6th Annual Around MDI Relay

Mount Desert Island, ME, July 4, 2008

Race Report

2008 "Barbie" relay batons

6th Annual Around Mount Desert Island Relay: Race ReportThe 6th running of the Annual July 4th Around Mount Desert Island Relay produced a record breaking performance by the visiting Spudland Racers from Aroostook County. The relay features 8 separate legs ranging in length from 5.59 to 10.04 miles. The fun filled, 'alternative way' to start the traditional Independence Day holiday starts and finishes in Bar Harbor and touches every town and village on Mount Desert Island while circumnavigating the entire island, covering just over 61 miles in the process. The 'Spuds' ran the distance in 6:01:07 smashing the old mark of 6:16:29 set in 2006 by a team representing Colby College. In all, 8 teams participated, coming from as far away as Troy NY and Dartmouth NS in order to participate. Event organizers recommended that visiting teams attend the traditional MDI Rotary blueberry pancake breakfast for some last minute carbo loading before the competition began. Many runners did and all reported being served a delicious breakfast. This exciting team relay was created by Crow Athletics who's team finished in second place for the second straight year in 7:06:08.The club founded this event one year after they started the award winning MDI Marathon. It was started to bring more runners and more visitors to the island for a whole new form of healthy competition, featuring teams and highlighting many out-of-the-way places on MDI not usually visited, but just as magnificent as the more frequented spots. In last year's event Barbie dolls where used for the first time as the official relay batons which are passed from runner to runner. This creative use of a rather common item caught the attention of Runners World magazine who featured the MDI Barbie Batons which brought the island, the event, and the Crow's nation-wide attention. Many holiday drivers took double-takes at the sight of the leggy dolls clutched firmly in the grasp of sweating runners. Several members of Nova Scotia Marathon Masters team wore traditional Scottish kilts during the competition while others wore the custom red, white and blue tech shirts featuring a map of Mount Desert Island and the ever present common Crow, that, like runners are often under appreciated but always there, in all weather, all the time and is the mascot of choice for this popular island based running group. Special thanks to: The Atlantic Oaks, Rosalies Pizza, Hannaford, Atlantic Brewing Company, Mt. Desert Spring Water and Rachelle Potter.