Van 1 starting time at 9:30 am. All of us were first time Ragnar runners!
This pic is of us before our night runs!!! I was totally freaking out!
Lovely pic of us after our yummy dinner and showers! (Provided by Kendra! Thank you!)
Pic of me and my Van 1 mom Ann passing me water on my first leg! LOVE HER!
Well here it is folks! My detailed account of my Ragnar experience! 3 weeks before Ragnar I was on Face book and noticed that Matty had posted about needing a last min runner for their Van 1 Ragnar team and needed someone who at least ran a little bit. I immediately posted with excitement that I could do it! I hadn't even looked at the legs I would be running, let alone knowing what I was getting myself into! I looked at the legs on line and thought it was going to be OK. For those of you who don't know what Ragnar is, it is an overnight running relay race that makes testing your limits a team sport. A team is made up of 12 individuals; each individual runs 3 legs. The legs of the race vary in difficulty and distance, from 3-8 miles, allowing elite and novice runners to run together. Over 2 days and 1 night, teams run across 200 miles of the Wasatch Back from Logan to Park City. At out final team meeting, I realized I would be running not only with a bunch of people I had never met, but we were all FIRST TIME Ragnar runners! I was a little nervous that I would let people down and it did intimidate me. I was runner #6, which meant that I would be the last runner in our van and would be the one handing off to van 2, 3 different times! I prepared the night before, leaving my darling children in the care of my in-laws, Thank you John and Liz! We met at Ann's house at 7 am to head up to Logan. I sat shot gone with Ann, Kira, Brayden, Kendra, and Proshaunt in the back. On the way there, Kendra had a break down about a mother and her ducklings crossing the highway up Logan canyon. She was crying for us to turn around, that this was a matter of life and death, that she would run our legs for us, if we would just TURN AROUND! We didn't have enough time, so she called 911. We very soon found out that Kendra has a passion for animals.... and that's putting it mildly. On one of our night legs, she saved a pregnant moth that was going to die if she got stepped on.
We got to the University to check in and all of us where still trying to figure everything out. Brayden was our first runner and left on his way at 9:30 am. We got back in the car to leap frog ahead of him and cheer him on. At this point, I was still pretty quiet. I didn't want to freak out these new people I JUST meet with my obnoxious and loud personality.... Well, we waited and waited at our exchange and still couldn't find Brayden. He had 9 miles to run, so we weren't sure how long it would take, but we knew he would be fast because he ran track and field in high school. Kendra was doing some friendly chatting with fellow participants and then realized we were at the wrong EXCHANGE!!! Poor Brayden had been waiting for us at the correct exchange for 10 min!!!! We raced like bats out of the cave (Brayden's saying) and got there so the Prochaunt could do his leg!
As we drove around dropping people off and picking them up, we all started opening up and talking. I asked where Prochaunt was from (he looked Indian) and with a straight face, said Michigan. We were all a little surprised, mainly because he had a very heavy accent, but accepted his response. Everyone did a stellar job on their runs and pretty soon we caught up on the time we had lost back at exchange 1. Kira was the runner before me and kicked tail on one of the hardest legs in Ragnar, called "What the Hill". (All uphill on a caynon dirt trail) She passed off to me and I was on my way. This was my first leg of Ragnar! It was AWESOME! It was 6.5 miles on the caynon road DOWNHILL. I was trying really hard to to not fall on my face and it really helped that my team was there cheering me on. Made the experience so much better! You have to realize that while you are running, not only are their hundreds of other runners running too (in crazy costumes and some wearing hardly anything at all) there are cars, vans, and trucks decked out with crazy stickers and paint, driving right along side of you. So I was trying to make sure I didn't fall, get hit by a car, or run into someone else! I was relieved to the one 1 mile to go sign and started really running. I didn't stop once. I finished that leg in 1 hour and 2 min. I was so happy and excited to see Van 2 and passed it on to them! I was so happy that I finished and didn't let anyone down!
Then it was off to Kendra's house in Mountain Green for food and a shower! Not everyone was able to do this, but our team was lucky! After dinner, a shower, and calling in to check on my kids, we were on our way to our exchange point. By now, it was nearing dark and Brayden took off on his second leg down Trapper's Loop in the sunset. He totally ran his heart out and finished strong as is got dark. Kendra, Ann, and Kira killed their legs in the dark. No problems, well, except for Ann almost running over a goat, while running and stepping in poo. ;-) I then set off on my second leg of 8.2 miles at 1 in the morning with my head lamp, back blinker and reflective vest. The first several miles were fun and easy. It was nice to run in the cool mountain air. My route was up East Canyon Res. About 4 miles into my run, I saw our van on the side of the road, and I knew it was probably impossible for them to notice if it was me or not (we all looked the same running in the dark) so I ran really fast along side the van and knocked it several times! The only thing I heard was Kira screaming! It was so funny! Maybe not to them..... This was by far my hardest leg. At mile 6 I had to stop because the uphill grade was too much for me.It was a little scary running up a caynon in the dark. I thought for sure I was gonna get hit by a car. After my night leg, we passed off again to Van 2 and headed off to South Summit High for some much needed rest. On the way there, Procaunt proceeded to tell us that he really was from India and was just playing with us! We thought it was so funny! By then we were so tired and exhausted that EVERYTHING was funny. "Awe Yeah" was said over a hundred times. 1+1= 2 which means it's honey bucket time! We all tried to sleep in the same car and no one really got any sleep. In my passing in and out of sleep, I yelled when it was dead quiet, "Dolla dolla bills ya'll"! Everyone started laughing and that was that, we said it the rest of the trip. At 6 am, I went to the porta potty and realized, much to my horror, that everyone was camped out in the school. We had just spent the night in a cold car with no room when we could have stayed in the school! We were all a little sad at that moment, but picked ourselves back up and headed out to do our last legs.
The heat was beating down and some of us where in stomach distress....myself included. (Too many cliff bars and power aid) We were all exhausted, tired beyond belief, and scared. Scared to not finish, scared to get really sick while running, and scared to let everyone down. Before Kendra's leg we said a prayer and with that Kendra and Ann ran through their longest and toughest legs. It was truly amazing to be apart of something so inspiring. I was able to see my teams' tears, excitement, and triumphs.... and I had just met them. Kira killed her last leg and now it was my turn to turn it out and run my last run of Ragnar. This was by far my easiest leg. I passed several people and told them to keep going. I didn't stop once. As I passed the finish line to pass on to Van 2 all I could think of was my kids and John. That I could finish fast and strong for them. At the finish line I was greeted by my new friends yelling "DOLLA DOLLA BILLS YA'LL!" What a great feeling of accomplishment! I had just finished Ragnar!!!! We drove to Park City High to eat and wait for Van 2. I was missing the kids and felt like I needed to be home, so John came and got me from Park City High and picked me up. It was bittersweet to say good bye to my new friends. We only spent 30 hours together but, we learned so much about one another and saw each other go through a big thing together!
As I sit here writing this, I miss them. My Van 1.
I miss Ann's ability to sing all the young kid songs (Booty work anyone?), tell her life story to me and let me see her for who she is. I like what I see. I miss my Ragnar momma. Thanks for cheering me on and being there for me. She is a mom and ran this race! She is so inspiring!
I miss Kira's ability to run like she did with no training. I miss her laugh. I miss her singing. I miss her smart and witty comments. Happy 16th Birthday Kira!
I miss Brayden's crazy red hair, him saying "AWE YEAH", him and Kira singing together, him saying, "my mom must love me", our renditions of Eminem, and him non stop talking about 1+1!!!!
I miss Kendra's compassion for all living things. I miss her bossy and mothering nature. I miss her cracking with a laugh at times that we were supposed to be serious and us trying to loosen her up.
I miss Proschant, or as we would say, cheese on our Croissant..... I miss him yelling our sayings in his Indian accent. My fav being, " Thank you, come again" Good luck with your new baby girl!
This was by far the craziest thing I have ever done.After going through an entire stick of body glide, blisters on my feet, no sleep, and some sore muscles, it was so worth it and I am so glad I did it. I am again so thankful for my team, because with out them. I wouldn't have been able to push through it all and have a total blast all at the same time! I am absolutely doing it again next year and hopefully with the same people! I loved Ragnar. LOVED IT. I am also very much grateful for John. Because of him I have been able to do this. He helped me believe in myself, pushed me to continue training, and cared for our kids while I trained and ran this race. It means the world to me that I have his continued support.
