Houston We Have a Problem...

I knew it was bound to happen.  With a team of 14 women (12 relay runners and 2 alternates/drivers) getting together more than a year before the actual race, raising $15,000 for American Cancer Society plus additional funds for travel expenses while at the same time training for a physically grueling relay race...there were bound to be some...challenges.

I know what you're thinking, fourteen women coming together...hello DRAMA!!  But that's not the challenge we've had to face.  The fact is, we've lost some members of the team for various reasons, and have had to recruit some new faces.  And...the challenge has NOT been the recruitment part of the equation, thankfully that has been "easy".

You had not even been introduced to the first person we lost.  She joined us as an alternate, but made the decision to back out fairly quickly.  We only had a couple of meetings before then so I just gave email hugs and thought to myself, "that happened quicker than I expected it to" (losing a team mate).  Little did I know we were about to lose two more, and have one voluntarily switch to an alternate/driver position.  Not to mention we have one member who is temporarily living in CANADA.

When Lisa stepped away from the team a while ago,  I put off making any kind of formal announcement,  mainly because I wasn't exactly sure how to write it up.  The fact is, it's hard to lose a member of the team.  We are working closely together for a common goal--the least of which is the actual race.  I don't know about the rest of them, but I feel like the longer we're together the closer we're getting.

We are like the Super Friends!!  I mean come on...we're the DIXIE DAREDEVILS!!  We even have cool super heroish name.  Yes, we are going to run individual legs of this race alone, but even in that we will be working together for a common goal-to finish before the cut off (31 hours).   However, the truth is, the race itself is a very small piece of the entire experience.  Think about it...it's the culmination of a fraction of what we're doing together, a very small fraction.  We have had one short fun run which lasted about 40 minutes, but we've spent countless hours working together to raise donations for American Cancer Society.

You can't be a part of something like this and not grow close.  So when someone decides to leave, or take a step away, it's hard.  At least it is for me anyway.  I know I'm not alone in that feeling.  At our last meeting when Vicki announced she was quitting, another team mate said we were like her family and she didn't want to lose anyone else.

I thought we'd have an issue with in-fighting, squabbles over how to best get the job done, what color to make the shirts, who has the best idea for a fundraiser, or even who's doing more or running fastest.  With fourteen women, there's bound to be drama...but I didn't expect to be crying over people leaving the team.  As we spend more and more time together, we are naturally growing closer so it stands to reason losing someone would become increasingly difficult.  I've got to tell you I don't like it one little bit!!

So...if you've been paying attention and watching closely...now you know why there are 15 of us on the "Who We Are" page.  As I understand it, we do have a new second alternate/driver, and I'll introduce her in short order...but not before I dry my eyes over the loss of the others.