Life with the Normans: Tuna 200

Back in March, I accidentally ended up on my first relay team for a 200 mile race. I hated it at first, but by the time we were headed home I signed us up for another one in North Carolina. My next mission was to recruit 10 more people (let's be honest Matt was super excited that I lost my mind and was all in). Either I have super awesome friends or completely insane friends (probably a little bit of both) and we quickly filled our team. Next came the months of training in the HEAT!! It was not under 90% humidity one day we trained, but we did it and everyone did amazing (some who this was their first time training to run). So on Thursday, we loaded the vans and headed to Raleigh. I LOVED my van and was so thankful for deepening the friendships that I already had. We were completely delirious by the end, but it was so much fun! We also did it in memory of my friend Emily's Dad who sadly passed away suddenly in July. So at the end we had our shirts that said, "In Memory of Poppy". As the day went, we had many ask about who Poppy was and we got to share about the wonderful man he was and the legacy he left. The whole trip was wonderful and full of so many memories! (Also, these pictures are all out of order)

Team 33 - Tortoises and Hares

At packet pick-up.

We crammed 5 people into a hotel room.

Laura's awesome bed!

We were ready....for an emergency!

Van 1 - minus Emily Ewing!

Ashley taking off

Emily E was READY!!

The pound cake was a HUGE HIT!!! Almost all of it was gone by the time we got home!

Matt killed it as always!

I was done, and Matt was about to go. Oh how I love this man!

The hand-off, after Emily almost got hit by a car

I was so impressed by this church and how their people truly believe in tithing!

Matt coming in!

Our last runner was off!

Waiting for Brendan

Our team!

Laying on random church floors....

Hand-off

Can you tell we were starting to get tired?

Van 1 was DONE!!

Tuna at the end!

Everyone was required to take a picture with the tuna and try it!

Ashley

Laura - she chocked a piece down. It really was better than we both thought!

Matt with the tuna!

Finished our 2nd relay in 2017 (3rd for Matt)

The other "couple" in our van for the weekend

Love this man!!

Taco time!!

Van 2 finished!!

Our team!!

In memory of Poppy

The beach house we stayed at had this lighthouse outside.

Ready to go home!

Laura had to go home.....

The men of Van 1.... now the random order starts

Van 1 Ladies

The official start for Ashley!

Van 2

The ladies of Team Tortoises and Hares

FIA shirts

Emily was READY!!

Sweet Friends

Van 2 was so good about making sure each other was hydrated (they did have incredibly hot temperatures). In van 1 we drove by and said, "you good? ok see you at the check point!!"