RAGNAR Recap
Are you ready for this?
I finished RAGNAR - Wasatch Back! I am a big fan of relay races. I've ran a few races since I started running a few years ago and relay's are definitely at the top of my list. When people ask me "How was Ragnar?", I want to prepare a presentation to show and explain everything about it, but I end up just showing my enthusiasm for the race in the sound of my voice and a quick reply "It was freakin' amazing!" It truly was.
A few words to describe this event? Chocolate milk, muddy buddies, ready, unicorns, rainbows, gatorade, fig newton, uphill, downhill, sweaty, sleepless, hot, cold, shoes, medal, $100 t-shirt, dance parties.
I finished RAGNAR - Wasatch Back! I am a big fan of relay races. I've ran a few races since I started running a few years ago and relay's are definitely at the top of my list. When people ask me "How was Ragnar?", I want to prepare a presentation to show and explain everything about it, but I end up just showing my enthusiasm for the race in the sound of my voice and a quick reply "It was freakin' amazing!" It truly was.
A few words to describe this event? Chocolate milk, muddy buddies, ready, unicorns, rainbows, gatorade, fig newton, uphill, downhill, sweaty, sleepless, hot, cold, shoes, medal, $100 t-shirt, dance parties.
What is ragnar? Here are some statistics about the race.
By the numbers...
70,200 Safety Pins
18,000 (or so) Ragnarians
3,300+ Amazing Volunteers
3,000 Goodie Bags
1,500+ Cones
1,500 Teams
700+ Honey Buckets
198 Miles From Logan to Park City
130+ Staff and SWAT Volunteers that stayed up well over 24 hours to make it all happen
70 Police Officers working odd hours
22nd of June, 2013 - Official "Utah Ragnar Day"
21 Stations of Medics and/or Local EMS
10 Year Anniversary Event
6 The number of runners that make up and Ultra Team
3 Days
2 Relays
1 Crazy Awesome Experience
Now let me show you a few pictures depicting the course and the legs of the race that I covered.
70,200 Safety Pins
18,000 (or so) Ragnarians
3,300+ Amazing Volunteers
3,000 Goodie Bags
1,500+ Cones
1,500 Teams
700+ Honey Buckets
198 Miles From Logan to Park City
130+ Staff and SWAT Volunteers that stayed up well over 24 hours to make it all happen
70 Police Officers working odd hours
22nd of June, 2013 - Official "Utah Ragnar Day"
21 Stations of Medics and/or Local EMS
10 Year Anniversary Event
6 The number of runners that make up and Ultra Team
3 Days
2 Relays
1 Crazy Awesome Experience
Now let me show you a few pictures depicting the course and the legs of the race that I covered.
Above - Course map
Below - My 1st Leg (I was runner 9). Dedicated to my son Kyden. avg pace 8.04 m/mile
Above - Leg 21 - My 2nd leg and by far my favorite. Middle of the night serenity! Dedicated to my wife Kelli. She inspires me! Avg pace 9.32 m/mile
Below - Leg 33 - 3rd and final run. Middle of the day. Blazing heat and insane uphill. Dedicated to Jennifer Hovinga and all of her family. Avg pace13.19 m/mile
Below - Picture from 3rd Leg. When I reached the end of this leg, I yelled as loud as I could because I had done it!
My team (Both van #1 and van #2 together)
This race was exhilarating. It was great to learn more about myself both physically and mentally. I am grateful that I was able to push myself farther than I have before. There were moments on the 3rd leg where I didn't think I was going to make it. To the gentleman that encouraged me halfway up the hill, I am grateful. His suggestions of "run 10 seconds then walk 10 seconds" is what helped me to finish. It doesn't necessarily matter how fast we finish, just that we finish what we started.
Now I have a ragnar medal, t-shirt and Ragnar 2013 window decal that I can hang in my car for the world to see :D
Thanks van #2 - Josh (+Joshua Snow Hansen) , Whitney (+Whitney Ulrich), Whitney F, Kaylynn (+Kaylynn Zoe Young), and Chris. Your words of encouragement also helped to keep me going.
Here are a few more photos from the experience. Top - sleepy time. Middle - prepping for night run (yes those are my shorts that are drying). Bottom - pre race team photo with our cool shirts.
