Haha...so here's a quick run-down if you're not familiar with the craziness that is the Ragnar relay. It's a 202 miles relay from Prescott to Tempe. 12 members per team, each person runs three times throughout the course of the race. Each leg is a different distance for each person, and the total milages vary as well. For example, I had one of the shortest overall distances (score! And I believe this was the only reason for my survival.) My total was 13 miles. Some people had total distances up to 18-19 miles! We get in 2 vans (runners 1-6 in one van and 7-12 in the other) and we run in order, hopscotching along the route to stop and cheer our teammates on. And to re-iterate this race goes through the night...there is always someone running from your team from 9am Fri morning to 3pm Sat afternoon when we finished. Sound crazy yet?? Just wait there's more...
Remember how I mentioned we rode in vans? Well, the original plan was to get 2 big 15-passenger vans. And in a perfect world, that would have happened. However, our rental place bailed at the last minute and we were only able to get one van. Is it bad that I was secretly hoping we wouldn't be able to find another one, and would have to forfeit?! haha...well we did find another vehicle. However, it wasn't exactly a van...more like a SHORT BUS. Yes, that's right a full-on short bus, fully equipped with the obnoxiously loud beeping-noise-whilst-in-reverse, reserved for fire engines, gargabe trucks, and other equally inconspicious "vehicles." Needless to say, there was a lot of pointing and laughing at our expense that occurred continually throughout the race. Although, the beeping device ended up being a great directional tool for our runners :) haha...we told them to just follow the beeps!
The short bus was good for always providing a laugh, however it didn't exactly get high marks for comfort. Ok, so imagine the bench seats on school buses, then subtract about 2-3 feet in length, and make them more narrow. I mean they don't call it a SHORT bus for nothing. That was our sleeping accomodations for 36 hours! haha...safe to say the guys got almost zero sleep. Myself and the only other girl crazy enough to be on the short bus with us, are both on the vertically challenged side...and I have never been so happy to be so! Though even my short 5'3" frame was pushing it, most of the time I was much too uncomfortable to sleep either. She was a tiny 5'0" and could fit on one bench...I was incredibly jealous! In the middle of the night, I was finally overtaken by my fatigue, running ten miles with minimal training + no sleep does that to me :), and I was able to pass out for maybe 2-3 hours.
I was runner #4, so my first leg was at about 10am on Fri morning...not so bad (5.0 miles with a few hills), my second leg wasn't until 10pm or so (4.8 miles, mostly downhill), then I ran for the last time at about 9am (3.3 miles). I really can't complain in terms of the legs I got. Compared to other runners, seriously INSANE runners, my legs were super easy. I think the longest leg was about 8.8 miles...and for some people that was their last one! Some peoples night run started at 2 or 3am! Ouch! Throw in the fact that when you're not running, your crammed in a handicapped bus with no virtually no sleep! Sound like a recipe for a good time??? [insert crickets chirping]
The scary thing is some people are obsessed with this relay. They wear costumes, decorate their vans all crazy, and travel across the country to do other Ragnars in other states! There are even clinically insane people who do an "ultra" version of the race. Meaning they compete the race with 6 people instead of 12! For those of us who aren't math majors, like me :), that means each person runs 6 legs! Most of the ultra runners would just run 2 legs back to back, still essentially running three times, but their distances were just twice as long. These people come close to running THREE half-marathons in 24-36 hours! LOCO!
Now after all this complaining, I have to say it was a rather fun experience. I was surprised what a good time I actually had, considering I only vaguely knew 2 people on my team before the race, and we were stuck on the "challenged" bus :) I think it actually bonded us together! I think this event would be an absolute blast if it was a team full of close friends....and a FULL SIZED conversion van. Throw in a hotel room to rest and shower in along the way, and then we'd be in business. That's pretty much what would have to happen for me to consider doing it again...maybe. Oh, and I would probably be a little more successful and prepared if I actually trained for the dang thing. Note to self: TRAIN BEFORE RACES! That's good advice, take my word for it ;)
Ragnar Sunrise!
