Ragnar Relay

I did the relay for the first time last spring and loved every moment! As an experienced Marathon runner I knew I could do it but I was nervous about the different terrain, weather and times of day that we had to run. It was an amazing experience and I look forward to doing it again next year!

Long before I took up running at the end of 2010, I heard so much about Ragnar Relays via friends that ran this event each and every year. I’m one of the slowest runners in my running group (Pace 9:20 to 10:20 depends on whether I’m having a good hair day or not. Ha!) So when friends would ask me to join their team, I always felt as though I would be holding up the team or not worthy runner to ever participate.
I was asked to volunteer for the Ragnar Del Sol AZ event and enjoyed every minuted of it. So when good friend Tristen in Cali asked if I wanted to travel there to be a part of their group for the Ragnar So Cal, I was excited about the possibility of running with people not within my running circle. Again, I had no idea what to expect.
Thankfully I was blessed to be part of a team (Shenanigans in The Vansgain) that was all about having fun. I was Runner #1 and loved it. People in our Van were awesome, supportive, fun and we made it work.
I won’t do Spartan or Tough Mudder race — I’m far too much of a Princess for that — I refuse to get dirty. Ragnar Relay? I would so do again. I may even consider driving the Van next time! Overall, this was a wonderful experience and happy that it it’s no longer an item on my Bucket List. I hope to be a part of this team again next year.
Congrats to everyone that took part in the 2013 Ragnar So Cal! :) Cheers***

12 Friends, 2 vans, 2 days, 200 mile relay = an unforgettable experience.
I’ve done many races from Triathlons (Olympic to Ironman 70.3 distances) and countless half marathons — but SoCal Ragnar was by far the hardest race I’ve done to date. From a physical standpoint, each of the legs assigned are completely manageable as they range from 3 – 9 mile legs. Throw in logistics, schedules, lack of sleep, and weather, you feel like you’ve just been put through the ringer. In 2 days, I probably got no more than 2 hours of sleep. Rough…
Our start time was 5AM on Friday so heading north to the start at Huntington Beach was pretty rough. We were van 2 so technically we did not have to be up there until 8AM but we got an early start because we wanted to allow enough time to get checked in, go through our security and safety briefing and perhaps do a little bit of shopping at the Ragnar merchandise tent.
CHECKING IN:
For van 2, this was at Exchange 7 and the scene was epic. There was excitement in the air, tons of vans decorated with hilarious team names and sayings and just tons of peeps getting ready to cheer their runners on and sending another one out.
I thought the check in process could’ve been organized more efficiently. You stand in a long line to be handed a waiver, only to step aside and step back in line to turn it in. After that was done, you had to seek out an official volunteer to confirm you have the necessary safety gear for the race: headlamps for night running (2 per van), vests (1 per person) and tail lights for night runners (2 per van).
Then…you had to attend a safety training which was about 10 min. long but was very difficult to understand because they have 2 of them doing it side by side over intercoms and you cannot understand a word coming out of their mouths. It was rather ridiculous and obvious it was just a formality.
EXCHANGES:
I realize the some of these exchanges were in the middle of no where and for some, in the middle of the night or the wee hours of the morning but put out more than a cone and tape out for these exchanges. Also some did not have porta potties so we were looking for gas stations in the middle of the night that would allow us to use their facilities. This was difficult because legs in the middle of night and early mornings were shortest for our van so we had little time to do this.
AID STATIONS:
Aid stations were not identified in race bibles. Some noted that there would be a certain amount of aid/​water stations but did not tell you at what mile. For us, this was a concern on 1^st day through Corona, Temecula and Lake Elsenoire, temperatures were gnarly and runners were really overheating — one started showing signs of heat stroke and we even gave water to other runners who’s teammates didn’t think to follow them. We had no clue when and where there was support so we followed them nearly the whole way to ensure they were ok. Clearly state support at mile markers so teams can plan accordingly.
RUNNING AT NIGHT:
Running under the stars and in the still of the night was pretty darn amazing. My 2^nd leg started at 2am and this by far was my favorite leg. I was a little spooked at times because I was running along the canyon and I could hear things moving in the tall grass BUT the cool morning air, open roads and the twinkly skies above was truly spectacular. How blessed I am to be able to enjoy this. I took it all in and enjoyed every moment.
MEDALS:
Awesome!
SOMEONE BUILD A TRACKER APP:
I would’ve loved to have tracked other teams we knew out there on the course. Someone create a tracker app for next year. =) I know I’d pay $ to have this on my iPhone.
Overall, the race was organized really well all things considered. Catching Zzz’s in sleeping bags on the side of the road or in parking lots with any sort of grassy area at random points along the race course was the pits while we were living through it… but have been the source of many funny and great stories now. Race amnesia hasn’t set in (YET!) but i’m sure i’ll be looking forward to next years race very soon. I hear talk of our team potentially doing Napa later this year. Not ready to commit but would highly consider.
This is a race like no other and while I’m still completely exhausted even after a day of rest, I’d highly recommend. Hats off to all the Ultra teams out there who did 200 miles between 6 people — I’ve got mad respect for you guys and gals.
P. S. While I may not be an Ultra Runner, this 5′ girl has mastered driving a 14 person van and even parallel parked that beast with inches to spare. I should get an extra medal for that. =)

Ragnar Relay was on my bucket list for only two months before my team and I checked it off.
It all started when I was showing off my Tough Mudder headband at work when my homie asks, «You wanna do something crazier?» So I sez, «Who you tryin’ to get crazy with ese? Don’t you know I’m loco? Cue Cypress Hill… anyways, he showed me the website and I was hooked immediately. I got over the shock of running over 200 miles non-​stop as a team and when he showed me his medal… dooode! It was huge… TWSS!
So determined to get my own medal and not be the weakest link, I ran hills… tons of em, I ran at night… super dark, I ran forever… yelling at the world. All that prep got me in perfect Ragnar shape but it was the kills that pushed me over the edge. Anytime you pass up another Ragnar runner it was considered a kill and I wanted to be the top assassin in my van.
As runner five, it was torturous waiting for my turn to run as it almost was four hours before I started pounding the sidewalk (in my blue tutu). My first leg was 2.4 miles with a killer hill in the blistering heat, but I turned beast mode on and I never turned it off til the finish. I gotta say my night run was the best; it was a downhill leg at two in the morning with zero sleep and quiet as hell. There’s nothing like running on an empty road with no one around you with your headlamp as the only source of light. My third and final leg was the longest but it also got me the most kills, 33 to be exact, and I passed the «baton» with a fiery yell. So after 38 plus hours of running 203 miles, we racked over 300 kills (50 were mine!), received one amazing medal, had millions of laughs and memories, and not a wink of sleep. You also become a porta potty professional!
I recently ran the OC half marathon and it’s true that all your other races seem rather pedestrian after you do a Ragnar. I’M ADDICTED!!!