Ragnar Relay: 203 Miles, 12 Runners, 2 Vans

This weekend, I did something I never in a million years would have thought I'd do.  I participated in a 203-mile relay race from Huntington Beach to Coronado that took about 30 hours to complete...the Ragnar Relay.  There were 12 runners (I was runner #6) and we were divided into 2 vans.

Van #1...Mike, Ashley, me, Larkin, Kyle and Adam

We started off at 10am in Huntington Beach...Mike was runner #1.  He was a last-minute replacement after one of our other runners got injured, but man, did he deliver! He was fresh off of the Boston Marathon and truly was the heart and soul of our van! He drove most of the time, kept us laughing and ran 6-minute miles!  Adam also made some amazing time, but unfortunately, we left him waiting for 20 minutes at Exchange #2 after getting lost!  Despite the fact that we continued to have issues with our exchanges, we still made great time and finished at just over a 9-minute mile pace (pretty amazing considering we lost about an hour on exchange problems and there were some pretty serious mountain climbs in there!).

My Ludus Tours Ragnar manicure

My legs were 2.7 miles through Anaheim (pretty rough in the 1pm heat...no water stops, so I was dying a little!), 7.4 miles through the mountains by Temecula (at 2am...super tough hills, but my favorite leg because the nighttime weather was amazing and my vanmates provided unbeatable support!) and 4.2 miles straight up Torrey Pines hill in La Jolla (my legs were shot after the Temecula portion, so it was difficult, but I managed to find a second wind once I got to the top of the hill).  Since we had to drive the van from exchange to exchange, you really didn't get time to stretch much post-run, which made for some VERY sore muscles!! I'll definitely be investing in some compression gear for next year!

Getting my run on in Anaheim

All in all, though, it was an AMAZING experience. I couldn't have asked for a better team!  Being in a van with 6 people for 30 hours without sleep is a pretty excellent teambuilding experience.  I felt like I got to know everyone better!

Ash, me and Larkin...the ladies of Van #1

Looking back on the whole experience, I don't think of my cramping legs or how awful they felt attempting to scale Torrey Pines.  All I think of is deliriously laughing in the van, trying to find our teammates in the pitch black night to cheer for them and continuing to bond with everyone at Erin's housewarming party/Ragnar afterparty.  It was such a great time!! I cannot wait for next year!!

Best. Team. Ever.