Ragnar Relay Recap

Medal for each runners at the end of the race

Name of our team - Thunderous Herd

I am not sure where to start with news about our relay this weekend. Actually, I will apologize for not have pictures yet. I didn't take many and those I did take were mainly of the scenery and not people. Our teams did take plenty of pictures and video, which I will share at a later date.

Thursday night we all met at work in Provo and loaded up our vehicles with food and people. Our vehicle only had Mike and myself and we were to make 2 stops to pick up the rest of our team members (in our vehicle). The relay is 12 runners on a team and you have 6 in each vehicle. We stopped in American fork to pick up Todd and Merrill. We then picked up Josh and Annette in Sandy. After the stops we made our way to Logan. We dropped Josh and Annette at Travis's home and then dropped Todd at his hotel. Mike was staying with a friend so he dropped Merrill and I at our hotel. I bunked in with Ronn and Dan.

Our teams name was 'Thunderous Herd' and the other team was 'Run Dam It Run' with a beaver as their mascot. Some of the other team were decorating their vehicle as light was fading. Soon we retired to try and get some sleep for the race. I think I finally fell asleep after 11 but woke up at 3:30am and could not go back to sleep. Even though I had run the relay last year the nerves were still there. With the knee injury recently and the one to start off the race I wanted to make sure we started well.

Both teams made it to the start by 7:30 with a start time of 7:50am. It was a very cool morning so it was great for running. My first leg was 5.1 miles. Jeff (starting for the other team) had been training hard and talking smack for the last couple of months. He was very confident. We lined up at the start and Jeff asked me if I was going to take off fast. I said no but he said he was going to. The gun went off and Jeff took off. I knew I had to save my knee for all 3 legs over the next 30 hours. Within 1 1/2 miles Jeff had slowed and I had caught him. My goal was to keep Jeff in my sights the whole time. I stayed about 100 yards behind him the rest of the run. I should have been 5 minutes behind Jeff but was only 2 minutes back. This started well for our team. My knee was feeling a little sore when I was done. I was able to ice it and take some meds. Todd was the next runner and he struggled for most of his leg. The race she shows who train hard and who trained not quite as hard. Todd did a great job but now realizes that when we say you need to train for this race, we were serious. lol

Mike was the 3rd to run, while I drove his vehicle. He also ran really well but said his ankle was hurting when he finished. Merrill then took over for the 4th leg and had been training well despite shin splints. Merrill also did very well on his leg. Annette and Josh ran the 5th and 6th legs. I was really impressed with Annette as she ran over 7 miles, with a gradual incline on dirt. We were told that through the Avon pass that there had been plenty of rain recently and there was a lot of mud. Although there was not as mud or dust as expected that stretch is always tough. Josh then ran down the other side of Avon pass. Going down the hill was probably worse than Annette going up. Besides being steep and loose dirt/gravel, the road was uneven and had many washouts.

The 6th exchange was a mess. We had to park at a church about half mile away from the exchange and ride a shuttle to go meet the other 6 members of our team. It was great to be done with the first stage of our race. Out team was then able to travel to Snow Basin to rest while the other vehicle ran their legs. While we were running we would call or text our progress so the other team knew when to be ready. This was not easy at times because some areas there was no cell service. We had a rough estimate of everyones time so that made it easier to keep track.

In Snow Basin we ate lunch, found the restrooms and just relaxed while waiting for our next turn to run. During our wait we heard from the other team that one of their runners, Dave, became confused and disoriented at the end of his first run. Their was concern from all of us as we were at Snow Basin with their 1st vehicle. If you receive and IV during to rest you are automatically out of the race. Dave did not have an IV and was able to continue (with help of his team). At 6:10pm I started my 2nd leg...8.5 miles. I was wearing a knee brace that was hard to get on as my knee had swelled just a little. The first mile was straight up hill. I walked for most of it as running just burned too much energy. There was a lady that passed me but I caught her about 100 feet later because she stopped and walked. The next 7.5 miles were mainly downhill with a few rolling hills thrown in. The downhills actually hurt my knee more so I was slow on them and made found relief in the gentle uphill.
It was great to finally finish my longest and hardest leg. I was a little emotional at the end because I had worked so hard but got injured a month before the race. Todd then had a quick run to the next exchange. As the light starting fading Mike, Merrill and Annette got through their legs quickly. Josh had the long one of the night that had a couple of short but steep climbs. We got done just after 11pm and was ready for another rest. Once again we had met up with our other team members from van 2 as well as the other team.

During most of the 36 exchanges we saw members of the other team...which was great. We got to see how everyone was doing and feeling.

Our second vehicle started their second leg while we headed for Kimball Junction (just north of Park City) to sleep at the hotel. We got there, everyone was able to shower and then tried to get some sleep. Everyone slept solid for the short time we got to sleep. I think I slept from 1am until 4:30. We then got up and made our way to the next major exchange to start our 3rd and final leg. Originally we were to start at 4:50am but we were a little behind projection and I started around 6am. My knee did not feel good at all but was going to run no matter what. I was about a mile in when the 2nd vehicle from the other team stopped and asked if I needed anything or if they could run for me. Even though I had slowed I knew I wanted to finish what I started. I also knew that the rest of the teams had to still run and would be just as tired and sore.

A couple of times, during my third leg (4.9 miles), I found a little rhythm and felt ok but was limping. I was so glad and happy to be done. I was about 12 minutes slower than expected but at no time was their frustration or negativity from my team mates. At that stage we just wanted to complete the race. Todd saved his best run for last as did Mike. Mike had almost 8 miles of gruelling uphills but ran it like a champion. Merill then ran 7 minute miles on the other side of Mike's leg and caught us up with the time we lost. Annette then ran her best with her last 3 miles and also caught us up. Josh finished with a short sprint (about 5k distance) to the final exchange between our 2 vehicles. The time between both vehicles at this exchange was only 30 seconds. With our 2nd vehicle on their last legs we headed back to the hotel to shower and rest. After a few hours we headed back to the finishing area. We had to park 4 miles away and again shuttle to the end. Once we arrived we heard that the other team's last runner (Kristy) left 5 minutes before our last runner (Travis). Travis had a slightly better time than Kristy but having running twice already and a lack of sleep the distance was too much to make up. The finishing area was thriving with thousands of runners, friends, family and sponsor's. It was a sight to see. We waited for about half an hour to hear whether Travis or Kristy would finish first. A quarter mile from the finish they announce numbers so the team can gather and run across the finish together. We did not do this last year and made sure it happened this year. It actually changed the whole experience. I was so proud of all our runners. We actually finished the relay in 32 hours and 18 minutes. Run Dam It Run finished in 32 hours and 11 minutes. Can you believe that after 188 miles the 2 teams were separated by only 7 minutes. We could not have set the teams any better. There are actual bragging rights for both teams. They crossed the line first but according to projections should have beat us by 30 minutes. I am hoping we see this as a win/win situation.

About half of the runners ran last year and the other half new this year. New experiences were made and a sense of accomplishment was across everyone as we gathered for a dual team picture.

Am I ready for next year? No, way!!! I need a couple of weeks rest then I will be back at it again. lol

Cheers!!!