It's crazy at what some people will in order to motive others, to reach some sort of grand measurement or status. With the third installment of The Buck Fifty - Southern Ohio's Premier 150 Mile, 24 Hour, 10 Person Team Relay on the way, our team captain Mark (the same guy who initially put our team together then ditched us prior to the event's first year to go on a cruise) wanted team Traffic Panthers to make a giant splash.

With all of us now running regularly, his proposal was this - if we could finish, as a team, in under 23 hours he would punish himself by running the Nationwide Children's Hospital Columbus Marathon come October. Not that we needed incentive, but the experience of watching Captain Treadmill...er...I mean Mark...suffer filled us all with glee. This is the guy who watched us struggle with the Buck Fifty two years ago from the tropics and sent pictures of his fun times to rub it in. His nickname, Captain Treadmill, comes from his penchant for not liking the cold and running indoors nine months of the year.

The task is possible. Our finish at the initial race in 2017 had us finishing 18th of 38 teams in 24:36.24 and last year 19th of 69 teams in 23:51.20. If the ten of us could shave five minutes - total - off of our three routes, we would be golden. Though, here is the challenge. We have changed up the roster so that everyone will be running three routes brand new to them this year, so familiarity would not benefit us. And Van #1 & Van #2 have switched, meaning not only would we be running different routes, we would be covering different time frames and portions of Ross County as in year's past.

Being now a member of Van #1, we would begin Friday afternoon with Mark leading us off at 5pm from Ohio University-Chillicothe. Our finish would be, hopefully, less than 23 hours (and 150 miles) later at the same location. This year I was the owner of the fourth position, meaning I would be running legs 4, 14 and 24. We would be greeted with sunshine and temperatures hanging around 70.

My first leg's (Route #4) description, according to the The Buck Fifty:
1. Turn left onto St. Rt. 550 and stay to the left as much a possible.
2. 0.6 Miles turn left onto Biers Run Rd.
3. Follow this across the bridge over US 35 and stay on Biers Run Rd. all the way to the checkpoint at the intersection of Biers Run and Caitlin Dr.

I gathered the baton from Traffic Panther Eric at Sun Valley Campground at dusk on Friday night and within moments I pass a competitor. Shortly thereafter I turn to navigate the bridge over the state route and a glance to my left was a picturesque view of the red, yellow and orange sunset slowly evaporating over the horizon.

A relatively flat route evolved into in a small hill before flattening out again and I would pass two additional competitors before reaching my first exchange. It would officially be nighttime as I hand off to Traffic Panther Dave, having covered the 4.49 miles in 30:02. The first team transition at Adena High School would be odd for us as this was the place we began the previous two years. Doing just the opposite had it's benefits as the school had lots of food available. I had a slice of pizza, a bowl of potato soup and was given several peanut butter sandwiches in zip top bags to take with me for the rest of the way.

Dave arrives and hands off to Van #2's Traffic Panther Sarah, and our first mission is completed. We head off to Traffic Panther Mark's nearby house to crash for about two hours before our next round. While there I kept with a personal tradition and drank a beer during the downtime, a Lagunitas Hop Stoopid from Mark's fridge would do. His wife Anna would have a giant plate of scramble eggs and two pounds of bacon for us (six dudes) to scarf down before getting some rest. Just like years before, I didn't really sleep. I sort of closed my eyes and relaxed with Mark's German Springer snoring away while spread eagle on my lap with the sounds of sports highlights being detailed from the talking heads on the TV. At about midnight (90 minutes later), we shook off the cobwebs and piled into the van for our next destination.

At the grain mill we meet up with our Van #2 members for the second transition. Soon Traffic Panther Chris and her headlamp emerge from the darkness and she hands of to Mark for his second route, the time is about 1:15 in the morning.

Following Mark, a couple of us get to navigate the trails of Great Seal State Park. At the exchange prior to mine, the folks at the shelter house have a giant fire to ward off the chill. It is about 50 degrees, but it isn't warm if you are just standing and waiting. They also have baked beans and pulled pork sandwiches available, which smelled awesome. Though, I couldn't take part for I would be running again soon.

My second leg's (Route #14) description goes like this:
1. Runner will leave the parking lot checkpoint and stay on the purple trail headed through the grassy area.
2. Go across the creak and head into the trail system. This will be point R. This trail will climb about 400 feet in elevation in the first .8 miles but will leave you with a beautiful view over the city of Chillicothe at night. You will go to EE, O and then to Z for the points on the maps in the Great Seal Trails.
3. As you work your way up the trail system to Mt. Ives you should be able to see headlamps up to your left as you ascend and then down to your left as you look back from Mt. Ives.
4. Follow the ridge of the trail past point X and on to point N. At this point you will really be working your way down the hill to point M where you will exit the park by crossing a small creek, and then turn right onto Lick Run Rd.
5. Follow Lick Run Rd. past the Ross County Human Society and turn to your left at the stop sign onto Lick Run Rd. Follow this past Blacksmith Hill which will be on your right, and continue straight to Springfield Township fire house dead ahead. This will be at the corner of Lick Run Rd. and Musselman Station Road.

Traffic Panther Eric and his safety lights appear coming down from a trail, crosses a road and hands off to me at the exchange just after 3am, it is 45 degrees. I then race back into the woods onto another trail to disappear into the darkness. Now I have a headlamp, but I brought along my Knuckle Lights as a precaution and I'm thankful I did. I even wore my glasses (held in place by my skull cap), but it was still difficult to see the trail. There were reflective signs indicating the Buck Fifty route every so often, but the between portions forced you to be on guard and scanning for directions at all times.

After crossing a creek, it as uphill on some switchbacks and about five minutes later I start to see the faint safety lights of the competitor in front of me. I notice I'm gaining on him quickly, that's when I realize he is struggling up the giant hill with the ridiculous grade. I'm working the incline, but feel like I'm running in place. No matter how much effort you put in, you feel like you are stuck in third gear. The key is keep moving in one way or another and not attempt to look up hill. I make my way to him and he is now walking, but moves to the side to let me go by. I'm not walking, but I'm at a snail's pace and my legs, and lungs, are on fire.

Moments later, I glance up to see the top of the hill. The faint change in darkness from the ground above and the night sky was a welcome sight. I made it and I'm still running and I didn't walk, though I so wanted to, and I'm paying for it as my body is aching. Scanning the ground to make sure I'm on the trail, I can see the lights of the Chillicothe horizon in my peripheral as the winding downhill allows my legs to recover. I trip and catch myself with my hands and right knee, but bounce back up to continue on in one motion. "Yeah", I thought, "that's gonna leave a mark." The lights of road below emerge and before I know it I'm off the trail and I have hit asphalt again, turning to my right I crank up the pace knowing the exchange is a bit more than a mile away.

Being able to stride out without hesitation, I soon pass two more competitors along the dark road and into focus comes my second exchange. I pass an official who asks for my team number, she then texts ahead to the exchange to let everyone know who was coming in. I see the Springfield Township Fire Station, hear some music, see some people and a number of cars, but I don't see the exchange chute and I'm closing fast. With what energy I have left I yell, "Where am I going?! Where's Chute!?" Scrambling teammates and officials direct me to the exchange that had been hidden by the vehicles parked in front. I find Dave and hand off, having covered the 525 feet of elevation gain and 3.83 miles in 32:11. My hands, tights and shoes are covered in mud and my right knee is decorated with a nice strawberry and large bruise.

We travel to transition #2 at Walnut Creek Campground and meet up with our teammates. We chill out next to another campfire until Dave arrives to hand off to Sarah. She had been worried about running the back country roads at night for fear of stray dogs and what not. We, of course, made sure to rib her about it. As she takes the baton and heads out, we yell to her to watch out for things from dogs and zombies to werewolves. While still running the opposite direction, we see her and her safety lights turn back towards us and she flips us off before continuing on her merry way, touche. It is now around 4:30am, Van #2 heads out and we are off to Traffic Panther Van #1 driver Mike's house to crash for a couple of hours. I have some donuts, a banana and a Cliff Bar to go along with a Great Lakes Brewing Eliot Ness. I close my eyes and fall asleep for about an hour or so with my teammates in Mike's basement.

Around 8am, we gather our things and pile back into the van for our final run to begin at Southeastern High School. On the way there, we have to wait for a train to pass. This can also be an unfortunate roadblock for runners. On this day, it was. As it passed, we saw three runners having to restart their journey. We arrive at the high school and meet up with our teammates. It is refreshing to have blue sky and sunshine again. The exchange location has coffee, donuts and music blaring. I drink about three cups of coffee before Chris arrives to hand off to Mark for the second time.

Following Mark, the rest of us get to navigate the trails & roads of Scioto Trails State Park. At my next exchange, we are high atop the park at the fire tower waiting on Eric. As we watch runners come and go, our estimate for when Eric is to arrive passes with no sign of him. We then begin see to other runners arrive indicating they had missed a turn and had to backtrack in order to move on. Before much longer, Eric arrives and as I take the baton for my final route I hear him pepper an unhappy explanation for his lateness with several expletives indicating a missed turn and a two mile detour. It is now just before the noon hour.

My third leg's (Route #24) description:
1. Leave the Fire Tower and head back on North Ridge Rd where your previous runner just came from and follow this for approximately 2.45 miles on the gravel road. At this point you will enter into the trail system at Point #13. Look for the large green and white sign with an arrow to your left. This will now be a trail run for the remaining 4 miles. The first part has some ups and downs but there is a large downhill section where you will cross a small creek.
2. This is at 3.75 Miles you cross over Moss Hollow Rd. Go straight across back onto the trails at Point #14 which leads you up a hill to point #15. Then to point #16, #17, and #18. There are 3 more hills after the last creek crossing.
3. End at parking lot on 1300 Toad Hollow Road, Checkpoint #24.

The route traverses a somewhat paved road, then onto a gravel road. I pass two competitors before turning onto the trail of rolling terrain, then the hills begin. Just like the previous route they are steep and extremely rugged. I pass another competitor who has come to a walk, "The freakin' hills man!", he says as I pass. The uphills, of course have downhills, but this route - known as the Double Black Diamond - keeps throwing those uphills at you. I pass a couple more competitors who are struggling to keep moving and after a welcomed long downhill I cross Moss Hollow Road and then back up a hill on the same trail. This portion resembles a hastily clear cut temporary footpath for wildlife and is covered in a mixture of mud, clay and speed bump-like mounds to redirect drainage.

Again, I'm moving everything in a running motion but I'm barely going forward at all. Every now and then, as the sun beats down and the temps reach the mid 60s, I glance up to see how far away the next turn is and focus on what I'm doing. After each turn, it's uphill again along the same terrain. At the top its flat for only a few moments, just enough time to catch your breath and prepare for the next uphill. After a few of the inclines, I make sure to take deep breaths as I feel a little lightheaded after the exertion. A couple more competitors are passed and I'm going all out downhill. And just as I did before, I catch myself before face planting and right as I bounce back up I wipe my clay covered hands across my shirt several times. During this time, since it is that time of the year to see them, I see at least three snakes slither across the path in front of me. I am not a fan of snakes and was hoping I hadn't ticked off a Copperhead or two.

Having passed seven competitors and flying downhill I start seeing people, cars and the baton exchange below. I reach the bottom, find Dave and hand off then down and drench myself with two bottles of water. The six miles and 900 feet of elevation are covered in 51:13. We head off to the final transition at Open Door Church and meet up with the rest of our team. There our team is celebrating having finished, while the others are anticipating their final stage. I see Mark grab a beer out of his cooler and he offers me one. At this point, I'll take any sort of refreshment and the Budweiser Select was just as good as anything else - it was what was available and I didn't care. Dave arrives around 1:30pm to hand off to Sarah, we head to the finish at Ohio University-Chillicothe to gather our cars, rest and shower. I head to Mark's to clean up and afterwards had to wake him up to return to OU-C for the arrival of our teammates and the Buck Fifty finish celebration.

Our team arrives, Chris makes her way in and - as is the case with this race - we cross the finish line as a team 150 miles later in the same spot we left from the day before. I was the only one not wearing our team shirt and caught flack for it, but the black shirt was covered with smeared muddy hand prints from the trails. We did not reach our goal of under 23 hours, but we finish with our best total time ever. And Mark will be running the full Nationwide Children's Hospital Columbus Marathon in October anyway because he has put too much into it to simply not do it.

According to the results, team Traffic Panthers placed 27th out of the 78 teams who finished and in a time of 23:41:28 - a 10 minute improvement from 2018. No, we didn't reach our initial goal though we did show that there's a commitment to continue and to make 2020 even better.

I spend a short time celebrating the finish with our team and toss back a Goose Island 312 Urban Wheat, but I head out early. Why? For I have another race the next morning. (THIS IS THE ATHENS HALF MARATHON REVIEW, GO CHECK IT OUT FOR THE FULL STORY)