Saturday morning, 820 am I started my third and final leg of the Ragnar relay. Action 4 News, van 1 "slept" in marathon near mile marker 50 while waiting for van 2 to complete their middle stretch. The leg started with a snag when we wrongly estimated Bobbys arrival time due to a late delivered text message. I had to hussle to the exchange, where Bobby had already arrived and was waiting to hand off the baton. This leg was the one I was waiting for. Runners travel 2 miles along the south side of US-1 until the end of marathon. After this, the seven mile bridge begins - a great behemoth over turquoise ocean. The morning was so clear that I could actually see the end of the bridge when I first set foot on it. Midway there is a ship channel, where a small 30 foot high "hill" rises from the otherwise flat roadbed. I focused on reaching this point, where I would take some water and my power gel. It was a surreal experience watching a point 4 miles away as I ran, as it would be over a half an hour until I made it to the hill. At this point in the race, the faster teams which had been started from Key Biscayne late were overtaking me. Some of these runners were setting 6 or sub-six mile paces, so they literally seemed like they were sprinting as they passed me. After the top of the hill I continued to feel great, continued to enjoy the amazing view and just cruised. I reached the end of the bridge, and a quarter mile later I reached exchange 25 where I handed off to Dan. This exchange was located near a small beach where I put my feet in the clear water of the Florida Straits. I dont know the exact water temperature, but Id guess it was 1 degree warmer than perfect - the dip felt great! I finished this leg at a pace of 8 minutes 20 seconds, which I was very happy with. Unlike my previous leg I felt great the entire time. After a few minutes enjoying the beach, I got back in the van with my team, ready to celebrate with them when they finished their final legs. -Andy
