Ragnar Trail Relay and the 1/2 Marathon

I know, I know – another month has gone by without a blog.  To be honest, there has been no time – NONE.  I traveled two weeks this month and somehow still managed to get my runs, rides and swims in. 

I did want to bring all of you up to date on a couple of cool things that we did this weekend! 

First and foremost, a few weeks ago a colleague of mine from work mentioned that her Ragnar Trail team had lost a runner due to pregnancy and I volunteered to replace her.  I am so happy I did – ‘cause it was as much fun as the last one we did back in February.  The difference this time – tougher terrain (trails in the McDowell Mountain area), only 8 runners and camping the whole time.  No vans required – which is always a logistical challenge, anyway (navigation-wise and comfort-wise).   

The team was mostly comprised of faculty at the college – Alex, Niccole, Kaatje, Jen and Tara – combined with a family friend of Alex’s – Marie – and the husband of another faculty (the pregnant one) – Brandt.  The faculty, of course, were all Science faculty and they created the witty name The Red Mountain Rise Over Run(ners).  For those of you who don’t know, as I learned recently, that Rise Over Run is a mathematical expression to calculate the slope of an object – or something like that.  I am not going to pretend to had known that prior to the invitation to join the team, but once I learned – I knew they’d done well.  Super witty and appropriate for a bunch of science-y/math peeps.   The Red Mountain bit – well, they all teach at the Red Mountain campus. 

Alex, Niccole, Kaatja and I offered to get to the grounds early so we could unload, pick our spot and set up camp.  And, what a genius maneuver that was.  By the time we arrived (10am), most camp-sites had been coveted and we were left to scrounge for a spot.  Who knew!!??  We managed one that was not terribly far from the bathrooms (but far enough) and a little distance from base camp where all of the runners started/ended.  It turned out to be a perfect location.

After lugging what seemed to be 700 lbs of tents, backpacks, coolers, tables, and foods to the site, we scoped out the grounds and waited for the rest of our team to show.  Brandt came next, set up his tent on the perimeter of our marked area and then the 5 of us wandered down to Base Camp for our briefing and to send Alex on his way. 

Our camp -- with Niccole under the Easy Up

My  sweet set up!

Brandt, Alex, Kaatje and Niccole (praying, I guess) waiting to be briefed.

Each runner was to run 3 different loops – #1 Green and a 4.6 mile route, #2 Yellow and a 4.3 mile route, and #3 Red and a 7.6 mile route.  None of which were slated to be easy – all had substantial elevation changes associated with them.  To help you understand how it was managed – one runner from each team at a time would take the trails in order.  Alex was our first runner and would run the Green Trail first, then Brandt would run the Yellow, and so on – rinse and repeat.  We were given ONE bib with a chip in it that had to be exchanged in the transition area of Base Camp.  I bet that waist band was pretty knarly at the end. 

Our slated starting time was 2pm – we got messages that Marie would be arriving near 5pm – Tara and Jen around 6pm.  This meant they would all three be our last three runners. 

Alex donned his Ragnar Trail Tat while waiting for the start.

Kaatje applying her tattoo while "thinking" and being badass

Alex - ready to start us off!

Our starting line video!

Alex blazed through the Green with insane speed – in insane heat!  Brandt was off and did similarly well with his Yellow – in the heat of the day, as well.  And, I had the longest run as the 3^rd runner with the Red route.  It was blazing hot and huge sun exposure, but the first run is always the most exciting – so we did well.  Niccole followed me (Green, again) and then Kaatje (Yellow) – we were blazing the trails.  Marie arrived with enough time to unpack and warm up before hitting the Red Trail with lightning speed in pitch darkness.  Jen and Tara faced dark runs as well.  Fortunately, we had a full moon – so it really assisted the headlamps we all wore.

Brandt caught this hive-five shot of me after crossing the finish line of my Red run.

Niccole after her Green!

The night wore on and we ran and ran.  My second run was Yellow – and many claimed it was the toughest course out there.  Maybe it was the darkness, maybe it was the weirdness of running at 11:30pm – I thought it was an awesome and windy trail.  Yes, it had a HUGELY difficult 1/3 mile at mile two, but once you were up and over it – it was lovely. 

Each of the legs came together at some point – Red met Yellow about 1.75 miles from transition, and Red/Yellow met Green within the last ¾’s of a mile.  And, let me tell you – the last mile was nothing to get excited about!  Up and Down, Up Up and down…a truly demoralizing last mile that we all endured on all three of our legs, each.

By the 5:30am, we were starting our final 8 legs.  I had laid down in my borrowed tent, sleeping bad and sleeping pad around 1:30am and awakened after Alex had gone down to start his run.  4.5 hours of solid sleep – MUCH more than I anticipated.  So, I was ready to go when Brandt returned from his Red and I went out for my last run – Green.  Maybe it was because I had already run 12 miles on the trails, but I thought Green was the hardest.  2.75 miles of climbing before any sense of relief.  It was 8am and already getting warm from the sun.  I eeked it out, but it was the most difficult run of all of them.  16.5 miles of trail running over 18 hours – with 6-7 hour breaks between legs. 

Alex's final finish!

Kaatje's final leg!

Marie's done!

Tara looking at Marie's son, Bruno, who ran with her the whole last run - for FUN!

Jen, our final team member, crossed the finish line after completing the 7.6 miler just before 2:30pm.  It was an incredible sense of accomplishment for all of us.  The aches, the pains, the occasional stomach issues – we did it.  And, it felt good to be done.

The whole team crosses the finish line together with Jen!

Naturally, then we had to pack everything up and haul it all back to our vehicles.  I’m not sure when my arms and abs will ever recover from those two days. 

(The team does send a HUGE shout-out to Anne, Lyla and Sean who provided coffee and donuts in the early hours of Saturday morning!)

As soon as I got home, I showered and raced to Anne’s house to help her with the kids.  She (and Matt and Hannah) had the South Mtn ½ marathon to do in the morning – and her husband John was out of town.  So, I offered to sleep over and watch the kids in the morning during the race.  (Sadly, her folks were supposed to be in town to assist, but they had a close friend pass away – and had to delay their trip.) 

Anne fed me steak and beer and I was asleep by 8pm.

At 4:15am I awakened to little miss Lyla crying.  She had vomited all over her bed in her sleep.  We were hoping she’d make it through the morning with me before having a complete meltdown from being unwell, so we packed her and Sean in the car to head to the starting line.

We met Matt and Hannah there as soon as we arrived.  We explained the Lyla situation to both of them and allowed everyone to get into their zone(s).  Matt allowed me to tell story after story of Ragnar, as I continued to thank him for the use of his camping gear.  Then, Lyla, Sean and I watched as all three of them left the starting corral. 

Here is another video of another great start – Matt at 27 seconds on the far side (waving), Hannah at 45 seconds and Anne shortly after Hannah. 

As Lyla, Sean and I attempted to keep ourselves occupied, Lyla got sicker and sicker and vomited again while playing in the park.  At this point, Loretta had joined us since her fiancé, Dan, was also running the ½.  She tended to Sean as I attempted to clean up Lyla – man does milk come up poorly!  Bleh!  Strangely, she seemed completely healed for about 30 minutes after that episode.

Just before seeing Matt come to the finish line, Lyla had a meltdown, but managed to gain some enthusiasm when we started to see him coming down the path to finish. It was incredible – Matt finished strong with a 1:50 total time and 5^th out of 17 in his age group!  Now THAT is amazing!

Mere feet from the finish line and flying!

Then we saw Dan at 1:56.

Anne came next at 2:25 and Hannah soon followed at 2:33!  Amazing stuff!  The course was soooo hard – loads of super hard hills and steep ascents.  Obviously, they are followed by huge descents as well – but those hills can kill.  I am so proud of all of them – this was NOT an easy race!  They all did so well!  I am beaming with pride for my Tucson Marathoners – watch out December.  Here we come!

Anne in the distance!

Hannah pushing through for a strong closing!