This was my third Ragnar Relay and I had an amazing time!

As usual you get a nice t-shirt, the cool team puzzle finishers medals, tattoos, and stickers!

The aid stations were like a normal Ragnar race, where there are some on what are considered the hardest and longest legs. None of my team had any issue with their placement. I think some people brought handhelds though.

The scenery was very pretty during most of the race! We went though multiple wooded areas and by multiple water sources!

I count the after party as the expo. I was really happy with this after party. They had much more substantial food options this time, two choices of wraps, AND they even had both types in a gluten free version!

It was decently rolling hills. I want to say during the middle was the most uphill, which I missed out on due to lightening. It was a bummer my middle leg got cancelled, but also I can understand their need for safety and they did say we could run other runners legs with them to make up for it.

I counted parking as the ability for vans to maneuver/pull over to cheer on runners. The roads were fine and were plenty of opportunities to pull over along the course.

Race management did an excellent job of providing a really fun course and race!

This race was SUPER HARD but also SUPER FUN!!

I always love the Spartan swag! As always we received a technical t-shirt, the normal medal, the piece medal, the headband (for people who like that), and awesome free race photos!

Aid stations were really good! They had water, some sports drink, and different ones had different types of fuel! I got to try Cliff Blocks and found out I really like them!

Scenery was decent even though that's not what you go to these races for. It was on a farm through lots of fields of corn, which was kind of neat. But also had some really nice wooded parts!

I'll count the after event as the expo. There was plenty more swag to purchase (which I like to see!) but also other free things/events to do. The cleaning stations were AMAZING. They had a gravel area with a ton of hoses to wash off with and then also changing tents.

Elevation wasn't really all that much, but the amount of mud was INSANE so it made any slight incline into a decent one (not that there were that many anyway).

Parking was your standard field turned to parking lot that you would then catch a shuttle to and from to the race.

This race was run really well. I find it kind of amazing how Spartan manages to stick their obstacle courses in the middle of these places full of woods and other natural obstacles so well.

This race was SUPER fun but also INSANELY hard. It is one of three races in the series, which I heard all have their own challenges. After racing this one I would really like to do them all next year!

The swag included really nice free race photos (my favorite form of swag!), a medal, a drawstring bag, and a nice hooded long sleeve shirt.

They had plenty of aid stations and they included EVERYTHING! Full packages of Honey Stinger chews & waffles, Coke & other sodas, sports drinks, candy, pretzels & more, and at least one even had bacon!

The course scenery was wicked pretty! All of Mount Killington's wilderness was amazing, especially at the peak!! It was also really exciting to see the trail system it was being held in was large enough to allow for 25k of unique trail so the course wasn’t just multiple loops of the same trail. The terrain varied between deep thick mud, tall thick grassy (vertical) fields, paths made of fist/baseball sized rocks, and technical wooded paths.

I didn't make it to the day-before packet-pickup even though they generously left it open until 8PM. In the after party Under Armor showed it definitely knows how to pamper you. They had a whole recovery station with all sorts of rollers, yoga pads, hammocks, and Normatec leg compression sleeves.

The elevation was INSANE and almost constant straight up and down with barely any flat. You also didn't just go up and down the mountain, but up and down multiple times/peaks.

Race parking was super easy. It was in an actual gravel parking lot, right where the GPS address said it would be, and SUPER close to the start line! The race venue also had great service which is always nice since I am directionally challenged so there’s no way I’m finding my way back home without a GPS or directions.

The race management was excellent! It was nice to see there was no line at day-off packet-pickup/resgistration. I had a problem with my registration but they were able to quickly and painlessly fix it for me. I also overheard another woman had forgotten her previously picked-up bib at her hotel and they quickly replaced it for her. In the end my bib actually got messed up, but that's honestly just my luck lol.

Other random notes:
This race seemed extremely supporter friendly. Not only did they have a supporter tent that had bells and sign making stuff, but they also had multiple supporter viewing points along the course. I didn’t have anyone with me since I always feel bad having people sit around for hours to only see me at the start and finish so I don’t know exactly what it entailed. I did see supporters at multiple points up the mountain and people in the gondolas though so I’m assuming they were providing transport to these spots for the supporters.

There were multiple timing pads for your bib chip placed throughout the woods/mountain. I thought that was pretty neat!

The course was well marked where you could basically always see a ribbon so even when I was alone and started doubting myself I was quickly reassured I was on the right path.

I had an absolute blast at this race and will definitely be attempting to get in again next year!

For SWAG you get a finisher's medal, the choice between two different colored technical t-shirts, and race photos (photos not free but awesome!). The finish line also has tons of different food options and some activities, like yoga!

The aid stations were the usual about every two miles and had Gatorade and water. I believe they also had fuel at some (I had brought my own). Many were on both sides of the road, which was really nice. They were also generally really big, with lots of awesome volunteers (lots of adorable kids helped out too)!

The scenery was SO BEAUTIFUL! You did a lot of running along nice country back roads full of trees and along rivers. It was REALLY hard not to stop and jump in! Next year I will definitely be making a weekend of this race and checking out the course when I'm not racing.

Elevation was decently flat, some inclines and declines definitely. Mile 5 there was a hill medium in both length and steepness. Mile 8 there was a VERY steep, but pretty short hill. They had a full out marching band playing at the bottom of the super steep hill so that was a really neat way to pump you up!

Parking was easy to get to and your standard "field converted to parking lot" so plenty of space. I stayed at the KOA Campground and would highly recommend it as it's 2.4 miles from parking. Next year I might just warm up and cool down to and from the race and not bring my car. It's a point to point race so you were shuttled from the your car to the start, and then again shuttled from the finish to your car at the end. The shuttles seemed to run regularly without any issue.

The race management seemed amazing. They put on a great race with all the stops:
- racing clocks at every other mile
- bands and music about every other mile
- gave the race either the entire road or at least a whole lane the entire time
- instant results at the end
- bags shuttled from the start to the end (because point to point)

Overall I absolutely LOVED this race and will be attempting to get in again next year. I say that because registration sells out in about 15 minutes. I ran it for fun since I heard people raving about it, but I might race it next year as I feel like it's a course you could definitely PR on. My only warning is cell service isn't the best in that area, but that's what you get for such an awesome, nature filled course!