Ragnar

Preface: This is long and I’ve told the stories a few times. I realize that nobody is obligated to read any post on this blog, but this one may be particularly boring. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Kirt and I committed to this crazy race late last year with a group of friends. We trained like crazy fitting in runs wherever we could (including Hawaii) trying to make sure that our bodies would be able to handle 3 different challenging runs in about 20 hours. I wasn’t feeling as much pressure because the distances of my runs weren’t too bad but I tried to train well enough that if someone else on the team couldn’t complete their leg I would be able to step in. About 1 week before race day Kirt had to bow out. Without putting my honest thoughts on the www for Kirt’s employer to read, I will politely say that he was ‘asked’ to work that Friday to close a deal. What I thought to be over-training turned out to be lacking when I inherited Kirt’s 21.6 miles of crazy terrain. (Luckily I found a friend to fill in for my 13.1 miles.)

Our team started racing about 12:30 on Friday (April 15). Anneli took off as our first runner. As she came in from her 5-mile leg and handed off to me for my 5-mile leg I could tell it had been tough. She said, “It’s hot. Be careful. It’s really hot.” By mile 2 I knew what she was talking about. The heat was no joke. It was 90 degrees with no breeze, no shade, and 1 water station with water that had been sitting out in said heat. When I came to my exchange point I echoed Anneli’s sentiments to runner #3: It’s hot. I’m serious. Be careful. Shortly thereafter I was so relieved to be done with that hellish run that I lost it. I was talking a mile a minute, cracking jokes, sticking my sweaty feet up on the arm rests. I was definitely a spectacle. (Anneli may have accused me of being on meth.)

We all struggled with the heat and even the runners with shorter legs ended up having ridiculous hills to climb. As we met up with van #2 (runners 7-12) we warned them all about the heat and reminded them to be careful. Runner #7 took off like a road runner sprinting out of the exchange and ended up paying for it later. Read: heat exhaustion, puking on the side of the freeway and contemplating calling an ambulance. (Wouldn’t have been the 1st ambulance called for a racer.)

After those first rough runs, things got better. Thanks to Kirt’s mom, when he got off work a little early she spent hours on the road bringing him down to meet us and then driving back to our house to help my mom take care of (spoil) our kids for the weekend. My 2nd run began about 11:30 Friday night and was a long 9.4-mile run, most of which was on a horse trail that required me to sign a special waiver earlier in the day. Kirt was able to run it with me which was really nice, especially when I was sure I went the wrong way and when I tripped just a few miles into the run. I was a little beat up, but jumped up and started running again. I knew that if I needed help I could always send Kirt up ahead, luckily adrenaline kicked in and the rest of the run was great, easily my favorite of the race.

Once our van was on our 2nd rest period we tried to lay some sleeping bags out on some grass and get some sleep. Just an hour into our snooze the sprinklers came on and doused any hope of rest. It was horrible. Not only were we rudely awakened, now our sleeping bags, pillows and everything we were wearing were soaked. Another runner yelled, “Just leave me here to die!” when he was yanked from his dripping sleeping bag. Probably the roughest part of the journey, but the one that still makes me laugh out loud.

Finally time for my last leg and I could feel that the heat was going to be a bit of a factor again and I was tired. It felt good to finally get started and know that I just had 7.6 miles to knock out and I could relax and cheer the rest of my team on. As I started out I passed a guy in my first ½ mile. It felt weird: he wasn’t the ‘type’ of guy that a novice like me should be passing. He was tall and fit and I knew as I passed him that it wouldn’t be the last I saw of him. I heard his footsteps behind me for several miles as we passed a couple more people together. I finally gained some ground on him, which I quickly lost when I was stopped by a few traffic lights. As he caught up to me I was all ready with my smart-aleck comment, “I knew you weren’t going to let me beat you without a fight.” I felt ridiculous when he said, “Thank you so much for helping me out. I’ve kept my eye on you this whole time. I never could have kept running without you pushing me.” I continued to give him a hard time about ditching his water bottle several miles back because I was hoping I’d at least get a drink if he caught me. We talked as we ran together about how he had returned a month earlier from a year long military deployment. He was definitely in shape, but just like me wasn’t fully prepared to take on such long distances in such intense heat and circumstances. Luckily, a bit later his girlfriend appeared with water and graciously shared it with me. As we neared the end I said to him, “Half mile left. We can do anything for 5 minutes.” He grinned and said, “That’s what we say in the Navy. Let’s do this.” (How lame that I kind of tear up remembering that?) We picked it up sprinting to the exchange and ended up finishing together, each grateful for the other pushing and inspiring along the way. (Still wish I could find him and thank him for the race and the military service.)

Our team’s 2nd van had a rough set of runs with punk teenagers moving (or stealing) signs meant to direct runners. They were running along miles of beach boardwalk crowded with excited beach-goers. Despite the craziness, they came in just over 30 hours after we began. 2 members of our Van #2 were a dad and his oldest son. The son was Runner #12, (our finishing racer) it was so awesome to see his dad’s face when he sprinted in with a smile. That’s another memory that I hope to never forget. We entered the race with no thought of how we would compete, but we were pleasantly surprised with the results.

Overall, it was an amazing experience that I’m looking forward to repeating. I’ve said it many times, but I was so grateful to have Kirt there to run with me and to obey every order I barked at him. We owe special thanks to both our Moms for making the trip down to hang out with the kids all weekend. The fact that our kids’ grandmas get along so well that they come to visit together occasionally is not lost on us. We love it.