Pre-Blast: The Palmetto 200 – Columbia, SC

Just less than a week removed from the Blue Ridge Relay, PAX may find themselves working their way back into a comfortable weekly routine.  As we strive to improve ourselves at each opportunity, what better way to remedy the tendency to drift back towards your comfort zone than to mark your calendar for the next #CSAUP event.  For veteran relay race runners, or those PAX who are inexperienced runners, The Palmetto 200 offers you an opportunity to challenge yourself both physically and mentally, all while enjoying fellowship with your F3 brothers.

Conditions: Flat and fast

The Thang:

For the last 2 years, F3 Columbia PAX have assembled teams to compete in a Blue Ridge Relay type event that starts in our very own backyard, called The Palmetto 200   If you’ve never done a relay of this sort before, think a road race meets a camping trip.  For those PAX unfamiliar with the details of The Palmetto 200, or a relay race in general, listed below is a description of the event (thanks to Chaser for lending some of his 2014 P200 pre-blast verbiage).

The race is divided into 36 seperate legs which cover the 200 miles (just as BRR). The first leg will begin at Coble Plaza at the Edventure Museum, and the last leg wraps up at Patriots Point (just outside of historic Charleston). Once the race starts teams run continuously throughout the night.  The legs vary in length; however, most legs average ~5 miles. Teams are formed and total anywhere from 4 to 12 people with the vast majority being either 12-man or 9-man teams. Runners on 12-man teams will run three legs of varying distances and will run differing total miles. Similarly, 9-man teams will run the same legs but each will run 4 legs instead of 3.  Like the BRR though, most runners on a 12-man team will run a total of ~16 miles over the course of three legs, while runners on a 9-man team will run anywhere from 18-28 miles over 4 legs.  4-6 man teams are allowed, but the mileage significantly increases.

On a twelve man team there are two vehicles with 6 men per vehicle. “Van 1” begins at leg 1 and drops off and picks up runners as each runner finishes his leg until Runner 6 completes his leg. Then Van 2 picks up there and does the same while Van 1 goes off in search of a shower, food or rest…or all of the above. Van 1 then later goes to their next starting point and readies for the arrival of Van 2 several hours later.

YHC encourages the downtown run and bootcamp groups to talk this event up, and begin thinking on team rosters. For now, all we’re looking for are HC’s in the comments section below. If you are not registered to comment on the site, please email me at [email protected].

Moleskin:

• Depending on each team’s average 10K time, the race will begin Friday morning (3/18), with the intent that most teams wrap up around the 2:00-3:00 p.m. time frame on Saturday afternoon (3/19) in Charleston.
• Registration details can be found here: P200 Registration Info
• The first stage of discount pricing ends on September 30th, so no time to waste getting signed up! Current cost is $1,150 for a full team of 7-12 runners through 9/30.
• The field is limited to the first 115 teams, so again, time is of the essence.
• An F3 discount code is available. Please contact me directly for the code at [email protected].
• Each team will need to select a captain to run point on race logistics.

Let the HC’s begin!