wild sole: Ragnar 2015

I have always wanted to try Ragnar, but with it being so expensive, and my priorities on other races, it just hadn't happened yet. Ragnar is a 200 mile relay-race from Logan to Midway consisting of 12 runners. Josh's company, Deseret First Credit Union, decided to put a team together. I was an alternate in case any one dropped out. Well, turned out several people dropped out, so I got picked to run. Meet (half) the team: Spencer, Matt, Kaylee, Me, Abby, Steve. Strangers here, BFF's at the end!

Originally I was supposed to be Runner 6, which consisted of 3 separate legs: 6.9 miles, 2.3 miles, and 2.6 miles. But last minute, another runner wanted to switch from a harder leg to that one. So I became Runner 7. My first leg was a 5 miler. It started around 4:30pm and it was 92 degrees. I am not trained to run in the heat, so it was pretty hard. Luckily, there was a guy who lived on the route who had a hose just spraying the runners. He was my favorite person of the day. I also saw some sprinklers and made my way through those. I did it at a pretty average pace.

First leg, done!

Most Ragnar runners have to find a place to sleep like high school football fields, or school floors, etc. We were lucky enough to have a runner in our van whose brother lived in Mountain Green. He let us crash at his house. I got my own bed and even my own bedroom! It was a dream! My next leg was a 4 miler and I started at about 6:30 in the morning. My perfect running time! I ran on a trail the entire time next to a highway. It was actually really beautiful. This next picture was right after my leg. Rockport reservoir.

There is A LOT of waiting during this race. We got to know each other VERY well, and spent our time cheering on other runners, sitting in the porta-potty's, or making cool rock formations...

On the way to my last leg, we got pulled over. It was ridiculous and unnecessary,

but luckily no ticket!

I was SUPER nervous for my last leg. It is known as "Ragnar Hill" and is the hardest leg in all of Ragnar history. 2800 feet elevation gain over 10.3 miles. I had a few motivational quotes on my phone, and wrote my kids names on my arm as well a boy (Hayden) who is about Ian's age. He just woke up one day and couldn't walk. After a lot of tests etc. they determined he had some kind of stroke. Anyway, he is getting back to walking with a walker and he and his mom inspire me every day. He had recently gone on a hike and made every step. He said it was so hard for him but he did it. It was (and continues to be) so inspirational and I thought about him a lot during that run.

After running a flat mile, the hills came and they came fast. I came to a fork in the trail, and there were no signs telling us where to go. A group of runners decided to follow the main trail, so I followed. Unfortunately, about a mile in, we realized that we had made a wrong turn. So we had to run another mile back to where the route was. Who would have known that we were supposed to run up a STEEP grassy hill instead of following the main trail. Apparently, we were. This was at the top of the hill, and trust me- it was A LOT steeper than it looks!

This was almost to the top of the summit! It was SO beautiful, but SO hard! Below is a map of the elevation and mileage.

It was very anti-clamatic to finish that run! I was so happy to be done and felt very accomplished. I was excited to see my team and to receive my own special medal just for conquering the hill. However, when I got to the finish line, my team wasn't there and they had run out of medals. I waited for about 45 minutes (I had no cell service), and finally some volunteers drove me a couple exchanges down to where I met my team.

But here am I with my team crossing the final finish line. DONE!