ragnar- the novel

I ran in the RAGNAR race in June. It was completely insane... and fun! Ragnar is a relay race of 188 miles over the course of 2 days (and a night!) with a team of 12. And Ragnar has a few races- ours was called the Wasatch Back and was from Logan to Park City. It was just amazing- the training, the friendships, the mental pushing of yourself, not to mention the views of Utah- oh wow- I loved this race! Here's how I got on the team:

A few girls in the neighborhood kept asking if I was running ragnar- and I was like huh? I've heard of it, but don't really know what it is and plus- I didn't know someone had started a team around here... So I told my friend, Tara to tell the team I would be an alternate if someone dropped out. About 2 weeks later, my neighbor Sarah- also the team captain- invited me to join because someone couldn't run. I later asked the girl why she had dropped out and she said, "Oh, I hate to run." Huh?! So I assumed her race position, paid my 85 bucks and started training with Kim, Sarah, Marci and Tara. We trained for maybe 2 months- I just kept running after the half marathon in April.

So the time finally arrived and we had no idea what to expect. Only Sarah in van 1 and Camille in my car had run one before and knew what was up. I drove my car since we needed to fit 6 girls and their stuff, and we were off! First stop- Logan.

{Part of the team: Tara, Sarah, Karen, Kim, Sini, Stephanie, Emily, Celeste, and Breana}

We ate at a delicious Italian place in Logan before heading to our hotel. We decorated the cars with our team name, "30's Rock." We had two under 30 who weren't thrilled with the name- but I liked it. I had no say because it was decided long before I entered the picture. I had no idea how modest we were being in our car decorations- people went crazy with names and props- cars with huge bras and fake people on top- and I didn't even get any pictures of them. And the team names- some were so funny, some were rotten- it was pure madness.

The other van had to start the race at 5:00 the next morning, but we didn't have to be at our start until noon, so we were a little giddy and had some fun in our room.
Next stop: Ogden

We had to drive for a bit to our start and then hit the chaos. We parked in a field with hundreds of other cars, had our safety instructions, got our flags and numbers and were off to our start to give the other van a rest.

Van 2- {Camille, Celeste, Emily, Tara, Kim and Sini}

Ready to go! I got to know all these girls so much better- I loved it! They are all amazing and really lots of fun! Our running order went like this: Kim, Celeste, Me, Tara, Emily and Camille. I liked being runner 3.

Team support! We're giving Emily a drink and a fresh water spray... in the face. It was the best that water spray... Emily is holding the baton, which is really just an adult sized slap bracelet. Weird to think that thing didn't stop moving for 2 days! You just passed it on to the next runner.

My first run was 3.6 miles easy. I think I was so excited to go that it seemed rather....long and hot. Oh well, one leg down, two to go.
Oh yeah. People wore costumes too. This guy was funny, but we saw people in full sumo suits, tons in full body lycra and a whole team of speedo runners. (We might have actually missed a handoff because we were laughing so hard at them.)
Celeste used to live in our neighborhood and moved away when she got married last fall. She's a cute girl and a fellow foodie (like she knows where to get a big burger and a coke- although you would never know it) so that was fun too. She also helped drive a long route when we were all sooooo tired- so I am very grateful!
Done with our first leg and we rested at Great Basin ski resort in Ogden (below.)

There were such pretty views of back country Utah and I have never seen most of them!

Our next stop was in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night. I was excited for this leg, since I got to wear all my mandatory reflective gear- flashing butt light, head light and reflector vest (I added the reflector pants for good measure.) Plus I had my ipod and a water belt, since it was non-support- so my girls couldn't get out to give me a drink. I was all decked out for my 9.6 miler.

I jumped in the honey bucket (portapotty) one last time before my race with all my gear on and suddenly, mid- pee a guy swings the door open! I screamed so loud (like a little girl) as my headlight shines in the guy's face and he matches my girly scream and slams the door shut so fast. I was laughing sooooo hard I could barely finish. Then when I came out I could barely stand up because I was laughing telling the girls about it! This guy next to us was laughing hysterically too- listening to us laugh and I said, "It was you!" and he wouldn't admit it. It was soo funny. His scream was so loud and girly! I kept revisiting the moment the whole 9.6 miles and laughing to myself.

Anyway- I was a little nervous, since it's not a huge crowd running with you, you're kind of on your own with a bunch of guys passing you. And I was nervous that wild animals were going to jump out at any second!! No skunks and coyotes was all I could hope for. My route was around a lake, but it was dark so all I could see was the moon reflecting in it. It was really pretty peaceful and I felt really good. I had the girls pull over at 3 and 6 miles and the finish line to yell me on, and so I could know how far I had gone. It was sooo very dark, and one time I didn't see this guy waiting to cheer his teammate (illegally) with no reflectors or lights on until he was two steps in front of me. I screamed so loud! He was very sorry, but gees! At least cough or cheer or something!! I made really good time and beat all my half marathon mile splits so I was so happy! I didn't stretch very well after so my muscles were pretty sore, but that was my favorite run of the race!

After our night runs, we drove for an hour to Midway to shower and we slept for less than 2 hours and were off again. After a little confusion and not meeting at the right place, we started our final runs.

My final run was 3.6 miles VERY HARD. It was nicknamed "You gotta be kidding me" and was uphill from Wasatch State Park halfway up the mountain, where Tara took over to the top and then Emily ran down into the Canyons ski resort in Park City. At first it didn't seem so bad. But soon it was all gravel, straight uphill and hot!! Not to mention the line of cars following their runners stirring up the dust. It was crazy. I did a lot of walking on this part- which is funny because my heart was beating as hard and fast as if I were running flat. I was glad to get it over with!
I just love this picture of Camille helping me on my water break. Can you see the slope of the road? Ugh! Anyway- I never knew Camille before this- she's a busy girl in our ward (Jr. High choir teacher, in the MoTab and she had just run her 18th marathon the week before to name some of her hobbies) but she is so fun, witty, and knows her music! She's really sarcastic and a little blunt- I loved getting to know her!
Passing on to Tara. Tara has been my visiting teacher for a while and she's really good at it. We started training for this together and it was fun getting to know her even better too. She is a lot faster than I am so all through our training I couldn't hear her breathe hard. On this run- I finally heard her! It was awesome- she's a little natural that girl. Plus she's super smart and a good little mommy. And funny. Love that girl.

Can you believe the beautiful runs? This is Miss Emily- she was Ollie's preschool teacher last year. She taught him so many fun things- like funny little songs of spelling words and little sayings on how to write letters. She also taught us a lot about essential oils as she was using them the whole trip. They actually smell yummy (thank goodness!) And my car still has a faint lavender smell... :)



Me, Tara and Kim. Kim is one of those girls who is involved in everything in the community, school and church and knows EVERYONE. She is one of the nicest girls I've ever met! It was pretty funny having all of these moms together- everyone was worried or taking care of each other, making sure they had everything they needed.

{Me, Tara, Celeste}

Emily had some hard runs, and during her last one, we got a text from ragnar saying that instead of her leg being 7 miles like she planned, they were adding a mile for a detour because there was still snow on the trail! So we got out and told her the good news- that her family was waiting at her finish line, and the bad news that she had to run an extra mile! She did awesome though. I might have cried!
Emily's cute family- her daughters all have more hair than I'll ever have...
{Carrie, Camille, Emily, Tara, Celeste, Breana, Stephanie, Karen, Sarah, Sini, Kim and Marci}

Our whole team ran through the finish line together and got our huge medals. Can you tell who just showered and who just finished running on dusty roads? I never realized we wouldn't see the other van for more than 20 min at the exchanges.

Riding the lift at the canyons. I still need to take the boys up there for a ride...

We were so tired in the end. And my car was sooo dirty. After a good night's rest I was ready to sign up again (although I haven't yet.) It was a crazy fun experience and I think anyone who likes to run- should run this once in their life!