Red Wins - Twice

The votes are in and the color of choice for our team TIR shirts is RED! In addition, we will get a red tech shirt from the TIR organizers. So, an executive decision was made...since we are all getting at least one red shirt each team will have either red, white (imagine the text is white), or royal as their official race days/night shirt.

January 24, 2008 - Priceless Pep Talk by Peyton Manning... So, you want to be an RD

Funny...from the TIR website....

Well, it's been an excellent week for my race director friends, Jay and Joy. First, they ordered a bunch of 28 inch cones that were dropped off in huge stacks on their driveway. They're heavy, but I can lift 'em. Anyway, it looked like they were going to try to take over the neighborhood with their massive stockpile of large orange cones that sat in front of their garage. Well, it just so happened that the neighbor kids had a get together that very evening, and the temptation was just too great. In the middle of the night, they decided to block off the main roads of the subdivision with the plentiful new cones they had access to. Hey, if I were to think it's slightly funny (not that I do, Joy, because it most certainly was thievery), that wouldn't automatically make me a bad person.

Joy quickly recognized early the next morning that many of the cones were gone, and Jay was so very happy to be awakened with such good news because he is such a chipper morning riser. The good thing is that over the course of the morning, they were able to locate all of their cones. The less-than-great thing is that neighbors personally let Jay and Joy know that they were unhappy because they "could not find a way to their home with the roads being blocked". Awesome. A dual-victim prank… Again, not that I advocate such behavior. Subsequently, Jay and Joy expect to receive a nasty-gram from the neighborhood homeowner's association soon, but they say they're ready for the real cone wars to begin (after the relay is over, of course).

Then, they received some… actually, a lot… of medal ribbons, and somehow the people doing the ribbons did not put the correct mileage on it (putting 207 instead of 203). I said to Jay a long time ago, "Hey chief, if they're not from Texas, do you think you can really trust them?" Evidently, my point was lost on him. Perhaps he found it confusing since I am not from Texas and can be trusted like none other. Anyway, the promotional product business conceded the error was all theirs, but they unfortunately do not think they can send new corrected ones out in time as the country (yet another place that's not Texas) they get their fabric from is in the midst of celebrating the New Year. I don't know, but the way a calendar works does not seem overly complex to me, but hey, I'm just an NFL quarterback… one of the best ever. Then again, perhaps those peoples just know how to seriously party. So, now Jay and Joy are considering just leaving it at 207 miles, using a black Sharpie pen to transform the 7s into a slightly tall 4s or somewhat squared-off 3s, or giving each team a Sharpie with which to fix it. You runners like Jay and Joy are such odd birds. I say, just run a few wind-sprints before and afterwards to make it 207. What's a few more miles… I mean, to you guys.

My point is that being a race director is little bit like being an NFL quarterback. You don't need rock hard abs, a rocket arm, or super-sharp intellect. You neither get the rabid fans nor the big bucks (and you shouldn't… notice I said "a little bit like"... like Jay and Joy, for example). But, the job is not always for the faint of heart. Do you have it in you?

(All kidding aside, the stories above are 100% true! If you know us, you know that the incorrect mileage on the medal ribbon just about kills us. If you find it particularly irksome too, please provide us with your name and mailing address by the end of March, and we'll send you a corrected ribbon as soon as we can along with our apologies for the mental distress caused. We understand... The course is 203.67 miles, NOT 207 miles.)

Team Assignments

This is subject to change, but here are the current team assignments.

Article from The Galveston County Daily News

Two-day run offers glance at state history

By Bernice Torregrossa
Contributor

Published January 24, 2008

If you've been wanting to make running history, your opportunity is just a month away, when the first Texas Independence Relay makes its way from Gonzales to the San Jacinto Monument. That's more than 200 miles and two days of history.

For history buffs, there's the opportunity to run through Gonzales, home of the "Come and Take It" cannon, Schulenberg, Weimar and Columbus.

For avid runners, there's the challenge of team competition (and cooperation) along mostly flat and scenic roads.

Two-day cross-country relay races have become increasingly popular in recent years. The classics, like the Hood to Coast Relay in Oregon, fill up almost immediately, and newer relays, like the Great Midwest Relay from Madison to Chicago, have attracted a huge turnout.

Race organizers Jay and Joy Hilscher have been mulling over the relay concept for several years, tailoring it to Texas' weather and geography.

"I've always wanted to do Hood to Coast, but it's on a Friday and Saturday, and the logistics were just too complicated," Jay Hilscher explained. "So, we thought we should just do one here. Joy suggested using the Texas Independence Trail as the course and, with a little tweaking, it works beautifully."

The relay is scheduled for March 1 and 2, with the runners arriving at the finish line near the San Jacinto Monument on Texas Independence Day.

"Actually, the first criterion in setting the date was the weather; having it fall on Texas Independence Day was just a nice bonus," Hilscher laughed. "We knew it had to be either early spring or late fall, and the weather in early spring is a little less variable."

Hilscher suggests that runners form teams of eight to 12 runners to tackle the relay.

"One thing we're doing a little differently than the other relays is emphasizing the 'teamness' of it, by having a prologue and an epilogue, where the whole team crosses the starting line and finish line together," he explained.

With a full team, each runner will run four or five legs totaling approximately 20 miles, and ride in the team van between running.

"We'll have an overnight headquarters in Wallis, where one of the schools is providing showers and a place to sleep as a fundraiser for the community," Hilscher said. "Wallis isn't the only town to get behind this, though — we're getting support along the whole route from the towns and from sponsors like Luke's Locker."

So far, 120 teams have signed up, with some coming from as far as New York, Colorado and California, including a team from the Los Angeles Police Department. The relay also has a bulletin board on its Web site, www.texasindependencerelay.com, where unattached runners can offer their services to a team, or a team can look for a replacement runner.

Bernice Torregrossa is a correspondent for The Daily News.

New Garmin 405

Not necessarily TIR related, but thought you might be interested...especially all the folks that got a 305 for Christmas.

Click on the image for more info.

TIR Updates - Mid January

www.TexasIndependenceRelay.com


A LOT is happening with the Texas Independence Relay! Please read more about the following developments on the Race Updates page of the TIR website.

• Do you need one more person to round out your team? Would you be a great teammate, but just need a team? The TIR seeks to make all of you whole!
  
• You're disgustingly GROSS (And, Dr. Seuss weighs in about it.)
  
• The TIR is looking to put relayers across the country in a world of Hertz!
  
• Flatonia plans to welcome relayers in a way that only Flatonia could.
  
• Haven't seen the TIR socks or racing bib yet? Why wait until the race?
  
• Texas Independence Relay makes it on the front page of the Gonzales newspaper!
  
• See whether or not Conroe ISD teachers can make the TIR grade.

More shirt information

The shirts provided by the TIR organizers will be tech shirts mens and ladies cut.

I will try to get the same if the price is right!

Champions Fit TIR Tagline

Compliments of Jill and Drew Wasson...

"We don't pass batons, we pass people" - Champions Fit

Fwd: TIR Teams Meeting - February 7th

All,

Please mark your calendar...the plan is to have a TIR teams meeting on Thursday, February 7th, 6:00 PM at Rudy's Cantina (Grant and Lakewood Forest). The main purpose of this meeting is to review the relay plans, Q&A, and handout some information, but it will also give people a chance to meet other team members they may not know.

BTW - this will be a great time to take a group picture.

Fwd: TIR T-Shirt Size

All,

I need your T-shirt size for the TIR shirts. Please try to get this to me in the next couple of days...you don't want me choosing your size.

Regards,

Jay

Roommate needed

All,

Kathy Pavlesic needs a roommate for Feb 29th in Columbus. If you need a roommate or have room for her please contact her at kpavlesic@comcast.net.

Thanks!

TIR Update, Sponsors, Training, Blog

All, First...Congrats to all of you that participated in the half and full marathons this weekend. Job well done! I want to let you know that your team captains will be meeting this week to begin the final planning push for TIR, which is less than two months away. You will most certainly see an increase in e-mail traffic from us regarding TIR.

Additionally, we are trying to engage sponsors to assist with the cost of the shirts, travel, etc. If you think any of your employers are interested in being a sponsor please let me know. We are looking for a minimum of $250 per sponsor and in return we will, at a minimum, put their corporate logo on the relay shirts (108 shirts in all...that is 3 per runner for all you Aggies).

Currently we have three sponsors...
Marathon Psychology Group
Castleguard Consulting
Race Ready (pending...they have agreed to supply their Race Ready Cool-T shirts at a significant discount...~$850 savings).

Last thing...their is a group of us that are training for various Spring events including the TIR. I'm in the process of setting up a blog for us to use to exchange information regarding training, TIR logistics, etc. Should be ready to go by late tomorrow. http://texrelay.blogspot.com/