Team Piraña is off to a great start! After a short delay while we waited for Goose to get out of the baños (in all fairness everyone took a fairly long turn this morning) we heading up the road from Shiner to Gonzales to start our journey to Houston. We parked the van and caught the shuttle to the start:

The monument was stunning in the dark and the reflection on the pool shows how still the air is. It is cool but VERY humid and the fog is so thick you can barely see down the road at all.

Once we got to the start, we found our fellow Okies, the TATURS:

Bret asked the guy in the cowboy hat if he was one of the original 18. He said no. We gave our camera to what ended up being a technology challenged lady and then delayed the start of the whole race while we waited for her to take a picture (which never actually happened). We caught the team who started before us during the prologue and then T3 ran the first leg in 31:12 for about a 7:20 pace. Goose is out on leg 2 as we post.

One last post tonight! Just some pics of the team getting ready to go:

T3 blogging….Big and Goose packing….and Maverick eating (as usual)

This is Weeble sitting on the couch in “our” living room watching the Matrix on satellite TV. We are ready to rumble! See ya tomorrow!

The TIR starts in Gonzales, TX where 18 men held off 150 Mexican soldiers at the start of the war. At the museum they still have the cannon that is the subject of the flag these men flew, daring the soldiers to come get them.

For this picture we set the camera at one end of the reflecting pool on timer and then T3 ran around the pool to be in the pic!

We spent some time driving the first leg, looking around Gonzales and trying to buy a postcard (we went to every place we could find and never found one!). We were checking out the courthouse and trying to get into the jail (that is to sight-see, not by getting arrested) when we spotted the local firemen enjoying the afternoon. We walked across the street and talked to them a little. They, like everyone else we have met, think we are crazy.

Then it was on to the pasta party at the local nursing college. The food was plentiful (thought not of spectacular quality) and we got a chance to see other teams including our friends from Tulsa, the TATURS. We saw at least one person wearing a Memorial Marathon shirt and another wearing a Mother Road shirt! We were the best dressed team BY FAR!

Now it is back to the Farmhouse to pack the van for an early start (6:01 AM). We will post several times tomorrow from various points along the course so stay tuned!

Team Piraña visited the Spoetzl Brewery where Shiner Beer is made. We took the tour, tasted the beer and bought some junk. We almost got thrown out of the place because Mav kept touching things that he was not supposed to touch.

After the tour we went to find Howard’s gas station, convenience store and beer garden. We kid you not, this is the hot spot in Shiner!

We also checked out the exchange points in Shiner. T3 runs the first leg, then Goose, the Mav, then Weeble, then Big. So Weeble runs to the edge of Shiner and Big runs through Shiner to the brewery where Goose picks up for his second leg. Anyway, if the navigation we demonstrated today holds tomorrow we are in trouble and should be lost by 7:00 or so.

is kinda laid back

Team Piraña slept in this morning (until 6:15!). Mav went for a run in the country. We had eggs and bagels with juice and coffee for breakfast and have already made a run into Shiner for additional supplies. After breakfast we snapped this pic of the boys on the porch.

The team has decided to tour the Spoetzle brewery (where they make Shiner beer) and then have lunch at a local joint to take in as much of the atmosphere as possible.

Team Piraña arrived in Shiner, TX this evening and set up camp at The Shiner Farm House

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This will be home for the next two nights until we start the relay Saturday morning at 6:01 AM!

The drive down from OKC was uneventful with the exception of a late start due to goose being almost an hour late. Traffic in Ft. Worth and Austin was a little slow, but overall we made great time. We only made one quick stop in Hillsboro. At the time of the post we are grilling salmon and veggies (and one steak for goose), drinking wine and enjoying the cool Texas night air and the fellowship of the brotherhood.

Tomorrow we will post from the Shiner Brewery (after we sleep in and have a big breakfast!)

Team Pirana will be competing in the Inaugural Texas Independence Relay. Starting early on March 1st in Gonzales, TX and finishing mid-day in Houston at the San Jacinto Monument, the team will run 203 total miles. 5 of the brothers (t3, maverick, goose, weeble and big) will each run 8 of the 40 legs. The entire team runs the short prologue and the even shorter epilogue.

We will be posting race updates and stories here as the weekend unfolds, so stay tuned for the sure to be interesting details! You can get more information about the relay here.