The Ragnar Drug

Caution: Novel Ahead. Read if you dare, or if you happen to have some extra time. :)

First just a quick intro to a Ragnar Relay for those that are unfamiliar. It is close to 200 miles more or less depending on location, 36 legs of the race, 12 runners with 3 legs of the race each of varying distances, 2 vans, maybe a couple drivers, maybe an ounce of sleep, and a good deal of fun. Van 1 runs 6 legs then hands off to Van 2 and this process keeps going through leg 36 when everyone meets at the finish line.

I just finished my 2nd Ragnar Relay Del Sol in Arizona the last weekend in February. This year was 13 miles longer than last year - 202.1 miles from Prescott to Mesa. Van 1 had to be on the road by 4:30am since they live in Mesa to pick up Suzanne and I from the west side around 5:00am, then on to Prescott! As soon as we arrived we all got out into the cold and decorated the van with window markers and donkeys. Our team name was Draggin' Ass, so the donkeys were fitting and quite cute! Fun pun at that. 8:00am start time and Runner 1, Jamie was off! After cheering him on along the side of the start line we had to hurry back down the hill to get back in the van to get Runner 2 to the 1st exchange point. Jamie's leg was only a little more than a 5K so there was no time to spare! The handoff from Jamie to Sarah was the first of 36 exchanges over the course of 34 hours and 33 minutes.

I was runner 5 and my first run was 5.3 miles into Skull Valley, AZ! Me being quite the Halloween fanatic I thought this was perfect for me. I wore a skull bandanna around my hat, a glowing skull ring and 2 mini plastic skull flags criss-crossed through my pony tail. The flags whipped through the wind as I was running - a reminder of the fun we're creating during this race! About 3 miles in I found my team van along the side of the road in front of the Skull Valley Cemetery waiting with gatorade, orange slices and a camera with the backdrop of the cemetery gates. Kind of silly, but a cool pic! Quick photo/drink break and back to the road. I continued my run into the town so tiny and quaint that I thought I was running through Mayberry in 1950 for about 10 minutes - see the pictures. My exchange to Suzanne was on a dirt road in the middle of town just past the town museum which was only about the size of my garage at home! Bracelet slap and she was on her way. 1 of 3 legs complete for me! Such a great feeling!

When Suzanne finished her first leg in a town called Kirkland around 1:15pm we had about 5 hours or so to go try to get some rest. We drove down to Wickenburg where went to grab a bite to eat at a local restaurant right outta the 60's and to get some rest. We were lucky enough to have a motel room donated to the team to rest and shower (an extreme luxury although it was a very old Best Western!). After lunch we all tried to get a little rest back at the room but all of us were too excited to sleep. The time flew by and we were back on the road headed up to Congress, AZ where Jamie started his 2nd leg around 8:00pm.

Jamie's leg was mostly on a trail and the van could only get to him once along his 6.3 mile route. Good thing, because his headlamp had just about gone out and little did he know how much he would need another light. He definitely won the prize for completing the worst leg of the race (unfortunately it was horribly set up by Ragnar...new to the course this year and hopefully not a part of next year's). We saw many runners come out with bloody scratches and VERY upset from falling into washes, getting lost off the poorly and mostly unlit trail, and even running into barbed wire and cactus! This was the only "treacherous" leg that caused some blood...don't let this dissuade you from running a Ragnar race. The runners all made it through eventually including Jamie. He passed the slap bracelet on to Sarah and we all continued on through the cold darkness lit only by our MANY glow bracelets, necklaces and vehicle headlights as they passed.

My second leg didn't start until about 11:45pm and was about 7.5 miles long heading out of Wickenburg with a .4 mile pickup along the way from the van to get past construction. An interesting twist to start getting warmed up and at 3/4 mi in you have to jump in a van to get shuttled around the road work and then quickly hop out and get going again. A couple miles in I was getting so tired and also getting a little creeped out being out there so late in that darkness. I ran by this weird white bicycle that lit up by the light of my headlamp and thought I may have been hallucinating until another runner came by and noticed it too (see the link below about the ghost bike). We both said at the same time, "Weird..." After about 50 minutes I saw my van and my team along the road. I was really hoping to have seen them earlier. Where they met me they thought it was only 3 miles in making me freak that 50 minutes had gone by and I had only gone 3 miles! They unintentionally messed with my mind. After that I picked up the pace through my sleepiness and knee pain (left knee was no good by about mile 5). They told me they would go ahead 2 miles and stop again. At that point (2 mi ahead of their last stop), there was the 1 Mile Left marker! I couldn't have been happier at that point! That meant 6.5 down when I was thinking it was only 5 miles! They set the trip mileage wrong in the van...I REALLY wanted a Garmin at that point, still do! I came around a corner and was running to the exchange with 2 other runners...they, like me, were commenting about how it felt like there was so much more uphill than we had expected! As soon as I came within 50 feet of the exchange I tripped over a high spot in the road at full speed and almost fell on my face! Then as soon as I handed off to Suzanne my knees just gave out as if to say "I'm done!" and my hands skidded through the gravel. Slightly embarrassing, but I got up a little dizzy and stunned looking around for someone I knew and yelled amongst the 25 people or so standing around, "Where's my team?????............Draggin' Ass?????" (It is all kind of funny thinking about it now.) Just then I saw Sarah coming over from the van which, had I really just looked RIGHT in front of me, was...you guessed it, RIGHT in front of me! She helped me get my braces and shoes off and get myself snapped out of the daze. Then it was off to meet Suzanne along her short, 3.3 mile leg. About 35 minutes later we started to worry that we hadn't seen her, but just then the other van called to tell us, "Hey, where are you guys!? Your runner is here!" We'd missed her entirely - she was too fast for the van! :) We went to get her and went back up the road 10 miles to Wickenburg back to the motel to get our showers in and a couple of hours of much needed sleep (only a couple!). I remember texting my husband right before I crawled into my sleeping bag to tell him to remind me NOT to sign up for this again next year. I was so tired and sore that I couldn't believe I had forgotten this feeling from last year. I think it was just the tired talking though as you will see at the end of this novel. ;)

By about 6:00am we were on the road to get to Cactus Shadows High School in Cave Creek. Jamie started running at about and it was already getting HOT. By the time runner 3, Heather, got to mile 6 of her leg around noon, she just couldn't keep going. It had to be about 88 degrees by then. She was definitely suffering from the heat and her face was beet red. Jamie met her at the road and she gave him the bracelet to finish out her leg. Heather had been amazing though - she had completed more mileage than any other runner on the team at 20.2 miles. A true warrior. We got her off the road and got her somewhat comfortable and tried to cool her down. Meanwhile, Jamie is out there running her last mile after celebrating the finish of his 3rd leg with a couple of beers! Jamie not only got the prize for running the worst leg the night before, but also the prize for running under the influence. ;)

I was lucky that my last leg was only 3.4 miles, but it was all uphill (good for my knees, but not the best when it's that hot). I pushed through it with plenty of support from the team coming out to drench me in cold water. I was just excited to finish the leg so I did awesome on the hills! Pass off to Suzanne and I was DONE! YAY! Suzanne, however, had 6.4 miles to go and it was only getting hotter. We stopped many times to support her and other runners. She even had another van put ice in her hat, which she described as a livesaver! She finished with the company of another runner, pushing each other to finish, and handed off to runner 7 in Fountain Hills at the LDS church. Van 1 was all done! We couldn't be happier and the church had plenty of lush grass to stretch out and just relax for a bit.

After some relaxation we went on to Riverview Park in Mesa where the finish line was. We had a nice lunch at Chili's (yay for real food - pb&j was really getting old...) and we waited for Van 2 to get to the finish. Van 2 met up with us and we waited for our last runner to get close and when she was in sight we all ran with her to cross the finish line as a team! When we all crossed the finish line around 6:30pm we were handed our medals. They were huge! Then we found out that they also double as a bottle opener...a useful medal! :) My husband, Tim, and Suzanne's husband came to meet us at the finish and Tim took some pictures of the entire team for us.

Now it was time to get the vans cleared out and get home to shower and go to bed. I think I slept the entire day away on Sunday. It was long enough to forget the pain after leg 2 and the absolute fatigue I felt at 4:00am. I know that I have forgotten it because on Monday the emails flew back and forth amongst the team. Brandi, on of the girls I had just met mentioned wanting to do another one in another state. I emailed her and Suzanne to see if they would be interested in doing the Los Angeles Ragnar. Brandi responded with a big yes, and before Suzanne could even check on the dates I had found us a team! Turned out Suzanne couldn't do the dates so Brandi called Caitlyn, another member of our Del Sol team, and she was in!

The 3 of us are headed to LA at the end of April for a new 178 mile relay. 178? Bah! That's nothin' when you've done 202! ;)

Ah, yes...an addiction...it must be a drug.


LINKS: The weird ghost bike; Some of our pictures (not for the easily offended!)