Ohhhhhhhhhh Yheaaaaaaa bayyyyyybeeeeee!
I’ve been very quiet about this little piece of deliciousness because well…every time I think about Ragnar I A) squeal like a little girl B) shake my head in disbelief and C) hold my breath until my face turns blue. I can’t, however, hold in this little bit of “oh my GOD I can’t believe I’m going to do this” any longer!
Don’t know what Ragnar is?
I didn’t either until Sharla planted a little seed in my brain. The seed? “Wouldn’t it be cool to run a 187 mile relay race?”…well yes in fact it would be cool but absolutely insane ridiculous impossible….wait a minute?
Tell me more.
“You and 11 of your closest friends running 200(ish) miles, day and night, relay-style, through some of the most scenic terrain North America could muster. Add in crazy runners, inside jokes and a mild case of sleep deprivation. The result? Some call it a slumber party without sleep, pillows or deodorant. We call it a Ragnar Relay. It’s really quite simple. Get a bunch of friends together (or we can help you find team members who’ll quickly become your friends) and start running. Okay, there’s a little more to it. Your relay team will consist of 12 members (or 6 for Ultra teams). During the relay, each team member runs three legs, each leg ranging between 3 – 8 miles and varying in difficulty. So, from the elite runner down to the novice jogger, it’s the perfect relay race for anyone. How do you cover 200(ish) miles? Only one runner hits the road at a time. The rest of your teammates are on support duty in your race vehicles. Teams require 2 vehicles, with runners 1-6 in van 1 and 7 -12 in van 2. Van 1’s runners will cover the first six legs. It’s a relay, so as the each runner begins, the crew in the vehicle can drive ahead, cheer their runner on, and meet them at the exchange point to pick them up and drop off the next runner. After the first 6 legs, van 2 picks up the slack and starts putting in the miles. A day, night and day later, you’ll have made it all the way from start to finish!”(That’s from the WEBSITE)
So now you know why I A) Squeal like a girl B) Shake my head in disbelief and C) Hold my breath until my face turns blue. When we first starting putting this crazy ass preposterous outlandish idea together we had six runners that were ready to sign on the dotted line…so we began looking for another six to complete our twelve runner team. It didn’t take long to find another six runners, but unfortunately they came and went for a variety of reasons. Again the core six of us began to search for another six runners to complete the much needed twelve “man” team because there was no way in hell we were going to run this as an ULTRA team of six….
We had a team of twelve again.
For about a month.
Again for whatever reason those six other runners didn’t pan out and as the deadline for early registration came closer and closer a little whisper began to speak loud and clear to me: Maybe this core team of six is supposed to run the 187 miles…maybe we are meant to go ULTRA!!! So I put it out there to the rest of the team and before I could take back my words and act like I never even had a fleeting thought, we officially became:
T.O.P
(Team Optimus Prime)
ULTRA TEAM!
- 187 miles (Yes I said 187 miles!)
On July 22 the six of us are going to do something absolutely CRAZY amazing. We’re going to spend 24 hours running…and running…and running from Blaine WA (yep, near the Canadian border) until sometime July 23rd when we’ll cross the finish line in Whidbey Island 187 miles south of where we started.
Did I mention the farthest I’ve ever run is 13.1 miles?
I’m officially Ragnar Relay Race runner #1 hence forth nick named “Rag1” Each runner will run three portions of the race. I run 1st, then 7th and finally 13th. You’re probably already doing some math calculations as to the length each of us will have to run in order to cover 187 miles in 24 hours whenever we finish. Mine breaks down as the following:
First leg = 12.4 miles
Second leg = 7.9 miles
Third leg = 10.9 miles
31.2 miles!
So there ya have it. For someone who just started running just a short year ago (I was up to 2.8 miles this time last year), this is almost incomprehensible….almost. There is something in my heart that says this is going to be one of the hardest coolest things I’ve ever done. I love my team mates more than words can express. I put it out to them that we should do this Ultra style and they came through with flying colors!
I want you to love them too.
*my other two team mates aren’t bloggers (sad I know)
TEAM OPTIMUS PRIME
(definitely more than meets the eye!)
Awesomesauce!!!!! That sounds like so much fun! Congrats 🙂
Rag5 says “ROCK ON!”
A friend was telling me about this recently! Part racing, part road tripping … I’m not a long distance runner yet, but it sounded like crazy fun!
AWESOME! Really, how exciting. I look forward to following Team Optimus Prime on the journey.
Dear Rag1,
We are all amazing. Not in the we-suffer-from-megalomania way, but in the sense that we are rising to a challenge. The idea of the ultra has been wiggling around in my brain since Rag4 first found out it was an option (and promptly started suggesting it). It took your won’t-back-down, change-every-adversity-into-fuel-for-the-fire self for me to believe I was capable (I have full faith in Rags1-5). Yes, it will be hard. And probably somewhere around our second run we’ll all be cursing my name for bringing this hell into our lives. But then? Then we’ll all dig deep and lean on each other and finish the damn race. Then I will cry and christen all of you with my snot. A month later (when the memory of the hurt fades)? We’ll start emailing again to talk about how we can improve the experience for 2012.
I love you forever,
Rag6.
Hood to Coast next year? 🙂
Naturally. 😛
Took the word right out of my mouth!
Wow! I am in awe! What an absolutely amazing thing to do. And the scenery is great – I’ve actually been to Whidbey Island!
Holy shit balls! I cannot wait to hear about this epic saga! I will not say that this sounds like fun (cause I think it would kill me if I attempted it) but I love your heart SO much. I know you are all going to kill it and feel like OP Superstars!
PS – please plan a massage for the day after the day after the race ends… 😉
That sounds like crazy epic fun. I’d totally be up for something like that some day. Its a great mix of party and pain. Good luck with your training!
Tara, I am so FREAKIN’ excited for this. Running this relay with you guys is going to be an adventure of EPIC proportions! As you said to mr on Twitter this morning, who would have a guessed a little over a year ago that we’d be doing something like this? Not me! It’s amazing how much people can change and grow in a relatively short amount of time.
Rag4
PS – get ready for a giant Alaskan bear hug!!
You know I would do this with you in a heart-beat and am bummed that I had to back out…even though the reason is joyful! I can’t wait to watch you guys conquer this and cheer you on however I can!!
Oh wow. Consider my jaw dropped. That’s amazing. I can’t find any other words.
One day I’ll run with you, Tara.
I believe you when you say we’ll run together!
I ran the SoCal Ragnar last year, and we are getting ready to run it again next weekend. We arent as cool as your team (there are 12 of us), but are pretty excited. It’s a great race, you will have so much fun.
Courtney do you have a twitter account? I would love to.hear how it goes for you this weekend? What’s your team name? Good luck and happy running!
[…] in finding this one just up the next city from me. We run together. We coffee together. We plan 187 mile relay races […]
I recently discovered your blog by someone linking to your “Secret” post. Since then, I have gone back and started reading all of your entries from the beginning. You are nothing short of amazing & inspiring. I find it ironic that I just read this post today and that you will be running the Ragnar in 4 days!! The map you posted shows Mt Vernon and I was born there before my parents traveled across country to move back to where my fathers family lives. I have an ambition to someday participate in a mini-tri and reading about your adventures certainly makes me want it more. I am a long way off and have restarted the C25K program (for like the 4th time) – but something feels different this time, I am on W2D2 and can’t wait to get to the end. Good luck this weekend to you and your awesome friends!