Sunday, November 20, 2011
The whole reason we flew out to NC to visit with my family was really so we could do the Washington DC Ragnar with my siblings! When we first signed up we had great hopes to have Mckay, Aaron, Shalece and Kelley join us. We would have loved to include Jenny too, but we knew she would be too busy with her MPA program at the time. However, circumstances were such that Aaron and Shalece were unable to make it, they were sorely missed, but we managed to have a great time anyway. Someday we will get everyone together for a Ragnar Relay Race. But, that's for another day...
Here's our report from our fantastic adventure from Sanford, NC to Cumberland, MD and then running 198 miles to Washington DC!
Because our original plan of having all my siblings join us fell through, Kelley spent many months trying to convince fellow collegiates that this relay race would really be a great idea- especially since it meant missing class and being extremely tired the next week! Like I said, she spent several MONTHS doing this and we were literally moving people around until the last couple of weeks before the race. But, we managed to take 12 runners with us and we all had a great time together. Somehow people can't get it through their heads that the Ragnars really are one of the best experiences in your life and that everyone should try one sometime. That's just my simple opinion though. I think I could get a lot of "Dittos" on it though.
My parents were kind enough to allow us to take their van and travel with six sweaty and stinky runners for the next couple of days. They were also willing to take our kids for the two nights and days that we would be away from them- something they've never had the opportunity to do! I'm glad to say that no one even missed us.
We were lucky enough to have James' new company sponsor our team. Petzl is a major sponsor of the Ragnar races because so many headlamps are needed at night. All major sponsors automatically get two free race entries to each of their races, so we used one of those up. Our team name was "Petzl- Run All Night."
The race was 6 hours away and with a 6:30 am start time, that meant that we needed to travel the night before and sleep in a hotel. James and I spent the morning of our trip decorating the van in true Ragnar fashion.
Rest Stop! Nelson, Kelley, Amy all snoozing on our way up.
Here we are after our safety training. It was SO DARK at 6:30! I decided that the Wasatch Back Ragnar really has the best dates because it's always the weekend closest to the summer solstice and so we have the optimal amount of sunlight for that race. I feel really bad for those races like the TN race that is in late October or early November- they really do have to run through a lot of darkness!
Startline:
Check out how Mckay starts off so far ahead of everyone. At first he had thought he did something wrong because in all the races he had done, he'd never been so far ahead of everyone. He just happened to have a lot of nervous runners though because he stayed in the lead the whole time. Ragnar had runner 1 run on a trail around a lake, and no one wanted to pass him.
This was the lake the runners went around. So beautiful. It was fun to watch the bobbing headlights off in the trees while it was still dark.
My report. Sorry I'm not more entertaining.
So, on my run, I decided that the DC Ragnar is still too young a race to have many runners like me. I swear I got passed like 500 times on my run and these weren't runners who were trying to catch up with me for a while- they seriously came out of no where and I never saw them again. Fast runners! I ended up with 2 kills. You better believe I counted those two!
His first leg was 7.8 miles- 4.5 straight up then straight back down. This is the summit. I think he smiled the whole way!
Everyone do the Rangar Wave!
We had already lost one of our back lights, and because he had to wear our night gear all day, we had to switch the one back light we had:
So, it started to drizzle on Kelley's run and by the time we said goodbye to Van 2, it was pouring. Lucky Van 2 had to run all of their first runs in the rain. I'll take little tiny gnats any day over rain.
We went to find Mckay and shuffle his car around then we found the next major exchange and slept.
Kelley rebelling against her mother with the Ragnar tat. Should have gone to BYU Kelley!
Below is the reason why I wanted to do this race. I love doing the Wasatch back so much with James' family that I wanted that same experience with my own. Haveing everyone else there was the only way it could have gotten better. Someday.
Like a miracle, it stopped raining and the sun came out when it was our turn to begin again!
Look at those ominous clouds!
Goodbye storm! Oh, it was soooo beautiful. Too bad that once the clouds cleared, the sun started to set. We really didn't get to see the views that we had hoped to.
McKay, run 2.
This was the beauty that I got to see during my run.
And this is a great picture of the scary, narrow roads that were before us during our night runs. It was dark by the time I was done with my run and we were all seriously running on narrow, dark, curvy, shoulderless roads like this. It was NOT ideal night running. The support vans were stopping every mile or so just to make sure their runner was still there. Amy actually had the extreme misfortune to have two headlamps fade on her and she subsequently got lost on her night run. She was a little shaken after that. I was saying a lot of prayers this night- which were answered, we all made it- Van 1 and Van 2- safely through the night.
It was foggy again by the time we were done with our second run. This is also the time that your brain starts to get a little foggy too because you are so tired. James and I really started to question oursleves when we were driving to our next exchange because it seriously felt like we were driving to the middle of the black forrest. We were on tiny roads, that were covered in fog and surrounded by trees. We could barely see 20 yards in front of us. However, we trusted in the RagMag and all of a sudden, the trees parted and lights shown and we found the next exchange with some smiling volunteers to greet us.
We then laid out our tarps and sleeping bags. Have you ever slept in a cloud? It was so foggy, that is what it felt like we were doing. Well, this is what happens: everything gets wet except for where your head is. When we woke up, the sleeping bag and our "pillows" aka jackets and sweatshirts were damp except for where your head was laying. However, we all did sleep and our last runs and the sun were just ahead of us, so we were excited to get going again.
Most of our last runs were little or non support because we were running next to busy roads and on trails, but at least we were on sidewalks and trails instead of the middle of the road like the night before! If I don't have a picture of the runner, it's because it was a non support leg.
Ann:
Nelson:
Amy: It feels like she's running the wrong way because every other picture, the runner is facing the other way, but I assure you she was going the correct way. I love her form- it was a perfect runner's form.
Kelley was so glad to get her last run over with. It was by far her longest run 8.5 miles! And non-support. That is a long run on any given day, but after a day and a night of running, it really had to feel like the pits. But, like any good race, all the fellow runners applauded and encouraged so she made it.
We were done! All we had to do now was patiently wait for Van 2 to finish up. And so what did we do? Found the finish line and then found the massage tent! This is exactly why I run Ragnar- massages, oh and the free chocolate milk. :) This is a great picture of the joyful pain on Nelson's face:
Van 2 underestimated their last runner's ability and so we missed running over the finish line with him- he was too fast, much too fast. Bummer. But, really we just all wanted to get on our way back home. So, we snapped a few group pictures:
And headed on our way. We had a 5 hour drive ahead of us with a stop at Panera bread. We made it safely home and happily put one more Ragnar in the books.
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2 comments:
Excellent report Ann. What a sense of accomplishment this must have given all of you.
I just want to say that you forgot that not all of my runs were flat... there was that one hill remember? Oh wait no.. there were two, but you lied to me about the second one!
I think that's an important part of the story.
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