Jenn has had a busy few months, not just with your standard running races or triathlons – oh no – she must have been bored with those as she managed to find a few races involving teams and obstacles as well!
Back in March she participated in the Island Challenge, a team event, with her usual running buds Alex and Destiny, along with one of Alex’s co-workers named Caroline. The details of the race were kept close to the organizer’s chest (part of the allure) so we don’t really know the length of the thing but Jenn figures it was close to about 5km… bearing in mind you’re doing obstacles (climbing, crawling, etc.) along the way so I’m sure it felt much longer! It was a nice change of pace and they really enjoyed it!
They finished with a time of 1:06:39 which put them in 6th place in the all-female teams and 27th of 87 teams overall – nice work!
The Island Challenge was actually the first in a series of three races – the second being the Urban Foot Race in late April, which was a two-person obstacle course race of about the same length. Jenn and Alex (‘the Canuck and the Kraut‘) took to the streets of St. George’s to once again tackle the unknown obstacles that lay before them (which turned out to be things like climbing over a bus covered in netting, carrying sandbags on one of their shoulders and some swimming, for example)!
For the record, they finished in 37:12 and placed 4th in the all-female teams and 36th of 88 teams overall… another solid performance.
I guess that was enough obstacle races for Jenn for the time being as her next race was a regular ‘ol Duathlon in early May (actually, the third race in the Island Challenge / Urban Foot Race series is forthcoming in October so she’ll have to wait!). It was actually the 2013 Duathlon Championships and once again, Jenn did well and looked good doing it! I believe it was also her first race with her spankin’ new bike and by Jenn’s account it performed admirably.
Jenn completed the run – bike – run in 1:52.17, good for 8th in her age group and 27th of 33 overall.
Nope, that’s not it – one more to tell you about. The famous ‘May two-four‘ race (an annual half marathon on Bermuda Day, May 24th) was just today and Jenn and her running buddies did the race as a relay team. Alex and Destiny ran the entire race last year with Jenn, and they decided (pretty much that day) that they didn’t want to run the entire thing again this year. So a relay team was born! Their friend Nerissa was injured last year and was thrilled to be able to do the whole thing this year (not on the relay team).
There are four legs in the relay race. The way the girls planned it out, Destiny ran the entire race with Nerissa, then Jenn joined in at leg 3 until the end and Alex joined the trio for the final leg to bring home the official team baton.
(Above: Jenn had a small camera with her and took a picture of the kids and I (left) while I snapped a photo of the kids cheering as she ran by (right). Below: the entire team coming through town together.)
Few more steps…
By all accounts the girls’ race was a success, they finished in a time of 1:57:38 which put them in 15th place out of 53 open relay teams and 2nd place in the all-female teams! Pretty darn good I’d say.
Of course we had a few friends out there running this year (and yes, Alex likes having her picture taken)…
And here’s the official relay team, 2013 edition (along with some of the cheering squad). Congratulations!
I’m not sure if Jenn will keep up this amount of racing through the hot summer… but stranger things have happened. Only time will tell – rest assured her family cheering section will be there to spur her on!