Race #3 2008: Ragnar Relay

Ragnar is nothing like I expected and exactly like I thought it was going to be. The Ragnar Relay is a 190 mile relay event with teams of twelve runners. The teams are split into two vehicles, mostly white 15 passenger vans and while one team of six runs their legs the others are free to do as they wish. And vice versa. The distances, called 'Legs', vary from 3 miles to over 7 miles and each runner does three of these legs. There are runners who do three difficult Legs and runners who have three very easy Legs. Which in the end is good for those that have chronic injuries or just not very good runners but want to contribute.

I have chosen a harder segment of run legs and become Runner #1. In my van, which turned out to be a top of the line Denali, are two others I know very well, one whom I know and two I have never met. The perfect combination for a group.

The teams are started based on run projections and overall finish time and due to an error on our part, we get a first wave start of 0900. Myself and about a half dozen other runners take off and charge over five miles to the first transition. I had a good run averaging about 7:30 per mile and coming in third, six minutes behind the first runner and about six minutes ahead of the person behind me.

The second leg, I ran at 8:30 pm and was listed as the hardest of my set at 7.5 miles and 500 feet of climbing over 2 miles of the course. Because it was late, I had rider with me. Some teams, like ours, elected to have another team mate ride along at night providing more light and some sense of security. We also found that when the runner finished their leg and then provided a bike escort for the next person, it loosened the legs up. My legs took a mile to find themselves after being cramped up in a car for so long but I clipped off 8:30 miles up some very tough climbs.

The third leg run around 0530 was my worst. I was tired. I was cramped and cold and hungry. I hadn't slept barely or if all in over 25 hours. I started my watch early to get my HR going and somehow started it as well, so no idea really of my time. I had switched shoes and my foot pod gave me absurd paces. Lastly my stomach seceded from my internal organs and I had to evacuate like no ones business. Only problem is that bathrooms are only at the start and finish of the legs. Mine happen to be just shy of six miles. That is a long time to run like that. But I did.

When I wasn't running, I was driving during the day and trying to be helpful at night. There is a constant routine of waiting at a transition to the runners to exchange a wrist strap, then drive ahead a few miles. Pull over, cheer on your team mate and assess any needs then drive to the next transition area. Occasionally the other team will come around on the course to find you but mostly you meet at Major Exchanges when the last runner of one vehicle passes off the first runner of the next vehicle. It was never boring that is for sure.

I saw many friends that I had no idea were in the same race. I drove up on Momo and her friend Krista volunteering at a checkpoint. She has quite a funny story to tell of her set up there and it was good to see a kind friend once again. Just before I saw them we saw five wild horses grazing in the desert just off a desert road portion of the course.

The finish line was a mosh pit of absolutely horrible bands and some pretty damn good beer. As the first group of runners we were done about five hours before the second group of our team finished so we had a long lunch and followed them along on the course for several Legs. Then went to the finish line to repack the bags and all run across together.

There were hundreds of pictures taken by Claudia, who traveled with us and look forward to seeing and posting what she took.

This report is sort of a mishmash of stuff, which sums up Ragnar pretty well. It has a start and a finish and the course is laid out perfectly. Everything else goes way to fast or way to slow and always on less sleep than any other way you would ever want to do a race.

Maybe that is why it is so much fun.