Race Recap - Ragnar 2011 – 200 Miles or BUST

Ragnar = Cramped quarters, smelly vans, lack of sleep, lots of miles and BIG hills…but OH SO WORTH IT!!!

Last weekend I participated on a Ragnar team and conquered the 200 miles with an awesome team of 12. We raced night and day and ended up finishing 117 out of 306 teams.  Not too shabby!

The Ragnar series is great for all levels of runners.  I consider myself a novice and easily managed the 14 miles that were assigned to me.  While you run at night and early mornings (headlamp, LED and reflective vest required) you never feel alone out there as there are vans and other runners out there with you.

My 3 legs of the race were really fun and challenging. Leg #1 was a 6 mile run around 7:00PM from who knows where to Surprise. (That’s the name of the town…literally a “Surprise” people live all the way out here!) This run had a few hills and I was trying my best to catch the blinking lights in front of me. I never caught anyone!

Leg #2 was a little 4 mile jaunt through downtown Cave Creek at 4:00AM in the morning! It was probably my favorite because I actually passed someone! I also was chasing down a blinking light for a good 25 minutes…I was going to catch this person too!! When I finally approached the light it was a direction sign...gotta laugh at your self sometime…I’ll count that sign as a pass too! This run was rewarded with Smore’s and hot chocolate for breakfast at the exchange - YES!! Our van then headed to Fountain Hills High School to catch some zz’s.  I can now say that I slept on a gym floor with 100 other snoring people. 

The last run I did was up Palisades Drive in Fountain Hills. HILLS should be in all caps!  This was a 4 mile Hill MONSTER.  I try not to look back during a race but when I got to the top of Hill #1 I looked back and felt really accomplished.  The next hill killed me and it was then I realized I could cover more ground faster by walking than taking these little baby running steps. Last hill I tried to channel my inner super girl and had some fun entertaining the cars that went by.  Just for the record...putting your arms in front of you like super girl to take off really doesn’t make you fly!  

Suuppeerrr SSaarraaa

My goal is to run this Fountain Hills route once a month until NEXT Ragnar. I’m going to make that hill cry with how fast I run it in 2012!

As you can tell by my short little recap, Ragnar is a different animal…just how do you train to run 3 legs in 24 hours?  Ragnar provides a convenient training schedule that I semi-followed, but my advice is get some major hill work in. Most of the legs have elevation changes and your legs need that hill conditioning to get the job done!

Have you ever thought about or participated in a Ragnar Relay Race? Consider putting together a team and running for Girls on the Run, Maricopa County!! Its a great time and as they say..."crazy runners, inside jokes and a mild case of sleep deprivation. The result? Some call it a slumber party without sleep, pillows or deodorant. We call it a Ragnar Relay".  (If you are on my team though, please wear deodorant).