Just got done this past weekend (Oct 4-5) with a great event - The 2024 Bourbon Chase Relay. While it is nice to run in my home state what makes it even more fun is the camaraderie of doing a relay with 12 others and even more so with the 6 people you spend - in our case - 27+ hours with. If you did not know what this race is about here is the basic run down. The course is a 200 mile relay from The Jim Beam Distillery in Clermont KY, where it started this year, and winds it way over some great countryside - albeit hilly - and ends in Downtown Lexington Ky. 
Teams are made up of 12 people who are grouped together in 2 vans of 6 people each - by the way there is an Ultra category that I want to do in 2026 where you have one van of 6 runners who cover the same course. The Vans cover 6 individual legs and then after the 6th runner - I was number 6 this year - hand off to the first running in Van 2 who takes over for the next 6 legs while Van 2 rests. Then this is repeated until all 36 legs have been run and goes straight through the night to do so. The time between running legs all depends on the speed of the runners and the distance and for me it was about 6 hours from my first leg (Leg 6) to my second (Leg 18) and then about 7:30+ for my start of Leg 30. For our teams we reserved a couple hotel room in a central location teams could go to to rest and eat - we had it great this year as out team captain, along with is wife, set us up with homemade food that looked like a Chipotle Bar but way better, I mean way way better. After our second transfer, from leg 18 to 19, we went back and a few people slept I did not as just could not and as you only get - well for us - about 3 hours or so till have to leave for the next exchange so just relaxed. I will tell you the running is a challenge and then you add to that being up for quite a few hours. We had an early start and as I had to drive about an hour to meet my team I had to get up at 3AM Friday morning by the time I got home Saturday and relaxed and got to bed - yea I should have gone to bead earlier - it was 10PM so was up for 43 hours. While as I get older it hard to stay up that long but after a bit it just happens and really not a problem - well till its over then I started to feel it:). Reminds me of the days back building Carbon Masts for the Americas cup and having to work 36 - 48 hour shifts to get it done - there is no late with the Americas Cup.
So, that is the basic run down of the format but to this you also factor in the run legs range from the longest of 12.25 miles to the shortest of 2 miles - often driven by exchange zones. This also adds in some work to figure out what works best for the runners you have. Then you have to be ready for the unforeseen such as injuries as we had. One of our runners at the end of his first leg hurt his knee so we had to adapt as for the next two legs he would have run were connected to the person running the previous leg for the first change and to the leg after for the final change. I can tell you the person who got hurt really was upset he could not do his legs but as we told him - damaging his knee more was not worth it - yea no one wants to stop but there is a time when that is the best decision. Same thing happened when I did this 2 years ago and I filled in by doing the extra leg at the end. Just makes it more exciting.
In the race there are a number of categories for Standard (S) and Ultra(U) with Mixed, Women and Mens teams - we were in the Standard Men’s Masters (over 40) - you can enter. This year at the BC there were a total of 212 teams that finished and we (Souther Express) were 24th overall and 4th in our division. The team that won our Division averaged 7:09/mile and was 4th Overall. But places 2-4 in our division were very close as over 200 miles we were only separated by 12 minutes
Here was our Southern Express team in order, 1-6 in Van 1 and 7-12 in Van 2:
1 - Arnie Tempel 7 - Nathan Frey
2 - Paul Kiser 8 - Gordon Turner
3 - Matt Cook 9 - Jeffery Golden
4 - George Corder. 10 - Cliff Jasper
5 - Eric Burton 11 - Jason Braegelmann
6 - Tony Konvalin. 12 - Adam Gullett
The following are overviews of each leg with fueling, what I can remember, and such. Titles of legs are linked to Strava data:
Run Down of Leg #6 - 12.25 Miles (Listed as Very Hard) - Started at 2:11PM EST (Oct 4, 2024)
For me, running legs 6, 18 and 30 I started with what The Bourbon Chase lists as the hardest with a hilly 12.25 miler, you even get a special medal for this leg. Also, the way it works out the next two legs for me were short. I think the leg just before mine, #5, may have been about as hard due to hills but a little shorter at 9 miles. That said with the heat (82F), hills and length this was a hard leg. It starts out with a generally uphill first 4 miles - first a 1.3 mile up then rolling up to about mile 4.5 where I averaged about 8:12/mile. I may have run a little harder than I should as did not want to lose time. From mile 4.5 to 7.0 it is mostly downhill with shorter climbs and by Mile 7 I was pretty close to an average of 8:00/mile. About now, for me, the heat was making life miserable and at the same time turned to run on a main road that was uphill for the next 2.5 miles and just started slowing before a small downhill and then backup hill to mile 11.7 where I made an error and turned right and not left and went up hill a little more. Thankfully I caught this fairly quickly so only ran about 1:30 farther but added some uphill. Once back on track got to the finish in 1:43:31 officially for an official pace of 8:25 but on my watch with the extra distance it would be about 8:21/mile. While pace was much slower than my 1/2 marathon about 3 weeks before and having a similar elevation of 837FT it was much hotter and legs were just not feeling it so all in all not bad. Also, with the way the race works there were few runners around as passed 4-5 runners, one passed me, so not much to chase. I would agree it was a tough leg but the heat to me is what made it even worse but all the the legs during the day were hot and I did holdback some as did not want to dig a hole I would not get out of for the next legs. Having done this before and having done the Hood to Coast race in Oregon a few years ago the hard part after a hard run is not getting too tight when in the van. Being the last leg before we rested helped as only had a short ride back to the hotel to rest and eat. Was not sure how the next legs, #18- 4.2 miles and #30 - 3.8 miles, would go as they needed to be quicker.
Fueling:
-Breakfast (3AM) was usual Modified Bulletproof coffee (Coffee, Collagen, Coconut Oil, Ghee, Egg, 1/3 pack of LMNT, small square of 85% Dark Chocolate)
- On way to race start (8:00 - small chicken wrap)
- 1 Hour before - 1 Sur AltRED
- 1/2 Hour Before - Vespa UC
During race:
- 1/2 Hour in 1/2 SIS Gel
- 1 Hour in 1/2 SIS Gel
- 1 Hour in 3/4 bottle KetoneAid Shot
- Some water and electrolytes
- 1.5 hours in1/2 SIS Gel
After Race:
- 1 Can of LMNT Seltzer
- 160z water
Between Van Exchanges
- Small portion or rice, black beans, Chicken, Steak
- Small cookie
- Water
- Coffee w/cream and a little sugar
The question when it came to running my second leg - Leg #18 of the Bourbon chase - was how had I recovered and after a 6 hour or so rest would I be ready to go. After the long Leg #6 my legs were sore and had a blister on my big toe. The positive was that while hard to get up and out of the van was that once I got moving was better. That said this leg was starting at almost midnight so had been up by then for almost 21 hours. I had not eaten a lot at the break but did get something in and had hydrated so was not hungry. Got to the start, not far from where we stayed and while not getting much warmup I did get in some short strides to get a feel of how I was moving and while it took effort to get going once I was moving felt pretty good.
The key for this leg was to get out quickly as was downhill for the first 1.6 miles and went down about 100ft. After that while there were a few downhills it was mostly a gradual rise for 100ft or so as leg had a total elevation of 144ft. Once I got the hand off there was a good initial drop off and got out quick and then pushed the flat and got to the next downhill section and got the first mile in at 6:51/mile and legs felt good. As was not sure about how I would feel further in I did control the pace but wanted to keep it up. After a little more downhill once I got to 1.6 miles the route started a gradual rise to mile 2.9 miles with mile 2 at 7:04 pace with mile 3 at 7:31 pace. With the more down and up done I worked to keep pace as best I could over the next mile and thus mile 4 was 7:07 pace. This led to a path around the park and other than a small miss on a turn I worked to pick it up some and did last 1/4 mile at about 6:29/mile pace. My milage came up a little short on my watch but at that milage my pace average was 7:06 but at the advertised dance of 4.24 my average was 7:00/mile. Was pretty happy with the recovery and able to get close to sub 7:00/mile. Now time to get back in the van and get back to the hotel for a shower and some rest. While some got some sleep I did not as I just cold not do so but did get some rest.
Fueling:
Between Van Exchanges
- Sausage Egg and Cheese Sandwich
- Water
- Coffee w/cream and a little sugar
Before race - nothing during
- 1 hr before, 1 Sur AltRED
- 1/2 hour before - 1 Vespa UC
- Right before leg - 1 Vespa Jr
- 2 Bonk Breaker Gels
After Race
- 16oz water - forgot to get the LMNT Seltzer
Run Down of Leg #30 - 3.8 (Listed as Easy) - Started at 8:08AM PST (Oct 5, 2024)
With the gap to this last leg a little longer, 7.5+ hours, than the last one my legs while sore were not any worse than they had been even after a good second leg. This leg started, after a short false flat, down hill to about 1.5 miles before a 1.2 mile climb that went up 286ft - total vert of this leg was 302ft - and then was flat for about a 1/4 mile before descending 69 feet to the finish over the final 0.8 miles. Due to the initial flat then downhill I worked to gain some time and get in a rhythm so after working out the kinks over the first 1/2 mile I got into a good pace and averaged 6:54/mile for the first mile split. Then at 1.5 miles started up hill and while it was not easy it was a good grade as while hard I could get in a rhythm without getting bogged down so with a mix of downhill and up I wavered 7:28 for mile 2. I had caught a few people on the way to the hill and at about 2 miles caught anther runner which gave good incentive, once caught, to keep up the pace to increase the gap and maybe catch someone else - did not catch anyone as next time I saw someone they were too far ahead to catch. Mile 3 which was all uphill but for the last flat for 1/4 mile my pace was 8:08/mile. Once I hit mile 3 it was mostly downhill I worked up the pace to get the best average I could and my final 0.8 mile split was 6:36/mile - in hindsight should have pushed it a little harder but in the end am happy with the leg. Do find it funny this leg was listed “Easy’ when it had more climbing than leg #18 and while shorter was only about a 1/2 mile shorter.
Fueling:
Before race - nothing during
- 1 hr before, 1 Sur AltRED
- 1/2 hour before - 1 Vespa UC
After Race:
- 1 Can of LMNT Seltzer
- 16oz water
Overview
While I did not run as fast as I wanted to or think I could have leg #6 was acceptable with the heat and training for that length run. While I did the 1/2 marathon 3 weeks before and had run a 20 miler in the last months my running is decidedly better for shorter distances. My speed may not be where I want it but I would say it is good enough when tired as running my last two legs at a good pace on sore and tired legs bares out. If I would change anything I may have gone out a little slower to start as may have burned some matches I needed later. That said with the heat and my training after the Lake Cumberland Half this may have just been where I was at. I do know I wish I could have done what I had planned as would have helped up place in the top three - maybe next year.
Now it is time for a really easy week then get back to training for the Tsali Trail Race in January. I will get in a week or two with low milage and some short rides just to get back into it. I also have 5 races left this year with all but one being 5Ks and the one other is a mile race. These will be good speed work as want to up that even for a 50K. Also, have 8 week left in my Foot Strengthening class which I am hoping will hole minimize the chance of injuries as that is the main thing to avoid in the year ahead.
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