500 teams.
420 kills.
196 miles.
24 hours (+1 minute, 55 seconds).
12 runners (or, you know, 9...)
3 hours of sleep.
2 vans.
1 Keg of Gatorade.
That's a Ragnar.
But in all seriousness, a Ragnar Relay is a long-distance, non-stop team relay race. A team of 12 people (or 6, for an Ultra team [or 9, if you're us and couldn't fill out a full 12]) passes a bracelet from one runner to the next, continuously, until you cover the entire distance. The teams are split into two vans, so that each person in van 1 runs a leg of about 3 to 9 miles, then passes off to the next person, and so on, until everyone in the van has run once -- then you pass off to van 2 and they run their legs. Then repeat the process two more times, so that everyone runs a total of three times.
Ragnar is just one of the companies that hosts races all over the country (ours was in Washington state). One of the most well-known long-distance relays is Hood to Coast in Oregon. Closer to home, there's the Bourbon Chase in Kentucky.
Now, I'm usually pretty serious when it comes to my training and racing. I run traditional track meets and road races with the intention of running fast, placing high, and maybe coming home with some prize money.
However, I do think it's a good thing to spice up that routine with something a little more fun. Last year, it was the Bay to Breakers 12k in San Francisco. This year, it was the Ragnar Relay in Washington with a bunch of old college teammates.
Of course, as a bunch of old collegiate runners, we couldn't really help but be a little (a lot) competitive. Out of about 500 teams, we started in the last wave with about 10 others (teams start in waves based on expected pace, with the slowest starting first and the fastest starting last). Some teams started at 6 am on Friday; we started at 1 pm that same day. So we had some catching up to do.
The farther we ran, the more teams we caught. Or, in Ragnar-speak, the more kills we racked up. Kills were exhilarating. Kills stoked our latent competitive spirit. We liked killing people. (As Riley said, in what may be the quote of the trip, "I can see why serial killers get into this stuff.")
In our first leg, kills were sparse. Teams were spread out, runners felt good, and we were pretty far behind. The next time around -- at night in the dark -- kills were plentiful. We were far enough along to catch up to the bulk of teams, but not so far along that they had strung out too far. Van 1 racked up over 100 kills in less than 30 miles. Van 2 had even more than that. The third and final leg saw us all flagging. It felt like the last 10k of a marathon. Fewer kills around here, too; mostly because we had already passed most of the teams.
We finished at 1 pm on Saturday, exactly 24 hours, 1 minute, and 55 seconds after we officially started. But with stops of traffic lights, getting lost once or twice, and helping a person out of a ditch, we actually ran under 24 hours.
In the mixed open division (12 runners, boys and girls together), we placed 3rd. Overall, we were 7th, behind those two teams and four men's-only teams. (Here are the results; we were team Keg of Gatorade.) Not a shabby result for our first go-round, especially considering we didn't even have a full team and most people had to run more than normal.
As far as vacations go, it was a little...different. As far as races go, it was an awesome team-like experience. Very fun catching up with old teammates!
The experience also left me feeling pretty refreshed going into my fall training block. Now that I'm back in Cincinnati, it's time to recover, hit up the quality training, and look forward to some fast fall racing.
Also, here are some pictures of the crazy weekend:
420 kills.
196 miles.
24 hours (+1 minute, 55 seconds).
12 runners (or, you know, 9...)
3 hours of sleep.
2 vans.
1 Keg of Gatorade.
That's a Ragnar.
But in all seriousness, a Ragnar Relay is a long-distance, non-stop team relay race. A team of 12 people (or 6, for an Ultra team [or 9, if you're us and couldn't fill out a full 12]) passes a bracelet from one runner to the next, continuously, until you cover the entire distance. The teams are split into two vans, so that each person in van 1 runs a leg of about 3 to 9 miles, then passes off to the next person, and so on, until everyone in the van has run once -- then you pass off to van 2 and they run their legs. Then repeat the process two more times, so that everyone runs a total of three times.
Ragnar is just one of the companies that hosts races all over the country (ours was in Washington state). One of the most well-known long-distance relays is Hood to Coast in Oregon. Closer to home, there's the Bourbon Chase in Kentucky.
Now, I'm usually pretty serious when it comes to my training and racing. I run traditional track meets and road races with the intention of running fast, placing high, and maybe coming home with some prize money.
However, I do think it's a good thing to spice up that routine with something a little more fun. Last year, it was the Bay to Breakers 12k in San Francisco. This year, it was the Ragnar Relay in Washington with a bunch of old college teammates.
Of course, as a bunch of old collegiate runners, we couldn't really help but be a little (a lot) competitive. Out of about 500 teams, we started in the last wave with about 10 others (teams start in waves based on expected pace, with the slowest starting first and the fastest starting last). Some teams started at 6 am on Friday; we started at 1 pm that same day. So we had some catching up to do.
The farther we ran, the more teams we caught. Or, in Ragnar-speak, the more kills we racked up. Kills were exhilarating. Kills stoked our latent competitive spirit. We liked killing people. (As Riley said, in what may be the quote of the trip, "I can see why serial killers get into this stuff.")
In our first leg, kills were sparse. Teams were spread out, runners felt good, and we were pretty far behind. The next time around -- at night in the dark -- kills were plentiful. We were far enough along to catch up to the bulk of teams, but not so far along that they had strung out too far. Van 1 racked up over 100 kills in less than 30 miles. Van 2 had even more than that. The third and final leg saw us all flagging. It felt like the last 10k of a marathon. Fewer kills around here, too; mostly because we had already passed most of the teams.
We finished at 1 pm on Saturday, exactly 24 hours, 1 minute, and 55 seconds after we officially started. But with stops of traffic lights, getting lost once or twice, and helping a person out of a ditch, we actually ran under 24 hours.
In the mixed open division (12 runners, boys and girls together), we placed 3rd. Overall, we were 7th, behind those two teams and four men's-only teams. (Here are the results; we were team Keg of Gatorade.) Not a shabby result for our first go-round, especially considering we didn't even have a full team and most people had to run more than normal.
As far as vacations go, it was a little...different. As far as races go, it was an awesome team-like experience. Very fun catching up with old teammates!
The experience also left me feeling pretty refreshed going into my fall training block. Now that I'm back in Cincinnati, it's time to recover, hit up the quality training, and look forward to some fast fall racing.
Also, here are some pictures of the crazy weekend:
 |
| Before the start, at the US-Canada border |
 |
| Looking for a good start out of the blocks |
 |
| Our sweet Ragnar tats |
 |
| Just part of Van 1's kill count |
 |
| Keg of Gatorade at the finish |
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