My First Ragnar Experience

So about 10 months ago I had volunteered my running skills for a Ragnar Race. Had I ever heard about it before? No...Had I seen one before?...No. I think I had a case of the green eyed running monster. Wanting to do something because someone else had. So this is a little bit of my experience.

The thursday before hubby and I went to pick up the rental van from A1 Vans. We were meeting our captain and other driver there. I was slightly nervous for Rick having to drive it. Having never spent any time in one...it felt huge. So we picked it up and headed over to Road Runners in Tempe. Mandatory safety check, and pre race get together with the group.

I had never met a couple of my van mates before. So it was good to at least meet them in person. The kids of the ragnar folk decorated our vans. That was entertaining. Headed back home, loaded the van up with our water and personal items. Needless to say I over packed like always. My stuff didn't consume the van. You never know what you are going to need in the middle of the desert, but yes. I did over pack and had to admit to Rick he was right and I was wrong.

At 2am I woke up with butterflies thinkin OH SHIT...what did i get myself into. Woke up Rick, we headed over to Laurens home. We had lots of energy drinks and starbuck coffee drinks. Everyone drove there as our meeting point. We packed up the rest of the stuff and took off.

We were off to Wickenburg. Pitch black, driving down a highway we had never been before. Thank goodness for GPS and fellow van mates. One of our van mates Mark had done this before a few years back, and Lauren was a walking gps unit. (she gave us directions even while sleeping)--great talent!! The drive to Wickenburg was about an hour and 15 minutes. We questioned if we were going the right way till we saw it.

A parking lot full of other vans and the big Ragnar chute. Now I understood the importance of decorating the van. How the heck would you locate your van amongst a million other white vans? We saw the odd vehicle that was brightly coloured ( a red van, burgundy van and even a motorhome)...but for the most part it was all rentals. We were not allowed to draw on the bodies...but window markers on the glass was OK.

The names were hilarious. The decorations were fantastic. Some people even used christmas lights both inside and out. One van even looked like a disco theatre. People had their names on the vans, slogans, even pictures of themselves.

We made our way to the field.Romy had to get our t shirts because he was the only one wearing a bib at that point in time. Sadly the bibs didn't have our names. Just our team number (47) and team name TORTURED SOLS .

Stacey met us there to send Romy off. He was our first leg. They announce our team name and blast a horn and off he goes. Into the dark….pitch dark. No lights. No street lamps. Just his head lamp and blinker. We drove along the street trying to find a pull over spot. This was a no support zone...but being this our first rodeo and it was super dark we wanted to stop. We risked the citation.If the ragnar police saw you doing something against the rules,they would give you a citation. 3 strikes and you're out. There were lots of vans pulled over. So we were like eh. They did tell us to move, but no written warnings. So we continued along the mountain. Oh ya….Romy got stuck running up a mountain. Not what he expected at 5:30m

So we found the exchange. Parked our van amongst 300 others and waited. The sunrise was gorgeous on the mountains. The porta potty lines not so much. Being nervous, I musta peed like a million and a half times.

So we waited for Romy at the exchange.He made some kick ass time. He snapped the orange bracelet on Lauren and off she went. Her leg was a support allowed. So we stopped half way. Any time we want to cross the street we had to use orange flags. Heather had way too much fun with those. Maybe she was a flag girl in high school and didn't want to admit it.

While waiting for Lauren to come by us, Sly started to get ready. And by get ready i mean he started sprinting up and down the street. WOAH boy...save that energy for your run.

Sly was a stand in. Israel backed out feigning an injury. Last minute. Caused a lot of stress...but he found us a replacement. He ended up being a superstar and not realizing it. This boy was running 7 minute miles and barely breaking a sweat.

So Sly handed off to me and off I go. Step step..bounce bounce...step step. Okay I got this...and then my brain starts to talk. I start to get killed (killed is being passed by another person). Great job...keep going...you're almost there. The words of encouragement seem like a slap in my face. I didn't wear my nike watch. I had no idea on what pace I was holding. I was embarrassed I got passed a million times. My bluetooth wasn't connecting. And I didn't wanna fiddle with gettin my phone out. So the lack of music made the run seem even longer. 6.5miles.I handed off to Mark and started crying. Heather said I did fantastic. Rick said I kept the pace I was suppose to. We were not behind our projected time.

Mark took off….in super speedy fashion. He was a veteran runner. Super strong, super fast. We stopped half way, cheered Mark on. He didn't really need any support but enjoyed the festivities of it. He passed on to Heather. She was runner number six.

Did I mention Heather is clumsy? She ended up dropping the snap bracelet. It was awesome. I thought I would be the first to drop it.

While Heather did her super mamma run, the boys ran into some damsels in distress. They locked themselves out of their van. No spare keys, with the keys in the ignition. Rick, Romy and Sly tried to break in with plyers, a metal clothes hanger and antenna. No luck. They spend a good 20 minutes trying before we had to move on to the next exchange.

That was the first big exchange. Stacey and van 2 met us there. There was a big chute, and vendors there. It was starting to get hot out, so Heathers time ended up being a bit slower than projected. But we were still ahead of the game.

She passed off to Anthony Heller and off he went. Another one of our supermen on the team. Apparently he's not much of a runner. He does spartan events. More strength based. But that puts him in peak running condition. Just like Sly. Sly is an MMA athlete. Doesn't run, but had running as a training practise. Doesn't like it, but damn good at it.

Our van headed over to Surprise. Laurens mad GPS skills got us there. We headed to a subway/ pizza place. No one was really as hungry as they thought, but we know we needed to refuel.

Off to Chris’ office we went. Chris is Lauren's husband. Another super runner. He didnt wanna participate in Ragnar due to a bad experience last time. He is a physiotherapist. His office is in a gym. He let us in and to use the facilities. That was the best shower ever. Rick laid down watching Maury. I tried to nap but was not tired enough to sleep. It was relaxing just laying there on the beds. Re-energized. With great appreciation off we went to the next big exchange.

We had a long stretch until we started our night legs. There was a big field where people were laying down resting. There was a high school so we were able to use their showers there. Thankfully we didn't have to wait for a shower. Lots of vendors. The Ragnar merchandise was there. Sadly I lost my compression sleeves. I bought a pair of black ragnar compression socks. Not as good as slaves...but better than nothing.

One of our volunteers was at this exchange. Rick managed to snag a coveted volunteer had for me as a momento. Van 2 was running a little behind our projected schedule. The nerves and atmosphere I think got to everyone. It was a little more overwhelming that what we expected. While waiting we noticed we were starting a magnet collection on our van. That was a fun way to tag other vans. I didnt know. It was sooooo much fun. In the back of my head I was like I am soooooooo getting magnets next year. Rick went around tagging other vans with the window markers. We also kept a tally of our kills on the side of the van. We were suppose to tally how many time we were killed also.But lets be honest….we got killed way more than we killed. So for morale we just tallied the kills.

Finally we were off to leg 2. Romy was off, handed off to lauren, who handed off to sly, who then handed off to me. Off I went….trudging along the road. It wasn't too bad. Yes I got killed lots...but I wasn't in poor spirits. step step….OUCH.

My clumsy ass fell. Not really over anything.I just stepped off the corner and landed on the ground. Since I was down there...I figured I may as well message my husband. I guess that was a bad idea because I ended up worrying the group. I got up...shook it off. Had a few niggles but kept moving. Then I turned right and there it was. The BIGGEST mountain I had ever seen. Watch out for the stones...they are loose. So...up I go I guess...I couldn't move the mountain and couldn't go around it. So up I went….and lost all energy. Holy shite. I knew I had some elevation increase….but not like this. Finally when I got to the top...I was even more scared. I had to go down this beast. In the dark. Where are the lights?? oh there are none. This is the trail aspect of the race. Did I know there was trail running?? Nope. Had I trained for it? Nope. Did I have an idea how to trail run? Not a clue. So down I went… I didn't fall (thank goodness) But man was I scared. I couldnt see. And there were more mountains. Up….and down….up and down...The up part I was pacing like 13-14 min miles….down the mountains was like 10 min miles. Then through a big field. All you could see was little blinkin lights in front of you. I tried to keep to the right (you know..runners etiquette. If you are slow stay on the right so they can pass on the left).And finally I saw it. The most beautiful sight ever. ONE MILE TO GO!! I didn't think I was going to make it. Not like I was going to be eaten
by coyotes (although I did end up seeing one later on during the race crossing a street). I just didn't think I would make it till the end. Off to Mark I went and bam. The I want to quit this is stupid kicked in. My pace ended up being a 13:35 per mile. Not as bad as I expected but not what I wanted. Took me almost exactly 1 hour and 30 mins for 6.8 miles. I had put us behind schedule. I was suppose to be done in like 1 hour and 15 mins.

Back to the van….back on the road we went. The lack of sleep and lack of food was starting to kick in. I know I was starting to snip and snap. RIck was getting tired. Everyone was cat napping in between legs at exchanges.

We were at the last night leg waiting on Heather. And what a killer leg it was. More mountains, more trail running. That leg kicked everyones ass. This put us even more behind our projected time frame. Heather was emotionally done and tired. She passed off to Anthony and went to the van and bam. WIthin like 5 seconds she was sleeping. Lauren directed us back to civilization. Mark went to his parents place for a couple hours. We went home. Planned on meeting back at Laurens place at 6:45am. Rick crashed. Hard. I enjoyed a shower in my own home….cleaned out the van a bit and just sat having a root beer. I didn't sleep. I was too wired. But damn that alone time was magnificent.

Stacey and I kept up to date on pacing. Her group was doing fantastic. Mostly on schedule. We grabbed some McDonalds and off to Romy’s last leg. He took off. He looked like he was hurting...we stopped to van support him He was good. His knees were shot from all the pavement running. He killed that last leg. He wasn't happy with the time, but we were proud of his finish!

Lauren took the next leg...and what a killer leg that was. Lots of hills...limited van support. Got out some cold bottles of water for her and the others passing. I went a little crazy with the cowbell. She made it. Like a trooper. Little slower than projected time...but it was getting HOT and those hills were continuous.

She passed off to our superboy Sly. He was suppose to have an easy 9 miles(ha ha). According to the map it was suppose to be a climb for about 2 miles and then all downhill. Ya nope. It was hill after hill after hill. He drove it out. 9miles in the heat in less than one hour and 10 mins. He pulled it all out and then crashed.

My leg wasn't too bad. There were a few rolling hills, but the heat was HOT off the pavement. I felt like I was going to drag the team down some more. We were already 2 hours behind and at risk of not finishing in time. I was like Oh well. I befriended a lady named Brenda. This was also her first ragnar. Her pace was a tad slower than mine. She was doing a lot of walking. Did I mention it was hot?? We walked a bit. Took a selfie with the one mile to go sign. I said my goodbye and took off. I passed off to Mark. I guess he wasnt ready. I had done that 4.2 miles in less than 45. If I didnt walk with Brenda it would've been faster. But it was the most enjoyable leg. I had enjoyed watching the runners come into my exchange.Our volunteer was entertaining. He was also a runner. He made sure the runners needs were first and was a fantastic crowd controller.

So I passed to Mark….It was getting even hotter. We made sure to stop to support him with water. He didn't take any. It was a no support zone(I think) but others were stopping. It was too hot not too. There was one water exchange. But we gave him a bottle of cold water. He made it to his last exchange in one piece. The end was uphill. Ick.

We drove to the Exchange. I must've been outta my mind ( I still had not slept yet BTW) because I volunteered to run a couple miles with Heather. Heather was going to do 2 miles and then Romy was gonna sub in. Heather had forgotten something at the van. So back she went….I waited a the exchange and who comes up the hill? Mark. Well….since Im here I might as well go. Snap and off I went. This time I brought more water with me.

Holy smokes...more hills :( How did Heather manage to get 2 super hilly legs?? Note to self...next ragnar read the maps and legs more carefully. Now that I know how to read them. Learning curve. The heat….the hills….We made it through our legs.

Staceys van was waiting at the last big exchange. Down came Heather...in fine spirits. She handed off to Super Spartan Anthony and off he went into the sunshine. We grouped up to discuss our meeting plans for tonight. But we were done!! We had to run all our legs….plus I ran almost half of another leg.

6.5 miles...6.8 miles….4.2 miles...and then 2 extra miles within 28 hours and 15 mins (i started at 845 am friday morning and ended approx 1pm Saturday afternoon) on NO sleep and minimal food intake. That is quite bad assery.

We drove back to Phoenix, filled up the gas tank and stopped and in and out burger. I was really starting to drag. I tried to zonk out...but just couldn't. Lauren directed us home. Everyone cleared out the van. The funk was still there...but with no bodies or stuff.

Home we went. Another blissful shower and still no sleep. We sat for a bit, talked about the experience and back into a vehicle we went. This time….it was our own. Our own clean, smell free comfortable SUV.

We ended up in Mesa. The Ragnar finale. Met up with our group.Tortured Sols. Rick originally thought it was tortured souls. God my feet felt tortured. 2 nasty blisters. My left calf muscle had a knot in it….but other than that I felt fantastic. We met up by the water and ran through the chute!! Even our wonderful drivers. We crossed that finish line as a team. As a tortured sol family. The medals are fantastic. The music and announcers were awesome. It was a loud celebration of what we accomplished. It wasn't so much of a good bye, but more of a we kicked ass and we will see you all next year. lol had I had the money I would've signed us all up for next year. Despited the horrible trail mountain leg and getting over the emotional being killed...I loved every part of it!! We said goodbye but knew we would never be forgotten.

Our trek went through:
Wickenburg
Buckeye
Tonopah
Surprise
Sun City
Happy Valley
Phoenix
New River
Anthem
Cave Creek
Carefree
Scottsdale
Rio Verde
Fountain Hills
Mesa

I am so glad I went on this adventure. And even better I got to bring my husband with me. He didn't run, but he made sure we got where we needed to. Boosted morale, made sure we had food, sleep, water. We all took something different away from this, and can not wait till next time. 205.9 miles...we kicked your ass!!