Official Final Results

After a bit of back and forth on the results, the final official results are posted at the MC200 site - 28 hours, 8 minutes and 8 seconds. We finished 35th overall out of 203 teams and 19th in the Mixed Open category out of 130 teams. I'm not sure what happened to the Mixed 50:50 category we thought we'd be in, but we're very happy with the results. Congrats team!

Final Results

Final results of the race are available. Click here. (6/14 Update - these links now seem to be broken; perhaps my comments below were echoed by other teams and adjustments are coming)

According to the results, we finished 33rd out of 197 teams in a time of 29 hours, 28 minutes and 8 seconds. Congrats to all the runners on Cheaper By the Dozen for this great result.

I do have a few comments and questions about the results though. The finishing time seems to include the "storm delay". As the runner who ran the leg coming into the transfer area where the red alert was issued, I would like to see every minute of my leg count. Based on the current results, I could have run a much more leisurely leg and we'd still have the same time!

We also seem to be lumped into the "Mixed Open" category rather than the 50/50 category since our team consisted of 6 men and 6 women. So it's my hope that the results are amended after some review. However, even if the results are not updated, this has been a great experience and it was a pleasure to run with such a fun group.

Finishing Times

You can check out the finishing times on the Estimated Race Times tab at the top of the blog or you can check it out here.

Just a note about the race times -- times were recorded by the time of day on the clock, so the pace/mile might not be entirely accurate because times were generally rounded to the minute. For example, if you finished at 12:10:32 seconds, you might have gotten a 12:10 PM finish time, cutting your time by 32 seconds. We also had a discrepancy between our clock and the race clock by a couple of minutes. Plus, we're not entirely sure how the rain delay will shake out. But you can get a general idea of how things went by the log we've kept.

We made it!

Cheaper by the Dozen has officially finished the MC200. Fearless leader gutted out an awesome last leg to bring us in under 1700 minutes (28 hours and 8 minutes unofficially), approximately 34 minutes faster than our estimated time. As you can see in the video, our whole team joined Jeff for the finish.

Final Leg is Underway

Jeff is about halfway through the final leg. We just gave him some water along the route. He looks fresh and strong. Next stop: Finish Line.

Jeff taking off after the handoff from Al

Al is Done!

Al cruised home with an awesome time of 50 minutes for his final leg. Al thinks the course may no have actually been 7.51 miles, but we'll give him the benefit of the doubt and credit him with 6:40 min/mile. Regardless, the run puts us 34 minutes ahead of our estimated finish time.

Al coming into the final handoff at Northwestern University's Ryan Field.

Al handing off to Jeff for the final leg.

Vern is Done!

After the rain delay, Vern blazed through his last leg in just under 45 minutes, finishing at 1:00PM. We're now tracking to finish 26 minutes under our estimated pace. That puts us at the finish line at 3:06PM. However, we expect that Jeff's ultra-long leg at the end might slow us down a minute or two.

Vern handing off to Al for Leg 35.

Vern getting dirty on Leg 34. Didn't know this was an offroad trail race?

Racing underway - Leg 34

The red alert weather delay has passed and we're able to get on with the race. Vern started leg 34 at 12:15, a 1 hour, 20 minute delay. The rain is still falling lightly, but there's no lightening and the rain is keeping the temperatures down. Hopefully the weather will stay reasonable until we can finish.

Justin is Done!

Justin cruising into the finish just before the rain starts

Justin finished his leg at 10:55AM finishing in just over 37 minutes, putting the team 22 minutes ahead of our estimated finish time.

Leg 32 recap - Chris is Done!

Chris' leg went past Abbott Labs and the Naval Academy before jumping onto a bike path. The guy van was supposed to catch up to Chris at Belvidere St. to give him some water, but they got a late start and even though Al ran a red light in an attempt to catch up, we didn't catch up with Chris until a few streets later.

Chris finished at 10:18AM, finishing his leg in approximately 69 minutes.

Red Alert

Ominous storm clouds causing a stoppage in the racing

We're stuck at transfer point 33 waiting out a thunderstorm. Justin finished the leg at 10:55AM and we all piled in to the van just as it started to rain. We haven't had anything severe happen in our area, but the course officials want to play it safe. The storm looks to be dissipating so we're hoping to get underway in a half hour or so.

Sweaty Finished Ladies

The ladies are done. They are sweaty and tired, but they are done! Now the men just have to finish up their legs.

Tammy shows off her map that got her through the leg. She finished her last leg (#32) at 9:09AM putting the team 17 minutes ahead of their estimated finish time.

Kathleen, Nicole and Pam are Done!

Pam finishing her leg and handing off to Tammy while Sara looks on

Kathleen finished her leg at 6:49AM, Nicole finished at 7:21AM, and Pam finished at 8:27AM. After these three ladies finished their legs, we are now 15 minutes ahead of our estimated finish time. They are sure putting a lot of pressure on the men to keep to their estimated pace!

Lots of Running & Lack of Sleep Leads to ....

an almost near disaster. See below.

Pancakes

The transfer area for leg 27-28 was a special place - the Kenosha Running Club was selling pancakes for $1. Blueberry, Strawberry, and Chocolate Chip were on the menu. What a carb-filled treat!

Eric is Done!

Eric flying to his finish

Eric finished up his final leg, #27 at 6:11 AM. We are still 14 minutes ahead of projected pace.

Sara is Done!

Sara is all smiles after finishing her leg. As you can see in the picture, it's still a bit chilly and there is a mist falling. Perfect running weather for running. She finished at 5:19AM with a 57 minute last leg, pulling us 16 minutes ahead of our estimated pace.

Jeff rode along with Sara on the bike. He reports that it was the most beautiful, scenic run just as dawn was breaking.

Race Time for first 24 legs

Race times for the 24 legs are viewable here.

Now We're Cold?

Proving what an odd experience a 200 mile relay can be, we went from being hot and sticky to cold and shivering in a matter of minutes. At the end of Leg 24, we could feel a cool breeze blowing in from Lake Michigan and leg 25 was on a lakeshore bike path with a nice cooling breeze, perfect for running. Chris, on the bike, reported that he was a bit chilly. For those standing around, out came the long sleeve shirts, coats, and blankets. We can hope it will last, but the weather forecast doesn't seem promising.

Michelle is Done!

Michelle has finished up her final leg. She finished at 4:22am with a 50 minute run, right on pace!

Two Dozen Down

Jeff finished up his leg so we are officially done with 2/3 of the race, 13 minutes ahead of our projection. Jeff finished his leg at 3:33 AM. There's a bit of confusion about the pace/distance. His GPS is reporting 5.28 but the course says it was a 5.95 leg. Since we'll probably never know the real story, let's give Jeff a 44 minute run covering 5.95 miles for an average pace of 7:24/mile. That cool night air is really feeling good.

Jeff reported that he really liked running at night. He even got to witness a cat trying to pounce on a duck.

Al covered leg 23 in 40 minutes, finishing at 2:49 AM.

Michelle is out running her last leg and Chris is escorting her on the bike. Daylight isn't that far away and it will be nice to see everything in our van. It's a bit hard to find stuff at night in a messy, smelly van, but so far everything is working out.

Legs 18-22 in the Books

It's the middle of the night and it's finally feeling a little cooler. You can call it "bearable" now. Vern just finished up a short and fast leg 22 (3.04 miles in under 24 minutes!, finishing at 2:09AM). We're still tracking ahead of schedule by 13 minutes. We'll need that time as it heats out tomorrow.

Justin finished up Leg 21, a 6.46 jaunt, in just under 44 minutes at 1:45am.

Chris did a long 7.55 leg 20 in 59 minutes at 1:01 AM.

Tammy finished a deceptively hilly 6.25 mile run in just under one hour (59 minutes) just after midnight (12:02AM)

Pam finished up leg 18, a 6.12 mile run, in 55 minutes at 11:03AM.

Navigating in the dark is becoming a little harder, but we're managing. We haven't missed anyone at the transfer points yet.

Leg 18 Update

Pam is out on leg 18. Vern is accompanying her on the bike. Nicole finished up her leg at 10:08PM (39 minutes). She did great, especially since her knee is bothering her so keep her in your prayers for a recovery. We're still tracking 10 minutes ahead of scheduled pace which is great since it still is about 80 degrees.

The Garmin Survives

Al tried to destroy his Garmin (or it tried to commit suicide) by leaving it on top of the van as we left a transfer area. But he heard it fly off the room, pulled a quick U turn and Jeff ran across the road to save it from further damage. The Garmin still works and Jeff claims that it might be a little more accurate now. Here's a picture of the scuffs....

Leg 17 Underway

Kathleen just finished up leg 16 - our first run in the dark of night. She finished at 9:29pm - right on schedule (40 minutes). We're still tracking 12 minutes ahead of projected finish. So far, so good. Thanks again for the prayers and comments.

Nicole is running leg 17 Here's a shot of her running as we drove by in the van. Chris is still following behind on the bike.

Leg 16 Underway

The sun has set not long ago, and it's still hot and that's causing times to be slow. Eric has just finished up his second leg. It was a long run (7.65 miles) and he finished at 8:49PM for a 64 minute run. We're still tracking 12 minutes ahead of our estimated pace. We're under a yellow heat advisory that isn't expected to be lifted until 10PM this evening.

Kathleen is now running leg 16 and Chris is accompanying her on the bike. With the sun set, we won't be taking or posting many pictures and some of us are going to try to catch a little nap. So the blogging will slow down considerably, but we'll pick it back up tomorrow.

Leg 15 in progress

Leg 13 (Michelle finished at 7:15pm) and Leg 14 (Sara finished at 7:45pm) are completed. Eric is out running leg 15. The sun is setting so he's dressed up in reflective gear for safety.

Sara finishing up a strong leg 14. She finished at 7:45pm (30 minutes)

Sara handing off to Eric at the Carol College transfer area.

Updated Times

After leg 12, we were 15 minutes ahead of our estimated pace. Click here to find out the actual times for the first 12 legs and the estimated finish time.

Trying to stay Cool

It's a hot one today and people are doing anything they can to stay cool. Here's a couple of runners (not CDB runners) who took a dip in the retention pond at the park in transfer area 12.

MC200 Pictures (first 11 legs)

Here are a bunch of pictures from the first 11 legs of our experience.

A Dozen Done

Fearless leader finishing a tough, hot leg. Jeff finished around 6:28pm (approx 55 minutes)

Michelle starting lucky leg 13

Pictures from Legs 8 - 10

Chris getting the handoff from Tammy. Tammy finished at 2:30pm (25 minutes for her leg). Chris finished his leg at 3:00pm (30 minutes for his leg)

Justin after the finish of his leg. A cool backdrop along the Glacial Drumlin trail. He finished his leg at 3:58 (58 minutes)

Vern coming in to the finish of his leg. He finished at 4:45pm (47 minutes)

The First Dozen

Al finishing up leg 11.

Leg 12 is underway. Fearless leader Jeff Rau is on the trail. Al just finished up his leg at 5:32pm - we're 22 minutes ahead of our estimated pace. In the last 3 legs we've passed 21 teams. Once we start the second rotation, we'll see how everyone has recovered.

We've been alerted their is a yellow alert condition on the course as the heat index is over 90 degrees and will continue at 90+ until at least 8pm. Let's hope the thunderstorms hold off. All the teams should be on the course now as the fastest teams started at 5pm today.

Thanks for all the comments and prayers.

Leg 11 Underway

The blogger's been out running so we haven't had a chance to update in a while.

Leg 8 finished at 3:00pm (Chris), leg 9 finished at 3:58pm(Justin), and leg 10 finished at 4:45pm (Vern). We're currently ahead of schedule by 20+ minutes.

Hopefully I'll be able to get some pictures up in the next hour or so.

Leg 8 underway

Tammy finished up leg 7 at 2:30pm, approximately 18 minutes ahead of schedule. Chris is now running his leg.

Leg 7 handoff - 15 minutes ahead of schedule

Pam finished up her leg at 2:05pm. At this point, we're 15 minutes ahead of schedule. We'll need this time later in the race and this heat is pretty brutal. But everyone is doing great. Leg 7 is the last leg for the women for a while. After Tammy finishes her leg, the guys have five straight legs.

Legs 4 - 6

Kathleen finishing up her leg at 12:46

Nicole running her leg. She finished up her leg at 1:19pm

Pam starting off her leg

Leg 4 In Progress

The clouds are gone and the sun is out in full force. We stopped to cheer on Kathleen about 1 1/2 miles from the finish of her leg. The guys van is now off to Transfer Area #6 while the ladies keep up with their runners.

The running for the next several hours will be on the Glacial Drumlin trail. It's a crushed limestone trail on an old rail line.

Leg 4 underway

Eric just finished up his leg running 7:24/mile. He caught a few teams along the way. So far, so good. But it's definitely humid out here and the weather will be a factor at some point. Still tracking approximately 9 minutes ahead of schedule.

Kathleen starting off her leg while Eric (background in blue) cools down.

Start Video

Leg 3 Underway

Eric is flying through his leg. Here's a shot of Eric turning the corner onto Vilas Hope Road.

Leg 2 Finished

Sara right after the handoff for Leg 2

Sara cranked off a wonderful time, finishing up her leg at the 1 hour 36 minute mark.

Sara hands off to Eric without missing a beat.

Leg 1 finished

Michelle finished leg 1 at 10:16am. 2 minutes ahead of schedule!

We're off!

Michelle waiting for the start

Michelle off to a quick start.

Our team is off and running. Michelle is running the first leg. She looks excited and ready to run a fast time!

Ready to Start

The ladies of the team (ladies first!)

The whole Cheaper by the Dozen team

The team has assembled at the Madison Sheraton. Jeff gave us the "let's finish safely" pep talk, Eric led us in a devotion, and we attended the safetey meeting. In a few minutes we'll be on our way to Chicago.