselves to the nearest clinic. 

That 15 minutes felt like an eternity for me on the bike in front and I can only imagine the same for the boys taking care of their friends in the van. Jophy and I arrived a minute before the van so I ran inside the clinic and nobody was there. I rang the bell, yelled, rang the bell again and then a nurse who was clearly just sleeping in the back lept into action. As the van pulled up another 4 or 5 staff magically appeared and the boys were layed out on their 3 beds getting cleaned up. 

With head injuries like this we were obviously concerned for the boys. They were incredibly strong as the nurses cleaned their wounds, put 8 stitches in Rai’s eyebrow, and made sure they were alert. Again, the whole team just stepped into their respective roles and took care of business. It was amazing to witness the camaraderie amongst the crew.

We spent a good hour here and then made our way to the hospital to get scans for the boys. This whole experience already puts a lot into perspective and I couldn’t help but think that every moment we shared this morning lead to this happening. It was a split second that caused this, and although it’s hard in the moment knowing it was somehow meant to be is a tough pill to swallow. While we were outside waiting for the scan results a bed came rolling out with a covered body of a person who was seemingly alive when they went in. This really let the gratitude of knowing our friends would be okay sink in. While visibly the boys looked rough we were thankful to know there was no internal bleeding or broken bones. We all got to go home and see our families. 

I will let the girls do a write up on their experience but am incredibly proud of their effort in finishing this race. To conclude this whole situation I can only reflect on this for me personally, so here is the take away from yesterday.

These freak accidents can happen at any point. We might as well chase crazy goals and have memories that challenged our self belief. We should do things together and not worry so much about the outcome. Enjoying the beauty of where we got to run yesterday and the people we got to share it with is the most important aspect of an event like this. Congratulations to all the teams who pushed and made it happen. It was beautiful to see the shared emotions as they crossed the finish line. 

Thank you to everyone who supported us. Our sponsors: ON Indonesia, HYGO, Doughboys, Sinamon, Jaan and everyone on both teams that were important parts of the process.

Drive slow, wear a helmet and hope to catch you for a run and coffee soon.

FB