Thunder victorious at relay

LAKEWOOD RANCH — The Out-of-Door Academy juniors Sarah Balades and Mitchell Hudson probably couldn’t tell you how many miles they run in a year.

As members of the Thunder track and cross country teams, the two teammates spend most of the year running and competing. But even with the intense amount of training they do throughout the course of the season, Balades and Hudson admit there are still some races that are slightly overwhelming.

Such was the case earlier this month when Balades and Hudson, along with six fellow students and four faculty members, competed in the 2011 Ragner Relay — a 191-mile race from Miami to Key West.

More than 325 teams from around the country competed in the national relay, which helped raise money and awareness for multiple sclerosis.

At first, Team Out-of-Door didn’t quite know what to expect when they drove down to Miami to begin the race. But 29 hours and 191 miles later, the team reveled in the experience after winning first place in the high school division.

“I’d never heard of running from Miami to Key West,” Balades said. “Not many people can say they’ve run that far.”

The idea to compete in the race originated this past fall when assistant cross country coach Jim Kennon received an e-mail about the race. After some research, Kennon asked if anyone was interested in participating.

“We have several kids who run cross country or have done half marathons, so I told them if they were interested to let me know,” Kennon said. “Eventually, we got a team together and a couple alternates and began training.”

The team began training for the Ragner Relay in November and spent the better part of two months running over the Ringling Bridge on weekends and over Christmas Break.

On Jan. 7, the team divided into two vans and drove down to Miami for the start of the race. Team Out-of-Door started the race at 12:30 p.m. and crossed the finish line as a team at 5:30 p.m. the following day on Duval Street in Key West.

Each member of the team was given a predetermined distance to run. Once every runner in the first van had run, the members of the second van began their portion of the race. By the time the race was over, every member of Team Out-of-Door had run three times, with distances ranging from three to 12 miles.

“I heard about it, and I started out as an alternate, but (someone) backed out and I was put in,” Hudson said. “I was always excited to do it. I thought it was a cool idea.”

During the 191-mile distance, the team crossed the Seven Mile Bridge, ran through the Everglades at night and ran a lap inside the Homestead-Miami Speedway. At night, the team was required to wear safety gear, including a vest and head and tail lamps.

“I liked running at night,” Hudson said. “There were some places where you could only see what your headlight saw. That was my favorite part, as crazy as it sounds.”

“Everyone was a little anxious at first, but once you get into the night of it all of a sudden you’re at Marathon and your realize Miami is 150 miles behind you,” Kennon said. “A lot of the kids were saying, ‘We did this.’”

Following the race, every member of Team Out-of-Door received a medal and a relay baton for their accomplishment. The team spent the rest of the day enjoying Key West, which for most of the team simply meant enjoying a hot meal and getting some much-needed rest.

“I don’t think we realized how tired we really were until a few days later,” Balades said. “I learned to appreciate sleep and normal food a lot more.”

Contact Jen Blanco at [email protected].

Team Out-of-Door
Students
Sarah Balades
Emma Lystad
Josh Kennon
Josh Lovin
Wesley Kean
Mitchell Hudson
Peter Runge
Zach Lang
Caitlyn Durfee-Alternate

Faculty
Jane Runge
Ken Sommers
Jamie Rubens
Jim Kennon