Tucson Tri Girls on the Run - April

On March 30th and 31st, the Tucson Tri Girls put away their bikes and their swimsuits and became the Tucson Relay Girls. They made the trek from Tucson to participate in the 2007 Ragnar Relay Del Sol. Those who know the Tucson Tri Girls are aware that they are fierce competitors and the Del Sol was no exception. They finished in 28:47:47 and placed 2nd in the Open Female division. The Tucson Tri Girls is a nonprofit organization that started as an informal mailing list in April 2003. Within a few months they grew to 50 members and now have more than 150 members in the club. The team captain, Holly Justice, heard about the Ragnar Relay Del Sol from other runners and organized this team after about 30 people said they were interested. Because of injuries and busy schedules, they ended up with a team of 11 women that were ready to run. When asked why they decided to run this relay race, Holly said, "We wanted to do something related to running, but weren't quite up to running a marathon. The Ragnar Relay Del Sol sounded like it would be a perfect fit."

Holly spent a lot of time preparing her team for the race. She said that she was on the Ragnar Relay web site at least once-a-day and was constantly using the pace calculator as team members would drop out and others would join. They predicted their pace would be 9:30 and finished with an average pace of 9:15. When asked what suggestion she would give to new teams, Holly said, "Know the team's pace so that you can plan the timing of the vans and the runners. It takes the stress out of the race and will make it 24 hours of fun."

When asked to share her team's most memorable moment, Holly told us about their own little "wardrobe malfunction." "One member of our team was being especially careful when changing her clothes. She always waited until it was dark to change, whereas everyone else on the team just did what needed to be done. She was wearing one of those new running skirts that are really popular to run in. It was the first time that she was wearing it and was really excited. Unfortunately, on her leg, she took the baton in the exchange and took off running. What she did not realize was that her skirt wasn't quite in place and left plenty to be seen. We caught up with her and straightened out the situation, but it will forever be part of the legacy of the Tucson Relay (or Tri) Girls."

So the next time that you are at a race in Arizona look out for the Tucson Tri Girls. They will be decked out in their purple TTG shirts. We look forward to seeing them at the 2008 Ragnar Relay Del Sol.