Re: 1/2 Marathon Trainers, Week of Dec 30th
No, we were all clubmates. When we first did it, it was first come, first served, and I actually was not a member. But someone dropped out and I was in. Our objective was simple. Each member was responsible for running as well as she could, especially in training for it. So during the summer, people worked very hard because they knew that if they didn't come through they'd be letting their teammates down. That a bunch of old suburbanites finished as well as they did was a bonus because the important thing was that everyone came through with their best efforst (although in both 2006 and 2007 we lost a runner during the race to injury, which required 2 of us in 2006 (including me) and 1 in 2007 (not me) to run a 4th leg).
Some teams take it as a lark, and the worst scenario is to have some of those and some who are taking it seriously on the same team because that just breeds resentment both ways. The key is to have someone on the team -- it wasn't me -- who keeps everyone relaxed. One of our members is a managing director at a major New York investment bank. He noted that the couple of days away were the only chance he had of being completely away from his normal world. We had one couple, but everyone else (with exception of a single guy) was away from their significant other.
The other endorsement I can give is that all 12 of our 2006 re-upped for 2007, although 2 had to drop out. (I'm not doing it in 2008 because I'm concentrating on the NYC Marathon and while I did both in 2006, doubling is tough and I chose RTB over NYC in 2007.) There are similar multi-leg relays thorughout the country now, generally based on the 12-person/36-leg model. You'll also find a really supportive community of experienced runners for each of them who are more than happy to help out; there's an unofficial RTB handbook, for example.
JP - Interesting stuff!! Were the people on your team pretty much strangers?
LOL