Ragnar: Run. Drive. Sleep? Repeat.

(I know it's taken me 3 weeks a month to post these pictures... but life just seems to get in the way of even the most well-intentioned to-do-lists.)
(I apologize in advance for what will quite possibly be the longest post you will ever read.)

RAGNAR RELAY WASATCH BACK: A PHOTO ESSAY

So here's how it works.  Over the course of 2 days, 12 Runners run 190 miles, each Runner running 3 legs of the race.  Runners 1-6 are in Van 1 and Runners 7-12 are in Van 2.  Once a Runner sets out, the Van follows and provides Support along the way - water, words of encouragement, etc.  Since it is a relay, Runners handoff a "baton" in the form of a slap-bracelet at each Exchange.  Once all the Runners in Van 1 have completed their legs, Van 2 Runners take over and Van 1 gets to rest for a while before it's their turn again.  Repeat 3 times while living in the Vans, eating whatever is at hand, getting little to no sleep, and having the time of your life.  

THURSDAY, JUNE 16

Instead of 15-passenger vans, our team rolled in style in a pair of black Lincoln Navigators.

Here I am negotiating for pizza from the boys. They were hogging all the pepperoni.

With all of our bags and supplies packed in the Navs, we drove from my sister's house in South Jordan to the starting point in Logan.
As you can see, I packed only the essentials: my Asics running shoes and Peanut M&Ms.

Repacking and decorating the Navs.  We changed the team name to "On the Double" since our team was comprised of pairs: brothers, father/son, best friends, co-workers, father-in-law/son-in-law.  Rachel was our designated window-writer.  The numbers corresponded with the legs we were running.  After completing a leg, I got a lot of satisfaction from crossing out my leg number.

FRIDAY, JUNE 17

And the race begins!  Jason - Runner 1 - had a start-time of 5 am.  Adding to the insanely early hour was record-low temperatures in Logan... 37 degrees!  So while Van 1 was up before the crack of dawn, freezing their behinds off, Van 2 was able to sleep in before driving to Exchange 6, where Runner 6 would hand-off to Runner 7.

Exchange 6: Van 2 waits for Van 1 to arrive.

The thing about Ragnar... in between the crazy running, there's a whole lot of waiting and waiting and more waiting.

And Van 2 Runners take off!

 

One of the many brutal legs and Runner 10 rocked it! And see that long line of Vans?  Yeah.  1,100 teams = 2,200 Vans = 13,200 Runners.  Madness.


Father/Son Runners.  They were Rock Stars.

Meeting up with Van 1 Runners for the next big Exchange.

With the first 12 legs run and done... the fun continues!

The Romney Runners

Oh. And it was my birthday. I turned *gulp* 29. Sister Jen kindly lent me her Birthday Girl tiara. It was a very rememberable day.

SATURDAY, JUNE 18
Van 2 had the majority of the middle-of-the-night runs - I started my second run (7.0 miles) at midnight!  I only vaguely remember how we got from one Exchange to the next.  At one point my entire body was tingling and itching and I couldn't decide if I was hungry or nauseous.  One of my fellow Runners turned to me and said, "Um, I think you might be hypoglycemic.  Eat some sugar."  While in this delirious mental state I couldn't function well enough to remember to pull out the camera and snap photos of our nocturnal triumphs.  But as the sun rose over the mountains, the camera came back out to document our second and final day of running.

Runner 6 (Brother Chris) sprints to the last Van 1/Van 2 Exchange.

Van 1 Runners have now run all their legs and Van 2 Runners are pumped to finish the race!

LAST EXCHANGE!!!

Team #219 ON THE DOUBLE crosses the finish line in Park City!!!

Friends from University of Arizona MBA program: Sister Kim and Katie T

Son-in-law/Father-in-law: Scott R and Scott B

Father/Son: Ron and Rory

Friends/Former Co-workers: Sister Jen and Sarah

Best Friends: Me and Rachel

Brothers: Brother Chris and Brother Jason

Much love to my fellow Van 2 Runners!

And to my Sibs: I'm so glad we did this together.  Love you all whole bunches.

Hands-down the hardest thing I've ever done, physically.  At times I felt like curling up in the fetal position and admitting defeat.  During my last leg (5.9 miles) the mantra running through my head as I tried to keep running under the blazing sun: "I can do hard things.  I can do hard things."
And guess what?  I did.

RAGNAR, BABY!!!