We did it .....again. We ran the Wasatch Back Ragnar. I just love that race. It hold so many good memories. Yes, it can be brutal and around 2:00 in the morning when you are sleeping on the cement floor of the school with lot of different people who aren't quiet and lights on you may question your decision to do you race, but in the end it is so worth it.
This year was so much fun. We acquired some new runners who were amazing and handled the race really well. This year I switched the vans up a bit too since some of the family had only ran in certain vans. Everybody needs a chance to experience Van 2 ;).
Our Van 1 headed up to Logan to start the race. We had Kalbie Jordan, Travis, Me, Mariah, Mickell Schena, and Crystal Bradshaw in our van. We had a blast. I was a little worried they might not be able to handle our quirkiness but they did great. It was fun to be in Logan again even if it was only for a little while. We ran into another team of Beaver County runners that started right before us. The race is getting so big it is hard to actually get to meet up with other people.
We all did really well on our first runs. Mickell threatened us if we walked so we all ran our whole legs, and let me tell you some of them are not pretty. Travis had to run 8 miles. Mickell had to run uphill for 8 miles too, in the dust. Crystal had to run down a super steep dirt road. Mariah, Kalbie and I just had to run through some towns for some pretty long distances. We met up with the other Van in Liberty. It is such a relief to pass the slap bracelet on when you all get finished.
Van 2 had Andrea, Vanessa, Krista, Ray, Davin Waters, and Aaron. They did amazing as well. They had some really tough legs their first runs. They seemed to be in really good spirits and ready to go. I wish we would have gotten to see them more. After we passed the slap bracelet on we headed up to Snow Basin for some R &R. Such a good decision. We had to deal with some traffic on the way up so by getting their super early it was not an issue. We all ate some over-priced delicious food and got to use flushing toilets. That is such a luxury on the Ragnar, not that the Honey Buckets are bad though.
We met up with the other team and got to spend a little time with them since there are 2 exchanges up there. When Aaron handed off to Kalbie we decided we best hurry down the hill because of traffic again. The road was so backed up but we made it down when Kalbie was at her like 4 miles of her 8 mile run. All of our next runs went pretty well. Crystal got the short straw during these legs. Her last leg is running into East Canyon State Park. It is a hard, hard leg. She conquered it like a pro though. You can tell as the race goes on how tired everybody gets. The exchanges get less and less people from the van at them. I don't blame them though. When we exchanged it was like Midnight. The other van was all ready to go even though they were facing some pretty long distances, for instance, Krista had to run a 12 miler. That is like running a half marathon basically on a trail in the middle of the night with no support. Ray's wasn't much better, it was 10 miler.
We headed down to the school in Coalville for some sleep. Next time we are going to South Summit High. This was where we slept on the concrete floor covered by carpet with no padding. I am getting needy in my old age. The floor almost killed me. I was also having trouble with my IT band so when I woke up by back was stiff and I couldn't bend my left leg, not good considering my hardest, longest leg was my last one.
We caught up with the other van in Oakley. Kalbie ran a great last leg and then left the party to go hang out with her boyfriend. Oh young love, hahaha. Travis ran a great race for his last leg too. I am so glad I was able to run with him. I loved having him there with me. Now if only he would run with me more often. haha. My last leg was up Jordanelle. I was really nervous because my leg was really hurting me. I stopped in Oakley and used the foam roller at the PT tent. Never again am I not taking my foam roller to a race. It helped a bit but I still wasn't up to par. So I used some horse lineament on it too, that helped a lot. I am glad we invited the vet's daughter on the team. I ran the whole leg, it may have been slow but I ran the whole thing. I knew if I stopped there would be not starting again. I am so glad I was able to run all of my legs. I didn't stop to walk once in any of them. It may have been the fear of Mickell but I still ran them all. JK, Mickell we really appreciated the encouragement. Mariah had an awful leg for her last leg too. It was like super steep downhill then rolling hills. She ran like a pro though. I was really impressed by her and Travis and their amazing effort because I know they didn't get to train as much as they wanted. Mickell and Crystal finished us off with some super fast running considering all the miles they had already ran. We met Van 2 in Heber City and finally got to take a shower. Oh it was like heaven even if it was at a middle school with about 100 other women. No worries though we had a stall instead of the tree of life kind of showers. We all decided to head to Park City and get some good grub and a Diet Coke. You can not forget a little Diet Coke when you are finished running.
Van 2 crushed the Ragnar and the rest of their runs. The last leg for runner 12 was insane. Way to finish Aaron. We met up with Van 2 and ran through the finish line with Aaron, or in Davin's case hop through the finish line. We asked why he was hopping and then he showed us his awful blisters. I have never seen blisters that big. Davin still finished with a smile though.
We had a really great experience. I am so happy that everybody accepted the request to come and run with "Crazy Runs in the Family" for one more race. You get to see people true colors after running with them, sweating with them, stinking the whole van up, and being around each other for 48 hours. Thank you team so much for being so amazing!!!
