A relay team from Highlands Consulting ran the California International Marathon last Sunday, December 7, 2014. The annual race starts in Folsom at 7 a.m. and winds through the towns of Orangevale, Citrus Heights, Fair Oaks and Carmichael and into the City of Sacramento for the State Capitol finish. The marathon has more than 9,000 athletes running the full 26.2 mile course, and about 1,000 teams competing in the four-person relay. Logistics and coordination are challenging. Every runner has to carpool, take a bus, or be dropped off and picked up. Many roads are closed. Each relay team is given an ankle band that must be passed on to the next runner. Relay hand-off areas are hectic and it can be hard to find your relay team member in a crowd of thousands!
Our team consisted of Jim Turko (7.6 miles for Leg 2), Abby Darrah (7.0 miles for Leg 3), Eileen Jacobowitz (4.7 miles for Leg 4), and Jacob Olson’s wife, Rachel Olson (5.9 miles for Leg 1). They found each other easily in the transition areas and even celebrated a few PRs (Personal Records)! Our team finished with a time of 4:15:49, ranking in the top third – both overall and in the co-ed open division. The weather was perfect for running, starting with a bit of fog which cleared after a few hours to sun and blue skies. And with mild temperatures, it was a welcome change from past CIMs of freezing rain and ice!
A great time was had by all and we are already looking forward to supporting our team again next year!