Ragnar Trail Alafia River - FL

Ragnar Trail Alafia River - FL

Ragnar Trail Alafia River - FL

( 3 reviews )
100% of reviewers recommend this race
  • Alafia River State Park,
    Florida,
    United States
  • December
  • Relay
  • Trail Race
  • Event Website

CJ

Jacksonville, Florida, United States
5 7
2016
"First Ragnar Experience! "
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management
CJ 's thoughts:

Where do I even begin with this race? It's was one of the funniest races I've ever participated in. Wish I could accurately paint a picture of what it felt like, so I'll try. We left Thursday evening so that we could get a decent camp site and check in on time. Unfortunately for us we didn't take into account traffic through Orlando and arrived at the site in the dead of the night. A polar vortex from the north happened to be swinging through as well so the temperature dropped substantially which made things even more interesting.

In my teeth chattering, cold-induced haze I came across some of the camp sites that had some pretty awesome creative themes, for example there was the U.S.A-holes, The Hecklers, a military themed campsite who's name I can't remember currently, and some others with Christmas decorations. One camp even had a celebratory Christmas tree lighting with a countdown and all.

Shivering in the unexpected cold we were able to set up camp, get our canopy and lighting in place, and dive into our tents right before the rain started. The next morning the first leg was mine. 9.9 miles on an easy loop and intermediate loop. The green loop was full of flat lands, wide open fields, and great scenery before merging into the other loops and finally the finish line. I fell during this time and ended up breaking my glasses. I knew I should have had contacts in with shades, and looking back I wish I would just put those on instead of breaking my prescriptions. Lesson learned!

The intermediate loop was more of a roller coaster that went deep into the heart of the woods with a decent amount of up and down elevation. As they described it, "you might discover perpetual motion and feel the effects of G-Force as the trail dives and climbs, twists and turns, and swoops and soars." They weren't lying.

When I finished those two I immediately used a shower pill, cleaned up, changed clothes, and grabbed some food. What was nice about this event was that they gave you meal tickets and allowed you to use those instead of having to bring cash or credit card with you, and they had a number of food trucks out there you could choose from.

After eating I grabbed some sleep and prepared for my next leg which would prove to be the most difficult. I started this one around 8 PM EST.The red(or hard) loop as they called it was 5.9 miles of twisting, turning, up hills and drops along narrow passage ways. One slip up and you could find yourself tumbling down the side of the hill and into swampy looking waters, or into a deep chasm that would've proved difficult to get out of. I found a lot of runners took this one as slow as possible, except for on some uphills when you needed a little momentum to get up them. After completing this one I finished up with the 5.9 green(easy) loop. The easy loop doesn't feel so easy after you've put so many miles in and just tackled mental and physical warfare that the red loop puts you through.

I met a runner on the green loop that was having...as she described it as the 'worst time in her life'. She said she hated the outdoors, she hated the roots she kept tripping on, she hated running at night, and hated feeling so exhausted. I thought to myself that it's relatively common for tired runner to feel so cranky so I didn't think anything of it. I stayed with her till she was finished and she seemed to be in really good spirits when she crossed the finish line.

Next was pretty much rinse and repeat. Get some food in me, change my clothes, use a shower pill, and get some sleep so I could prepare for the next 13 mile leg. Unfortunately one of our teammates tore something in his leg so he ended up pulling out early which led to my turn being around 3:45 in the morning, and I had to tackle the yellow and red loops again. The first 5 miles were brutal. I was feeling nauseated whenever I tried to pick up the pace so I settled for that 'ultra shuffle' of somewhere between running/walking. Once I hit the halfway point I downed a cliff bar that I had stashed away in my hydration pack and willed myself to keep going. That cliff bar made the world of difference. Not only was I not nauseated anymore, but I had energy for next 7 miles that I didn't have in previous 6, and seeing how I was coming up on the hardest part of the terrain, I definitely needed it.

I finished just as the sun was coming up. It was beautiful, life-affirming, and exhilarating. Never before had I been so happy to see the sun. As I told someone else, I've spent the last 36 hours or more freezing, sleep deprived, sore, exhausted, hungry and thirsty, but I've never felt more alive. I've now found myself in love with all things trail running.

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