My friend Amber (mybirthwrite.com) texted me saying she was running a Ragnar Relay and she may have a spot on her team if I was open to it. I had wanted to try running a Ragnar since my friend Meredith had run one in the Florida Keys two years before. In Arizona it’s generally the week before the Phoenix Marathon, so the timing has never been right for me. This text came to me literally the day after I received a reply from the race director at Phoenix confirming my move to the half marathon).
Again, feeling like things happen for a reason, I said yes. My logic was that I could do the relay and still be fine for the Phoenix half-marathon the following week. I was super-excited and told Meredith I was finally going to be able to run a Ragnar. She was excited for me, but then brought up the very good point that I would be running Lost Dutchman, Ragnar, and The Phoenix back to back. Three weeks in a row. Still fighting this injury. Smart plan Jamie.
I didn’t want to back out. I needed the distraction so I sucked it up and planned on running all three races. If you don’t know what a Ragnar Relay is I highly suggest you check out their website. http://ragnarrelay.com/race/delsol (this is the link for the Arizona one). It’s an almost 200 mile relay that you run with a group of 4-12 people. (The groups less than 12 are called “ultra” teams and are absolutely insane). This year (I found out the day we started our relay) there was a team of TWO running the relay. TWO people. Seriously?? They were running almost 100 miles each in a two-day time period. Now that is running dedication.
The Ragnar Relay website describes it this way:
“You and 11 of your craziest friends (or 5 of your crazier friends for an ultra team) pile into two vans and tag team running 200(ish) miles, day and night, relay-style. Only one runner hits the road at a time. Each participant runs three times, with each leg ranging between 3-8 miles and varying in difficulty. So, from the elite runner down to the novice jogger, it’s the perfect race for anyone
While one person is running, the rest of your teammates are on support duty in your race vehicles. Teams require 2 vehicles (Runners 1-6 in van 1 and 7 -12 in van 2) Van 1’s runners will cover the first six legs. As each runner begins, the crew in the vehicle can drive ahead, cheer their runner on and meet them at the exchange point to pick them up and drop off the next runner. After the first 6 legs, van 2 picks up the slack and starts putting in the miles.
Once your van’s runners finish the six legs, you drive ahead to the major exchange point to wait for your other van to finish their six legs, hunker down and try to get some rest. If you aren’t in the mood to sleep or can’t seem to move your body into sleep mode, try harder because you will need it for the next step.
All that stuff above? Yeah… you get to do it two more times.”
A pretty apt description if I say so myself!
I was very nervous about taking on this challenge because I am not the most social of people (I have a lot of social anxiety which I try to mask). I knew Amber, but only a little through Weight Watchers. I knew absolutely no one else on the team which was a little disconcerting for me.
In true Jamie fashion, I researched Ragnar, looked up pins on Pinterest, picked Meredith’s brain regarding her experience with her relay in the Keys, and watched videos from people running Ragnar’s on YouTube. I think I sufficiently covered every inch of information I could find. The only thing I didn’t learn was exactly how hard this was going to be on my body!
We met as a team for the first time at Amber’s house in Phoenix (along with the social anxiety I have a lot of anxiety about driving in Phoenix-It’s pretty scary!). All of the girls that would be in my van came for the meeting and most of the girls for the other van were in attendance. The almost ironic thing was that the other van consisted of teachers and the van I’d be in consisted of nurses. They all seemed to be OB nurses too (that’s the ironic part since I was going through my mental tug of war issue about not being able to have kids).
It was determined the nurses and Amber and I would be in van 1 and the teachers would be in van 2. I was to be runner number 6. The last runner for our van. At first I was secretly glad I was the last runner until I realized that meant I would have all that time to wait before my run. Amber was runner 1. Once she was done with her leg she would get to rest right away. Awesome.
We decided our team name would be “Chicks with Kicks” which I thought was totally adorable. Amber’s husband even designed our shirts!
I was enamored with our shirts! Our meeting took place only about 3 weeks before our race due to the fact that the original team had some injuries and several runners had to be replaced at the last-minute. It was a productive meeting, we got all the info we needed, and all we had to do was wait!
The night before we left for the starting line (waaaaaaay out on the other side of Arizona-it felt like) our half of the team met at Roadrunner Sports (love that place!) to participate in the van decorating event. Apparently it’s a big deal to trick out your van and have theme. Most of us never having run a Ragnar before did not know this so we were clueless. Luckily the teacher (and researcher) in me brought along some magnets, markers, and little bird things I found in my classroom. This was the end result of our van:
I was pretty proud of the chick I had drawn on the back window if I do say so myself! The little birds had our names and what runner number we were. The managed to stay on all the way through the scary freeways (which we nominated Becca and Amber to switch off driving on), but somehow disappeared in the parking lot of the starting line. Annoying. Oh well…they were cute while they lasted.
If I remember correctly our start time was around 5:30am. The slower the group pace, the earlier the start time. Obviously with a start time before the sun came out-we were not planning on setting any records. We ended up leaving Tempe Market Place, where we had all arranged to meet, around 4am (I think) maybe 3:30? It was all a sleepy blur!
It was really cold that morning and we were all bundled up waiting for Amber to start us off as runner #1. The girls in the other van were lucky! They got to sleep in and didn’t had to meet us at our exchange until later in the afternoon. Although we did finish and had a few hours to rest before they crossed the finish line for our team. I’m getting ahead of myself a little.
The atmosphere was amazing. There was music, tons of people, and had such an energizing effect! Some teams were even wearing costumes. It was pretty awesome just to wander around and people watch before our team started off. The designs on the vans and the team names were fun to look at too! There was even one van dedicated to “The Griswold Family Vacation” from the National Lampoons Movies. It was a hoot!
Amber took off a little after 5:30. We drove back and forth on the route for a little while cheering for her, yelling out the windows, ringing a cowbell, etc. We pulled over a few times to give her some water. On most of the legs you could provide “support” to your runner by giving them water and fuel. Some legs, because of the roads, or the location of the route there was no support so the runners had to fend for themselves until the next exchange. Luckily we were able to support her. I think that loop for her was around 8 miles. As we drove ahead to the exchange point to drop of runner #2 and collect Amber, we started to worry as we began climbing some pretty steep hills in our van. This meant she would have to run up those hills-and they were toward the end of her leg! Scary!
We finally met up with an exhausted but happy Amber, said goodbye to runner 2-Janie, and set off to give more support to our runner and meet at the next exchange point. It was pretty fun. We got to the point we were yelling and cheering for anyone-it didn’t matter who it was. I could tell they appreciated the support too!
My leg was getting closer and closer and I was starting to get nervous. It was the hot part of the day (around 1pm), I was in an unfamiliar city, and even though we had a route map, I didn’t know what conditions I would be running on. If I remember correctly my first leg was a little over 5 miles and was labeled “moderate” in terms of difficulty. I figured 5 miles would be no big deal so I wasn’t too concerned about the distance.
I definitely was not prepared for the heat though! It had to be somewhere in the 90’s. That and lack of sleep made me feel as though I was running through quicksand. I think at one point I actually did run through quick sand! Not really, although it felt like it!. The last two miles of my leg were running through very loose and rather deep gravel. Not having trail shoes, I could feel every pebble as it settled into the groves in the bottom of my Brooks running shoes. My legs were on fire from the effort, I felt like I was trapped in a sauna due to the unseasonably warm weather, and I had to keep looking down to make sure I didn’t twist and ankle in the unstable surface I was running on.
I finally neared the finish for my leg and saw a sea of blue ahead of me. As a team we decided that for each of our sets of legs (3 per van) we would wear a different color (trust me you want to change your clothes after running and being stuck in a van with 5 other people). We decided on blue, then green, then pink (since our amazing shirts were pink). They have people call out team names when runners get close to the chute so the next runner can get ready for the hand off of the baton. In our case it wasn’t really a baton, but a slap bracelet which made it convenient and fun to do!
My team (both vans) leaned forward as I got closer and made an arch for me to run under. It was so cool! I wish I had a better picture of it. This was as close as I got:
That’s me, giddy with happiness to be able to cool down and running under the arch!
With our first run done, our van could relax! We cleaned up as best we could with baby wipes and other on-the-go-cleaning supplies, and grabbed some lunch. We were all tired, but happy. The girls had been taking turns trying to nap in the van. I don’t know if any of them were successful. It seemed as though a few were able to get a few zzz’s here and there. I was unsuccessful. I don’t sleep well if conditions aren’t perfect. Another one of my idiosyncrasies I think.
Our next run would begin in the evening. We drove to our next exchange point in search of showers (we were at a high-school and they had opened the locker room for us). Rumor had it that the water was cold. The lines were so long, none of us waited around to find out, so we once again cleaned up as best we could with the baby wipes. At least we were able to brush our teeth like normal and use a mirror to assess our damage (haha).
Getting nervous again being in an unfamiliar city, of course I started stressing about what time I’d be running, where I’d be running, how long it would take me, how cold it was, etc. Luckily the girls in my van were all amazing women and we swapped stories and kept each other entertained as much as possible. Soon it was Amber’s turn again and we trotted off to the exchange shoot to welcome our second van and see off Amber.
It was around 10 or 10:30pm at this point so of course it was dark. Ragnar has safety mandates which include a headlamp, a safety vest, and a light on the back of the vest during ‘night hours’ which were 9am to 9pm. It was eerie to see people all lit up, but we were able to see runners coming in from pretty far away.
My stomach (of course) had been acting up since I had finished my run earlier in the day. I didn’t eat much when we went to lunch, nor did I snack on anything in the van. When we said goodbye to runner 1 and headed back to our van we happened upon some nice volunteers who were making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on the side of the road. Normally I would not eat a sandwich made by some random person on the side of the road at 10:30 at night, but I figured I needed to eat and suddenly the thought of jelly sounded really good. I’m not a big grape fan, but boy did that grape jelly and peanut butter sandwich hit the spot! I swear it was the best one I had ever had! I know it sounds weird but I will take the memory of that sandwich with me to my grave. (Kind of like the orange slices from the Phoenix Marathon-they were THAT good!).
We drove from exchange to exchange dropping off and picking up our runners. The majority of the legs on this run were ‘no support’ so we weren’t able to cheer for or give our runners water so it was kind of boring for us. We tried to nap at the exchanges, but it was difficult to do with the lights, and the noises from other vans. Plus we set up a text system so we knew when our runner was getting close so we could walk out to the exchange point at a decent time instead of standing there freezing. Soon I was up for my second leg!
What a difference a few hours make! I think I began my run around 3:30am. If my first run was hotter than hell, the second run was the polar opposite (pun intended). It was so cold I could see my breath! I had layered up and was wearing Capri running tights under my sweat pants, a tank with a long-sleeved shirt and a jacket over that. I know that I am a hot runner though so right before I was to take off, I shed my outer sweats and handed them to one of the girls in my van. I was so tired (having been up for a over 24 hours at this point) that I had no idea of the person I handed all of my stuff to was even on my team!
Not even a mile into my run I started to get really hot! I ended up slowing down a little so I could struggle out of my running jacket and long-sleeved shirt. (Don’t worry, I still had a tank on underneath). I tied them around my waist as best I could so they wouldn’t fall off, and so my number was still visible. I had sweat rolling down my arms that would immediately freeze as soon as it hit that icy air. I’m surprised I didn’t end up with Pneumonia!
We all decided (when we got back to the van), that none of us were feeling particularly good, and we knew if was the odd nutrition of the last day and a half. We ended up making a late night Wal-Mart run. Once again we were in an unfamiliar city, and here I was around 5am walking around Wal-Mart in my running clothes, looking like death warmed over I’m sure! We got an assortment of cheese sticks, lunch meat, fruit and some crackers and headed off to the next exchange.
The girls made me lie down in the back of the van by this point. They knew I had gotten no sleep. It was way too hard for me to doze in a moving vehicle though. I wished so badly that I could be like a kid again when I’d always fall asleep in the car. Even on short rides!
Before I knew it, our reprieve was over and it was our van’s turn again. Last legs for us! It was blazing hot again and some of our runners had their longest legs coming up. My legs had been pretty consistent hovering around the 5-7.5 mile marks but one of our runners had gone from like a 4 mile run to this one being a 9 miler! It was brutal!
I was exhausted during my last leg. I knew where we were at this point! We were in Fountain Hills. They didn’t add the ‘hills’ part for no reason! This was a no support leg for me, probably because once I got out of the city, I was running on a major highway again. My van tried to stop where they could just so I’d see them there and know they were supporting their last runner as much as they could. The race marshal (is that even what you call those guys?) kept driving past me, turning around, and driving past me again. I have no idea what that was about. I knew I wasn’t the only runner left on the course. I was starting to get a complex though, like the sag wagon was after me!
The hills I ran up were brutal. My mysterious injury had not really bothered me too much up to this point. I think having regular adjustments from the chiropractor were helping. Those hills though. I didn’t think I was going to make it up some of them. My last hill was so steep I literally cried. Then I got mad at myself for crying and was able to push myself the last little bit that I needed
Part of our van decorations were the check boxes next to our names. When we finished a leg, we’d check it off. Notice how big that check mark is that I gave myself at the end. An emphatic check mark indeed! PS Kills (for those of you wondering) are for every person you pass during your leg. I may not be the fastest runner, but was till able to add some marks to that tally if I do say so myself! I think we forgot sometimes to add them, but it’s the thought that counts!
We headed back into familiar territory to wait for our second van to finish. We were going to meet them at the finish line and all run across the finish together. When we got to the parking lot of Tempe Town Lake we tried once again to clean up using the portable items we had. By then we were all too tired to really change so we just put on our “Chicks with Kicks” shirts on over our running clothes.
One of the other girls texted me saying our last runner was going in, so it was time to meet them at the finish and run across as a team. It’s weird to think that this was a ‘team’ event but it still kind of felt like we were two separate teams because we weren’t able to interact very well with the other van.
When we saw runner 12 coming in, we all began to cheer and ran across the finish line with her. I don’t know if it was lack of sleep, the excitement, or just the experience itself, but I did get a little teary as we ran across the finish line and were handed our medals!
We took a couple of team photo’s but for some reason when I tried to get them off of the girl who owned the camera’s Shutterfly they came out really small, so I’m not able to share them with you. I think we had a pretty good one at the first exchange too, when we were all in our blue. I feel bad saying “the girl” and “runner 12”. I didn’t know anyone from van 2 so I don’t really know their names or who did what which kind of makes me feel bad since we were a team.
It was definitely a fun and memorable experience! I was exhausted, not feeling well, out of my element, and dirty, but it was the most fun I had in a while! I would do it again in a heartbeat should the opportunity arise!
Here are some random pictures I forgot to include earlier:
The first one is of Amber and me. I feel like we got to be better friends during this experience. She has an amazing blog at mybirthwrite.com. Plus I met some other amazing women runners who I still keep in contact with via Facebook.
The second one is the Ragnar tattoo. Don’t worry, it was a temporary tattoo (that ended up lasting for several days to a week).
The final picture was my attempt at team spirit. Pink toes with the Ragnar Relay logo!
Up next: My half marathon the following week and more about my surgery!
Sleep well friends!
Runs Through Sprinklers 