On race morning, Sunday Jan 13, 2008, 13 pacers met in the Southern Miss Gateway at 4:30am to drive together to Mobile, Alabama. The group included Andrew, Christy, Kelton, Jodi, and Terry L, his brother Richard, Becky, Vicky, Chrissy, Sheryl, Terry I, Kily and Nestor Raul. We drove and arrived in Mobile at around 6:30am. We went to the host hotel, picked our packets and met with the Jackson Three, Paula and Bill Thomas. We had two teams participating in the relay competition, the Oldtimers (Audrey, Vicky, Sheryl, Terry L. and Raul) and the Youngtimers (Chrissy, Jodi, Andrew, Kelton, and Terry I.). Becky and Christy were the coaches and cheerleaders for the teams. Paula, Bill, and Charles were ready to run the half-marathon event while Kily would try to complete his 10^th marathon in 10 different states. Richard was also competing in the 26.2 distance run. There were more than 1,000 entrants for the 3 events that were run under terrific weather conditions, sunny skies, little or not wind, and temperatures between 40 and 60ºF.

We will include several race reports from different sources, the oldies, the youngsters, and one of the crazy marathoners! Let’s start with the oldies.

As we had 2 teams, we placed them in different categories, so they wouldn’t confront each other during the race. The Pine Belt Pacers Youngtimers stayed in the Coed Organization Category while the Oldtimers moved to the Open Coed Masters Division. Once in the Open Masters Division, they had to face another division newcomer team, the strong "Blue Bombers + a Bunny". This team has a history in the event. They have won in several occasions the Masters Male Division. One of its runners got sick before the race, so they had to replace him with a girl. Therefore, they also moved their team to the Open Coed Masters category. OK Let’s see now what happened!

The first leg is flat and generally scenic as it runs through the Oak Leigh District. Vicki "Dynamite" Copeland started us off and gave us the lead running 39:32 minutes for the first leg, 30 seconds and 1 minute ahead of the second and third teams respectively. Audrey the Gazelle Jackson started off with the Bombers closely in pursuit. Leg 2 started at Government and Hallet and ran to Dauphin near the Atlanta Bread Company. Audrey ran a solid leg in 39:52; the Bomber team member too, and both finished very close to each other. At mile 10 Sheryl Irongirl Chatfield was very ready for the exchange of the armband. She took off and disappeared in the distance. The third leg is where the hills come in and is one of the toughest legs. There are several tough hills and rolling hills as the runners go through the Country Club area to the University of South Alabama. With those hills, settling into a pace is not exactly easy; however, Sheryl ran hard and finished in 34:21 giving us a bit more of an advantage. The turn is now for Terry the Hammer Lawhead! He got the armband on the back of the Swamp Loop at the 15 mile mark. Terry faced the toughest leg since he had to climb the infamous Firehouse Hill at mile 18. However, he also tackled the most scenic leg as he ran through a beautiful park. He hit 31:23 at mile 20, gave the team 2 minutes lead, and passed the armband to the fastest fattest Colombian in town (by the way, he was 8 pounds heavier than in his last year’s performance!). Well… that is me! I was met with the pressure and challenge of running the last leg for the team and keeping the lead. I did my "best", ran my fastest 10K in Mobile presentations, but I didn’t quite puke and screwed up a potential victory! . In fact, I was quickly and easily passed by the final member of the Bombers team between miles 22 and 23. While I ran the final 10K leg in a decent 46:25, this Bomber athlete thought he was running the Boston Marathon next to the Kenyans and finished in an impressive 39:20 time (too fast for this poor running soul! :). At the end the Bombers won in 3:05:**, and the Pine Belt Pacers Oldtimers finished second overall in 3:11:34. By the way, we broke the previous Pacers Club Marathon Relay Team record by 21 minutes and 44 seconds.

Thanks to Becky the Boss Ryder and Terry the Hammer Lawhead for coaching, cheering, and driving the team. We had a lot of fun and enjoy the experience very much. We were also very happy for the Pine Belt Youngtimers who also placed second in their division with a time of 3:36:**. Charles the Yankee Jackson, without training, made his debut in the half marathon distance with an outstanding time of 1:57. I think Bill Thomas finished around the 1:58 mark and Paula in 2:01. Kily’s and Raul’s friend Roberto did it in 2:00:03 while old Pacers friend Laurel’s UltraRunner Iva Lightsey finished it in 2:01. Richard Lawhead finished the marathon 3:33, and Kily completed his 10^th marathon in 4:26. Congratulations to the organizers for an excellent event and a worthy cause. Complete results will be soon posted in the following link à http://www.firstlightmarathon.com/Results08/Results08.html © Pijume Diwesi

Several elite runners from the Pine Belt traveled to Mobile, AL to run as part of a Relay Team in the First Light Marathon. I do not believe, in my short running career, that I’ve been part of such an enthusiastic and powerful experience - - A BIG THANK YOU to Nestor who organized and encouraged these pacers to participate in this adventure.

Leg 1: Chrissy "Pace Setter" Herrington
Leg 2: Jodi "The Jet" Lee
Leg 3: Andy "Hill Topper" Maxwell
Leg 4: Kelton "Mountain Man" Turner
Leg 5: Terry "The Terminator" Ingram
Race Coordinator: Christy "Route-finder" Turner

There is no doubt that every member of this team reached a little further today as each of them felt this run wasn’t just for personal satisfaction but realizing others were depending on their performance. Chrissy started the race very strong setting the tempo for the team as she finished the first 5 miles in a little over 41 minutes. Jodi gave nothing less in her 5 miles continuing on about an 8:24 pace. Andy & Kelton both ran very strong as they encounter the challenging, hilly part of the course. Terry Ingram could not have given a better performance as he ran the last leg and the greatest distance at a superb 7:45 pace crossing the finish line very strong while his team anxiously awaited his arrival. I was not competing in the relay; however, I was "running" from point to point as I was navigating, anticipating that we would make it to the next station in time for the members to pass on the very sweaty armband. Cheering my fellow Pacers on and watching this elite team in action was extremely rewarding and gave me a unique perspective that every runner should experience at least once. I am very proud of each person who ran Sunday and honored to be part of this influential group. After a little fellowship with the other Pacers, the team left Mobile around noon, grabbed some food from Dreamland BBQ then headed back to Hattiesburg. The race itself was much fun, the ride there and back was just even more enlightening as the conversations were never ending and covered a very diverse range of topics. The most important was the discovery that each of this team has, without a doubt, discovered their "Inner Child". If you desire more information on this topic or direction in finding yours, please consult Jodi Lee or any member of the Youngtimers team. Everyone had a wonderful time and to wake up this morning and find out that this group placed second in their division is a fitting end to a spectacular experience. © Christy Turner