Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Ragnar Recap

I'm back and I survived running the Ragnar Relay from Breckenridge to Snowmass/Aspen, Colorado!  This was one of the most unique, fun, and crazy things I've ever done.


In case you've never heard of Ragner, it's a relay made up of teams of 12 runners (or six runners if you are truly insane).  The teams trade-off running around the clock until they reach the finish.  As you can imagine, there's not much (if any!) sleep.

Our race was 188-miles through some of the most beautiful, but STEEP, mountain country.  The leaves were just starting to change and it was gorgeous!  Most of my legs were on trails along streams and rivers - beautiful during the day, but creepy during the night.  I don't know if I was more afraid of running into a bear or being attacked by a scary human.  Luckily, I experienced neither one, just quiet, solo running in the dark.

My team was so much fun!  Usually running is such a solo sport, but the relay adds in a teamwork aspect.  I enjoyed cheering on and supporting our runners as well as the time we spent not running where we got to know each other better and talk about everything under the sun.  It was also fun to chat with other teams along the course.

Our team name was "Soda Fast" (sorta fast, get it?)
This was at the starting line.

We had a six-pack of Diet Coke and a six-pack of Coke.
This is after we finished, thirty hours after we started.  We don't look too bad for running 188 miles with NO sleep!

While we weren't the fastest runners, we weren't the slowest.  Best of all we won the team spirit award for "Farout Fashion."  I would much rather be spirited and fashionable than fast any day!

If you've ever thought about doing one of these relays, go for it!  You will not regret it.  I'm already looking forward to next year.


5 comments:

Cassie Bustamante said...

congrats!!!! love the outfits! :)

Aubrey {All Things Bright and Beautiful} said...

Yay! I *knew* you would love it!!! And you guys looked *awesome*! Haha! I have to admit though, that would be super creepy running on dark trails...most of ours was along roads, so it wasn't that bad (c: Congrats on your first Ragnar!!

Lisa @ Shine Your Light said...

Wow!! You are my hero!! 188/12=way more running than I could ever do! And I can't believe you ran in costume - how funny!! Congrats!

Holly Gruszka said...

Way to go Suzy!! You should be very proud - what an accomplishment. How did you get hooked up with this team? Do you know the women? Are you really sore or feeling pretty good?

Unknown said...

You go girl! Looks like the race was a blast and definitely finding you ladies fashionable!