A Race to Remember

I really wasn't sure what I was getting into when my sister and I decided to pull a team together to run the Ragnar Relay.

For two days we endured illnesses, injuries, sleeplessness, news of a tragic accident, route changes, and runner substitutions.

Van 1 started out from Prescott on Friday morning. We met them at our first major exchange in Kirkland, AZ.

Then, it was our turn...

The weather was perfect and the scenery...gorgeous! We all loved our first legs of the race!

We marked our kills (each time we passed another runner) on our van. It's kind of silly. We celebrated our kills and sort of ignored getting passed by other runners. It's just part of the fun of Ragnar!
Night runs required a reflective vest, headlamp, and flashing light in back.

At this point, we met up with Van 1 and they took over for the next 6 legs of the race.

It was around 7:00pm. We ate and tried to get a couple of hours of sleep. No luck! At 12:00am we headed to our next big exchange to meet Van 1. This was where we took over. Sandi left on the Carefree Highway and I headed to the next exchange to meet her and take the next leg. While I was waiting, the officials announced we would have to stop here because a few miles up ahead a runner had been hit by a car. They re-routed us and eliminated several legs of the race.

Needless to say, it was mentally tough for about the next 6 hours. To get motivated to continue, especially in the dark, with the knowledge of what had just happened was almost impossible.

But, push forward we did and by dawn we were having fun again.

My last leg was along the Beeline...8 1/2 miles on Saturday morning with zero sleep since Thursday night. I decided right there...lack of sleep is the most challenging part of Ragnar!

We finished at Tempe Market Place around 2:00pm to be greeted by friends and family. The experience was amazing~ exciting, hilarious, exhausting, emotional, and gratifying. I would do it again in a heartbeat.


The camaraderie of all the runners out there is unlike any I've experienced in other races.

Ragnar is one big, two-day running party and if you ever get the chance, you have to experience it!

If you are interested in being on our 2011 team, let me know!