No Shortcuts Time Trial Relay - Santa Monica to San Diego x Wolfpack Runners, October 20, 2023

When I got to run the 1st leg of the No Shortcuts Time Trial with my good friends at Wolfpack Runners in April 2023, I knew pretty quickly that I would have to do a proper, full tour of duty @ #noshortcutstt #santamonica to #sandiego on October 20th, 2023.

I haven't run in too many relays yet, but every time I do I'm impressed by how much fun these projects are, how much friendship grows when cooperation and planning is key to a hard, sustained effort, and curveballs like traffic issues and long lapses of down-time come into play & are met w/ solution-focused optimism.

Cezamee, Lori, & everyone in the Wolfpack Runners family are some of my favorite people on Earth, & the planning, physical demands,  strategy, joy, & new friends this adventure brought gave me a very-worthy challenge and journey I'll always remember w/ pride & smiles.

We took on the course w/ a team of 8 runners divided between 2 vehicles, which leap-frogged each other to cut into four 20-mile segments of the approximately 120-mile distance, then scaled down to 15-milers as we got closer, stretching from the Santa Monica Pier to Milestone Running shop in Pacific Beach, San Diego (1 of 2 locations for a fantastic business and hub for the running community in the area).

The views were extraordinary, the energy high & happy throughout, & the work put into taking care of each other and ensuring success brought us just that, which I think the video and photos here speak to well.

As if I can't gush even more about this event, recovery time was minimal, which I think is due to the long periods of rest time between legs (said legs being intense but short-lived), and having ample stores of water & nutrition on hand to keep the body chemistry balanced and ready to rock.

I'm very grateful that I felt awesome throughout my runs, & came back strong almost immediately w/ some not-so-pretty-but-hey-got-it-done mileage early the following morning, followed by a sweet gym workout at the resort where we stayed.

Decompressing and celebrating with all the teams at the Town and Country Resort was lovely, and getting up close & personal w/ the incredible rock formations & waves at Ocean Beach on the way back home was a special joy to share with my fellow wolves as well.

We definitely started talking about more relays to come in the future, nothing set in stone yet, but obvious choices are what they are, and I can't wait to get going on sequel(s) soon!

I'll also say my employer continues to deliver and exceed expectations on all fronts, especially since the #adizeroboston12s were the only shoe I ran the relay in, everything from my 1-mile repeats got handled w/ strength in this perfect package of trainer-tough, race-day light, & durability on a level where the outsole feels untouched, much less the Lightstrike Pro foam and ENERGYRODS one-two punches, all after having put down about 100 miles in this pair already.

I can't recommend missions like this enough if you have the resources and positive, trustworthy people around you who are down for unlocking new abilities in beautiful places, which are some of the best people we have in my book, much love and gratitude to everyone in the Wolfpack Runners family, all our fellow runners, support teams, & organizers, & everyone at No Shortcuts and Amp Association, this event was an honor & a pure pleasure to be a part of, keep up the amazing work!