RAGNAR Wasatch Back Run! and run... and run!

So I ran the Ragnar on June 17-18th. I drove to Carl's house in Lehi, Brad Shafer came by with the rented Chrysler Mini Van. Chuckle and laugh, but it actually worked out waaaaaayyy better than an SUV! We got the shell put on the top, loaded our gear and drove up to Olympus Cove to meet up with the rest of our team. We had to drive out to Eden. We went through the Ogden canyon. Man, the rivers are running real high! Of course we get behind some dude pulling a load of mulch and going 15 MPH.

We finally arrived and were heading over to the orientation area. As we were crossing the street one of the volunteers starts yelling at us because we weren't crossing with our flags. We didn't have them yet, and were actually picking them up, but he said we should be using them... I don't know, chicken and the egg thing!?!?!

We met up with Van 1 from our team, (we were named Hot 'n Runny) and waited for April, their last runner, to arrive. The whole valley of Eden is really beautiful. Anyway, she arrived and slapped the bracelet onto Sean, and he was off and running. April looked pretty hammered, and actually didn't run again; she got sick and later had her husband come pick her up.

So we drove up to the next exchange and waited. Sean came in and handed off to Matt, who had a quick 3 or so miler. Jeff was next and had a 3 miler, too. While we were waiting for him, one of the volunteers said there were only 29 teams left behind us! Our team officially started at 2 pm. It was getting dark and a bit cold! We went up to the next exchange and I got ready to roll.

I wore my reflector vest and Matt's headlamp. You know, putting on someone else's sweaty head lamp is a bit nasty, but eventually we were all pretty sweaty. So jeff slapped the bracelet on me and I was off. I had my RunKeeper app going. It notifies me every 5 minutes and at every mile. I was totally shocked when the voice came across my headphones telling me I was on a 6:41 mile pace! It was dark now, and I couldn't see where the heck I was supposed to be running. The markers are barely blinking and the volunteers are just standing there. I had to yell "Which way?!?!" to which they just point. I ended up on a road that people were driving pretty fast. I just kept hoping that they saw my vest and headlamp. So I ended running four miles at a 6:50 mile pace. I was shocked. I guess the adrenaline kicked in.

You gotta love being all hot and sweaty and even a bit gooey, then climbing into a van! Brad took the next run, which was straight uphill. He burned it up and did real well. Brad had surgery on his abdomen back in April and hasn't been able to eat a lot. In fact he has been losing lots of weight, so he wasn't sure how much he could run. It was getting pretty brisk and windy. Carl took off after Brad and had a long run that ended at Earl's Lodge at Snowbasin ski resort. We had to laugh because at every exchange, they were taking everything down. No difference here. We met up with Van 1 again. That's where we found out April was done. Dan had tagged along with them, not planning on running (he said he was too fat. Yeah right!) So he took over for her. We were able to use the bathrooms at the lodge before they closed it up. And we were able to get some nasty tasting free drinks from a vendor.

Carl came in, handed off, and we went to Morgan High School to get some sleep. We arrived there around 12:30 am. Brad and Matt decided to sleep outside, the rest of us slept in the gym on the wrestling mats. When we got there, there were lots of vehicles all over, and 50-60 people in there sleeping. Jeff and I stopped by the bathroom. He pulls out his toothbrush and toothpaste. He got about 3 strokes done when he dropped his toothbrush onto the floor. He swore and chucked it into the trash! I offered him mine, after I used it, but he declined. I didn't really get too much sleep; I would doze for 15 or so minutes at a time. I got up at 3:30 to use the bathroom. When I came back in, our dudes were the only ones there and were up and packing. The old man that was helping said he was going to come and wake us up because everyone was gone. He said they were waiting on one final female runner!

We got outside to find we were the only vehicle in the lot! All the Ragnar stuff was stacked up and ready to go. We booked it to the next exchange at East Canyon State Park. It was dark and in the mid 30's outside. Sean took the bracelet and was off. He had a short run and handed off to Matt. He had a long 7 miler to Hennefer. When he got done, he had frost on his gloves! Jeff took off for a grueling 10 miler along Echo Reservoir. We drove up to the next exchange (there was no van support for him on his run) at Coalville. Carl, Sean and Brad got the pancake breakfast there at the school. They were charging to use the bathrooms! The Honey Buckets outside get SUPER NASTY, especially when thousands of people have already used them!

Jeff made it in and I took off. I ran about 1/4 mile down a road then onto a dirt path! No van support, but they had some Gatorade stations. You know, it is utterly impossible for me to try and drink while I am moving! I ended up with a big slash up my nose and down my shirt! I had a long 8 mile run that was on an uphill grade. I did pass 10 people, though. Chantel and Austin were working as volunteers at the exchange there in Wanship. It was good to see them. Too bad it smelled like there were dead animals in the bushes! And the aroma of the Honey Buckets. Mmm mmm.

Brad got to run along Rockport Lake for a 5 miler. By the time he was done, he was done running the race. We had told Austin he might have to step in and help. Carl took off on a 7 mile run into Oakley. We got some cool pictures of him by a big red barn. Some runner that passed Carl stopped a couple times and looked like he barfed both times. His van would give him some water and he would take off again! Van 1 was there waiting for us in Oakley. We made the exchange and took off to Deer Valley to Jeff's dad's huge big house!

Jeff told us we could each use one of the 5 showers downstairs. Five showers on one floor?! Holy dooley! I was wasn't planning on showering since I still had my worst run waiting, but I got in and man, it felt real nice! We hung out for a while. Carl and Brad played shuffleboard on a miniature set. There were big flatscreen TVs in every bedroom, along with satellite TV. We got a call that Van 1's runner was starting his last leg, so we packed it up and headed to Heber to make the exchange. Well, we get there only to find out that the runner had just started leg 4! So we hung out with Chantel and Austin, who was ready to run for Brad. As we sat on the blanket with them, Brad says "We left Paradise for this?!" Classic. I passed by the Honey Buckets to see a huge tanker truck and a dude with a big hose sucking up each unit. I looked at a dude standing next to me and said, "You know, whenever you think you have a bad job, you could be sucking poo!"

They finally showed up and Austin took off. In our van someone asked if he's going to need water, to which the reply was, "Aw, he's young and it's only four miles", so we didn't stop and offer. He ran into Charleston, hands off to Matt and promptly says "Don't you believe in water support?!" We all felt bad.

Matt ran up to Midway and handed to Jeff, who had 3 miles of the Ragnar Hill. Brutal! Jeff flew in from Tennessee to run with us, so he's already having altitude issues. I was feeling bad for him. He had one of the funniest statements of the whole adventure later when he said "I think I caused irreparable damage to my heart!" We laughed because Carl's wife, Ivette, made a comment that Ragnar ruins families. We were afraid we were going to have to make a phone call to Jeff's wife that he'd died! As we were driving next to Jeff, Brad looks at me and says, "You know, yours is steeper."

I got ready and took the handoff from Jeff. Austin had said a while ago that there is no shame in walking on the hill. I thought I could make it without walking. I ran for a bit over 1/2 a mile when I thought my heart was going to explode! I had to walk. Ugh. I felt like a failure and wanted to pull my shorts down around my ankles. I couldn't believe how steep the hill was! Brad came out a couple times with water. I did pass a number of people, though. You know it's bad when we went from dirt to a few feet of snow! Brad came out and told me I needed to pass some buff dude who was running without his shirt on who was asking how far back the next runner was. They were going to take a photo of the dudes face as I passed him, but just as I got there, I had to walk. I didn't know that was their plan, or I would have done better. When I did pass him, I made a comment like What were we thinking? to which he made some macho dude man statement. Teresa would be upset, but I rolled my eyes. The hard person to catch was this girl in pink shorts, who was pretty good at hocking loogies! I pushed and kept churning and finally passed her. I had to walk, and for a while we would go back and forth. I finally passed her for good and was extremely happy to be done with the most hellish 4 miles I have ever run!

Sean wanted the long downhill run into Park City, so he traded with Brad, (who had Austin run... you know already). I felt like a sack of goo. We got down to the last exchange and waited. When Sean was coming in, Carl pulls out his Nacho Libre mask! Classic. He only wore it for a minute. Anyway, Carl's run was a long 7 miles that wound around Park City. While he was running the rest of us went up to the Red Banjo Pizza restaurant on Main Street. Pizza never tasted so good! Jeff told us stories about being on the city council and some lawsuits, etc.

We went to the Park City High School and waited for Carl to come in. They had all kinds of tents and stuff set up. Carl came and the 6 of us ran through the finish line. Our time was 30:24. Ugh. We got our medals and shirts, etc. and packed up and headed out!

It was a lot of fun and real hectic, too. It is a great experience to hang out with the dudes in the van for that long, too. Kind of a weird bonding experience, but something that we'll have forever. And you know, I hope we are up for the Las Vegas run again!