Ragnar "Wasatch Back" Relay

It's not a surprise if you've seen this "Ragnar" logo before, especially if you live in Utah.  I swear everyone and their mom has this window decal on their car, it's almost annoying.  Mostly because it looks kind of creepy to me, like one of the images from "Moth Man Prophecies" or something.  It's just always kind of bothered me, but props to those people who run the 190+ mile race and earn the sticker.

This weekend I ran in the Wasatch Back Ragnar relay and earned my own sticker... and yes, I just might become one of those people and put it next to the "Red Rock Relay" decal on my car window.

The Ragnar relay series started 8 years ago and is exploding with participants.  In the race this weekend there were over 1400 teams, each with 6-12 people.  So picture thousands of people running between Logan, UT and Park City, UT, in decorated vehicles and some with crazy costumes.  It was like we were living on our own little obsessive running planet, and I really did enjoy it.    

I did my first relay this past fall in St. George, which was a Red Rock relay.  It was only their 2 year doing it and a smaller race, with 300-500 teams.  So I really wanted to go into the Ragnar experience with an open heart and mind and not be biased against it. :)  My friend Robyn Gadd (we knew each other at BYU) asked me to join her Ragnar team over 8 months ago, and I didn't tell her YES officially, until after I did Red Rock and decided I liked that crazy idea.  So!  Time flew, I took like 4 months off running during the winter, and really tried to crack down and prepare myself the past few months.  I'm not up to par but I'm in a much better place than I was in January. :)

Our team was "Leap Frog" and we had super cute shirts and had a lot of fun with the "green" theme.  It was easy to find all sorts of things in March after St. Patrick's Day-- wigs, tights, glow-bracelets, froggy things, etc.  We had a good-spirited team, great captain, and all of us were in it for the fun of it.  

Fortunately, I think I had the easiest legs of the entire race, so I lucked out!  My first run was 5.1 miles around 1:30pm; second run was 4.2 miles around 11:00pm; and my third leg was 3.8 miles (fabulous downhill) around 11:00am.  Some runners had crazy, deathly uphill runs in the dirt;  others had long 8+ mile runs.  So yes, I'm glad I escaped with the easy ones. :)  And I loved it!  Here are a few pics to add some color to my story. :)

Okay, so now let me tell you about my Night Run.  It seems to be most everyone's favorite-- probably because it's not every day you're running freely under the stars and loving every minute of it. I ran hard and fast and was doing really well keeping up to my projected pace/time.  At one point I saw my van parked on the side of the road (they do that every now and then to check up on you) and as one of my teammates was getting back in the van, I yelled out, "I'm good!" and kept running, waving my glow bracelets excitedly.  Usually the team cheers as you pass and then they drive on ahead.  Only this time they didn't acknowledge me and didn't respond to what I'd said.  I thought, "Hmm.. I wonder if they even saw me?"  But kept running and I was listening to some good songs that kept me running faster than I probably wanted to.  It felt great though so I kept going, all the while turning my head at every vehicle that passed by, wondering why my van still hadn't come.  By the time I started getting closer to the exchange, I was frustrated and disappointed because I realized my van probably hadn't seen me run past and had waited too long in the same spot.  I debated running slower just so maybe they could catch up, but I decided to just keep going, even if it was just for the mere satisfaction of getting a good time on 4.2 miles. :)  So I sprint through the exchange  cone area-- they call out my team number-- and no one is there to pass the "baton" slap bracelet to.  I take it off my wrist and pace angrily back and forth, and there were a few other runners whose teams weren't there either.  What a let down!

This SAME thing happened to me on my night run in the Red Rock relay last fall... only that time everyone in the van had actually fallen asleep and missed the exchange.  So I literally had to run back a few minutes to the van-- knock on the window to wake them up-- and get that next runner out and going!  That was unfortunate.

And here I was again.  Midnight. Sweaty.  Exhausted.  Waiting for my van.   Luckily the van showed up a few minutes later and my teammate came running up to me, apologizing and everything, and I slapped the bracelet on her and sent her on her way. :)  I was upset for maybe the first couple of minutes, but after that it was fine and I was over it.  (Well, maybe I'm not all the way over it but I still like my teammates. haha)

 (I was SO tired before my night run, but luckily I found some energy!)

 Me and my teammate Emily, who was actually my BYU roommate 10 years ago! :)

I got the Ragnar symbol spray-painted on my leg.  I chose orange, of course!

Now for the story of My Wallet. It was during the leg of the last runner in our van that I realized I couldn't find my wallet.  I looked everywhere around me in the car and knew it had been on my lap earlier.  So how could it have just disappeared?!  Then I remembered that I had jumped out of the van so our runner could pass me his water bottle during his run... which means... my wallet had fallen out of the van!  It was after mid-night and it was a windy mountain road swarming with runners and other vans.  Great.  Fortunately, once my team had learned their lesson with me of not losing track of mileage and the runner, we were paying close attention to those details.  We remembered that we'd stopped at mile 4 of the current run to give our runner the water bottle, and met him a little further ahead so he could give it back-- which is when I would have jumped out.  When I'd realized I'd lost my wallet, we were about 3 miles further up ahead. So!  It wasn't too complicating going exactly 3 miles back to the "4 mile mark" to backtrack where we'd been.  Only there were runners coming towards us and vans making their way up the mountain and it was kind of a hassle to get back down there-- luckily we didn't run over anyone. :)  As we drove back down I stared at the road, looking for any sign of my wallet.  Once we reached our destination I hadn't seen anything and was feeling a little disappointed.  We turned around and started back uphill, and after just a minute or so the driver suddenly stopped in front of a small lump in the road.  My wallet! And everything was in it. I was sooo happy... and that momentous occasion kind of wiped away the memories of my team leaving me stranded at the exchange. :)

This was the view while I was waiting to run my last leg.  Soo pretty!

My third and last leg was definitely my favorite.  Although my foot was hurting (maybe it was my new shoes?), I was excited to bust out a good 3.8 mile run, and most of it was downhill into Heber Valley.  As soon as I started running I was behind and older man, probably in his late 60's.  I passed him, and a few minutes later he passed me.  Then I passed him again... and he passed me again.  What was going on?!  Was he really that competitive that he couldn't let me stay ahead?  Maybe it was because the back of our shirts said, "Tag, You're It."  :)  Well anyway,  finally we evened out and ran side by side.  He kept talking to me so I'd have to take out one of my ear buds so I could hear and respond, then put it back in.  Then he'd say something else and I'd pull out my ear bud, and this continued for a while.  Finally I just kept one ear bud in and tucked the other one in my shirt, and decided to enjoy running and talking with this man on my last run.  We kept up a good fast pace and I loved busting it downhill!  It finally evened out on the highway, and the very end of our leg was a steep dirt hill that lead to the exchange.  It would've been fun to arrive there side by side with my old man friend, but I decided to push it harder at the end and pulled ahead of him.  Should I feel bad?  I don't know. :)  Anyway, I was exhausted after that little hill and really slowed down, but finally sprinted to the exchange and felt wonderful!!  I waited there to greet my friend and gave him a *high 5* when he got there a few minutes later.  I loved that!  :)

We were in the first van, so luckily we were all finished around 1:30pm Saturday afternoon and had the whole day to RELAX while we waited for the second van to run their final legs.  We went to Granny's Drive-in in Heber and devoured milk shakes, fries, and burgers.  So tasty!  Then we drove to Park City where we took random pictures, laid out our blankets, and basically napped most of the day. :)

The rest of our team arrived after 5:30pm and we all joined together to wait for our last and final runner!  It took us 32 hours and 27 minutes to officially finish the Wasatch Back relay. We were exhausted, hungry, and so happy to be finished!

And yes, I did earn a medal and a Ragnar window decal.  :)