Reach the Beach Relay
The Reach The Beach Relay is a long distance relay race that is run through the picturesque hills and valleys of New Hampshire at the start of foliage season. It is the longest running relay race in the North America at approximately 204 miles, starting from Cannon Mountain and ending at Hampton Beach.
The race is currently capped at 350 teams and has filled up for the last several years. Participating teams traditionally come from the New England area, but as the race grows more and more teams are signing up from around the country and the world.
History
The relay was started in 1999 by two multisport athletes who wished to bring a multi-day, relay-style race to New England. It is modelled after the grandfather of running relay races, the Hood to Coast relay in Oregon. The first year enjoyed participation by 31 teams, with the first team finishing in 23 hours and the last team in 32. In 2006, 300 teams participated and ranged in times from 22 hours to almost 35.
Course
Each year the course undergoes some minor changes and as such the total distance has increased from around 198 miles to around 204 miles. It is segmented into 36 legs, and is run primarily by 12-person teams. Each team will run their roster three complete rotations when the race is complete, so the runner in position one runs leg 1, 13, and 25, runner in position two runs leg 2, 14, and 26, and so on. Teams of less than 12 are permitted to race, but they must maintain their order. For instance, on an 11 person team the first three runners will have to run four legs each. A team with six or fewer runners is called an Ultra.
Weather
The race is run on a Friday and Saturday in the middle of September, which generally means cool but comfortable running weather. But with New England weather, one needs to be prepared for extremes. The most feared weather system by the participants is the hurricane. While technically a hurricane has never rolled through New Hampshire on race day, the remnants of three hurricanes (or what felt like hurricanes) were felt in past years.
- Hurricane Isidore in 2002
- Hurricane Ivan in 2004
- Some would argue Hurricane Ophelia in 2005 but a review of the weather maps show that it was just plain old rain that drenched the course