Two-day run offers glance at state history
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.
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