Runners Forum - Kick Runners banner

Official Sand y Sol Race Report (Ragnar Relay)

8K views 117 replies 52 participants last post by  Opie 
#1 ·
sub 24<br><br><br>
Mike
 
#8 ·
<b>Ileneforward Rule</b>: The welcoming committee shall consist of an attractive female in a string bikini. She must rise from the hot tub and warmly embrace newly arrived teammates.<br><br><b>DAAve Rule</b>: Astrophysicists are not allowed to drive the van, and should be assigned personal assistants to look after their personal belongings (i.e. shorts).<br><br><b>Mustang Sal Rule</b>: Runners must demurely deny any intention of racing and then proceed to blow away pre-race pace estimates.<br><br><b>Maggie</b> (world's nicest doggie) <b>Rule</b>: Stay out of the pool! If perchance you stray into the pool, GET OUT IMMEDIATELY!<br><br><b>SkipAZ Rule</b>: Racing 'till you burp is frowned upon, but tolerated; racing to the point of hospitalization is verboten!<br><br><b>Perchcreek Rule</b>: No matter how disarmingly & delightful a North Carolinan may be, do not allow him to run more than 2 miles on the morning of the race. <img alt="biggrin.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/biggrin.gif"><br><br><b>Soundie Rule</b>: Assign the hottest female to the finishing anchor spot when crowds and media are on hand -- bonus points for body jewelry!<br><br><b>Dirt Rule:</b> Every relay team must have an ultramarathon wacko. They provide "cred" for the team, despite their idiosyncracies. Plus, they are used to going without sleep and don't take up much room (sitting up) in the van.<br><br><b>Fastforward Rule:</b> Treat all female teammates with Sir Lancelot charm. Accept race baton with a diffident air, then turn and mow down competitors with authority.<br><br><b>Ellen Rule:</b> The home base Queen of Hospitality shall be honored with team members' sincere efforts to clean up after multiple meals and showers.<br><br><b>Econo Rule:</b> The van must be equipped with a muzzle for all economists, to silence excited pre- and post-race chitter-chatter.<br><br><b>Evanflein Rules I and II:</b> Stock the van with smelling salts for swooning male teammates of Alaskan Scandanavian Amazons. Also, no post-race run may exceed 15 miles.<br><br><b>mcsolar rule:</b> the race captain must exhibit the proper blend of patience, diplomacy, lanky good looks, and wicked humor. and run insanely fast.<br><br><b>San Soos Rule:</b> Every team must have a beautiful forest sprite who runs like the wind and engenders admiration from competing teams. Have a sharpie ready so she can sign autographs!
 
#9 ·
182
 
#11 ·
I'lll start the deciphering game:<br><br>
sub 24? The preferred sandwich selection off the Subway menu?<br>
1st division? The police station where you were held for questioning?<br>
182? The estimated weight of all trash hauled from the vans?<br>
2.5/48? The number of beers left in the cooler by the time the race started?
 
#14 ·
......what the Hell is This Cryptic Stuff????.........who did what? when? and Whuffo'Dey DoDat??<br><br><br>
.talk English,<br>
or at least American......
 
#16 ·
Okay.... I can't resist!<br><br>
Dirt is trying to say...the beer tent people carded us! Evanflein says "we just won the masters mixed division and we have to go get our ID???"<br><br>
And....only one member of our team was hospitalized.<br><br><span style="font-size:xx-small;">(Please, teammates -- this is not the time to be coy -- someone describe this race and get the ball rolling)</span>
 
#18 ·
we need a unit please.<br><br>
miles, inches, hours....<br><br>
<muttering to self: of all the people to write the official report they nominate Dirt>
 
#20 ·
23 hours, 27 minutes finish time<br>
1st mixed masters<br>
22 OA<br>
182 miles covered<br>
1 fire truck<br>
1 ambulance<br>
0 fire extinquishers<br>
6 extra miles<br>
pink skirt, oh sorry.... two two<br>
free beer<br><br>
does that help clarify things...sheeeeze...I didn't know I had to spell it <b>ALL</b> out.<br><br>
I'll confer with my colleagues and see if there is anything I missed and fill it in tomorrow
 
#22 ·
OKAY!! I'll spill... a little bit...<br><br>
Last fall sometime, don't recall exactly when, I got a very short message from mcsolar... "evanflein, send me an e-mail at..." so I did, saying, "what's up?" Next thing to come was an invitation from mc through the ragnar site, telling about the relay and asking if I was interested. Ok, well, yeah, le'me think about it... heck YES!!! I've been wanting to do one of these relays ever since hearing about the PNW wimmin doin' Hood to Coast last year. I was so excited to do it, that when he said he needed confirmation in the form of a check, I sent in mine right away. To which mc replied, "got your check, so far it's just you and me so that's 91 miles each..." I said, "Cool, good thing I just got new shoes!" So, he worked on it for the next few months, got all the players lined up, a couple dropped out due to scheduling problems or nagging injuries and alternates were called into play. This was going to be so fun!!<br><br>
Training consisted of lots of hills and then speedwork in the form of 10k mile repeats to replicate what was expected of us on the course. So far so good, no injuries, all systems go, tickets lined up, yada yada yada. As our temps hovered well below zero, I kept thoughts of the desert and Arizona sunshine in my mind. It really kept me going through a very cold January here in Fairbanks! The time came to pack up for the trip, and I packed and unpacked my suitcase probably 8 times before I left, and still overpacked a little bit... SkipAZ orchestrated the airport pickup plan for all of us and a few of us were staying with his sister-in-law who was serving as the most wonderful hostess and "home base" for the group. Skip planned and produced a wonderful pasta dinner Thursday night, followed by dips in the pool and hot tub, much to Maggie the dog's dismay (she didn't like people getting in the water at all!). Others have pictures of this stuff that they'll probably share... I don't...<img alt="sad.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/sad.gif"><br><br>
Friday morning was for last minute shopping and van decorations. Very serious business, that was.<br><img alt="" src="http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa132/evanflein/Ragnar%20del%20Sol/IMG_0102.jpg" style="border:0px solid;"><br><br>
Ready to go....<br><img alt="" src="http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa132/evanflein/Ragnar%20del%20Sol/IMG_0103.jpg" style="border:0px solid;"><br>
Then we took off for the start line in Wickenburg, here we are waiting around for the start.<br><img alt="" src="http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa132/evanflein/Ragnar%20del%20Sol/IMG_0106.jpg" style="border:0px solid;"><br>
Perchcreek was our starting runner at 5 pm. Mustang Sally and Perch discussing race strategy... or what to get for dinner later, who knows.<br><img alt="" src="http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa132/evanflein/Ragnar%20del%20Sol/IMG_0105.jpg" style="border:0px solid;"><br>
Sans Souci was our style maven, and Soundrunner could only look on with admiration of our esteemed Candian contingent.<br><img alt="" src="http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa132/evanflein/Ragnar%20del%20Sol/IMG_0104.jpg" style="border:0px solid;"><br>
Our late seeding time meant we were rated as one of the faster teams, which was both exciting and scary in a way. I don't have a starting shot, but I know others do. Perch said his run was hotter and harder than he thought it would be. (hmmm, wouldn't have some thing to do with a 6 mile run first thing in the morning, would it Steve???) Here he is in the middle of his first run...<br><img alt="" src="http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa132/evanflein/Ragnar%20del%20Sol/IMG_0110.jpg" style="border:0px solid;"><br><br>
We did the handoff a little later than planned, and I took off and met a barrage of semi truck traffic and steeper hills than I was expecting. (ok, I know someone else has photos here...) This first run was good, but a little harder than I expected given the posted profile of the leg. Seemed steeper, and I sure wasn't counting on all those semi-trucks being right there, one after the other, blowing up sand and grit in my teeth. Oy. My van-mates met me about halfway with water, cheers and cameras (thanks, guys!) which was so very nice and appreciated (well, maybe not the cameras...). As I turned the corner into the exchange area, I was able to put on a kick at the end and slapped the "baton" onto mc's arm and off he went. After a quick recovery walk (my Garmin had my avg pace for this leg @ 7:56, slower than we needed), we piled into the van and drove along past mc, honkin' and hollerin', to meet him down the road. Waiting for him we were treated to a beautiful sunset in the desert.<br><img alt="" src="http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa132/evanflein/Ragnar%20del%20Sol/IMG_0113.jpg" style="border:0px solid;"><br>
I know MustangSally has an amazing pic of the sunset that I hope she posts... just beautiful. We were admiring the scenery and enjoying the moment, when we realized mc was coming down the road... fast. Wow, fun to watch that guy run! As he approached, we looked at each other and said, "ok, who has his water?" Lots of blank stares... oops. So Sans Souci runs back to the van to dig out the water, gets caught up in the cattle grate, and Daave had parked soooo far from the road, she was just coming back with mc's water when he blasts by us. We managed to blind him with flashes from our cameras, but no water for mc that time. The pics show the look of "what the fu...??"<br><img alt="" src="http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa132/evanflein/Ragnar%20del%20Sol/IMG_0115.jpg" style="border:0px solid;"><br>
Ok, we felt really bad now... time to make it up and move on. He was a little bit pissy with us about it but got over it soon enuf (I think). A little complaining about how hot it was and gee it sure would've been NICE TO HAVE SOME WATER THERE....!!! Ok, we get it... Quick handoff to dAAve and off he went, headlight lighting up the night as he went. We did manage to meet Dave for his mid-run relief, and same with MustangSally who really agreed with me that the hills were a bit greater than portrayed on the maps. She muttered something about these freakin' hills weren't on the map, or maybe it was I really need a nap, or hmmm, we're still not sure. She went by pretty fast for someone who said she'd be our slowest runner in Van #1. Then MS passed the band to SS, who wore the pink skirt with flair and finesse as she tore up the course for an amazingly fast run up to the first major exchange, up hills and over cattle grates, where she passed the baton to Skip who took over for Van #2. Finally done, we could go get some dinner and a short rest before starting round Two.<br>
(Ok, I have to go to bed now... maybe someone from Van 2 wants to take over? Or Van 1 members with their details and photos? I know I got about the worst photos of the event, really...)
 
#24 ·
Wahhhh! I am soooo jealous. I wanna do a relay too .... <img alt="sad2.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/sad2.gif"><br><br>
Seriously, great RR Erika and excellent Pix too. I still can't believe you ran 14 miles the morning after doing this. MM for sure! <img alt="confused.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/confused.gif"><br><br>
Ummm, nice hat Sans. <img alt="roll_eyes.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/roll_eyes.gif"><br><br>
Your pal, Bill
 
#25 ·
It is a bit difficult to capture all of this. There were 36 legs and each runner ran thier legs off on each leg so it was like 36 races in 24 hrs by 12 runners. I was in Van 1 and our order was Perch, Evanflein, MCSolar, CassAAdamius (dAAve) Mustang Sally and San Souci in that order.<br><br>
First a clarification... "I never hugged that woman" <img alt="biggrin.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/biggrin.gif"><br><br>
My first impression of teh Ragnar experience was like the movie "Enchanted" where fairy tale characters come to life. Within seconds of meeting our KicksterMastersBoomer Runners, it was like I've known them all for years. Only DAAve had I met before. It was truly magical.<br>
Here is some van decorating at our gracious host, Ellen's house:<br><br><img alt="" src="http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y246/lateboomer/vandecking1.jpg" style="border:0px solid;"><br><br>
On race day I went for a little run to keep mileage high since I was missing so much milage by this little relay <img alt="biggrin.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/biggrin.gif"> After a nice 6 miler, I got back to the hotel to stretch and OUCH, I could not bend down without excruciating back, side pains, all around the belt line. Oh Carp! I haven't had back pain in years, why now? Was it the 5 hr plane ride? Carrying the backpack? The Boomer initiation last night? Whatever it was it hurt. We all gathered to pack the vans and made a trip to the store for more supplies. I got Excedrin for backaches.<br>
All day the back throbbed. It got a bit better closer to our 5 pm gun time<br>
It was hot but dry, very intense sun. Since we were seeded so high, there were stong runners lined up for the start and when we started, I was left in the dust, literally! I gave it a good 10K effort for the 5.2 miles but made it in in 41 minutes instead of planned 39 minutes but the Garmin read 5.4 miles and there were no curves to throw it off. So pace was about 7:38. Not bad in the heat and head wind and blasts from semi trailers. My back did not seem to affect the running! Halfway to the exchange the van 1 team was waiting with water and cheers! Then the exchange was in sight and I hammered it and handed off to evanflein. At exchange 2 evanflein handed off to MC and here he is blasting away:<br><img alt="" src="http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y246/lateboomer/MCoffonleg3.jpg" style="border:0px solid;"><br><br><br>
We all thought there would be lots of inactive time but it was action, action the entire 24 hrs. Each van repeated the sequence of warm-up at the exchange waiting for the runner then the handoff, then head out and find a place to park safely up the road a couple/few miles, set up cheering/water support, wait for the runner, cheer 'em along, get in the van go to the next exchange so the next runner can warm-up.... repeat 18 times.<br><br>
There were breaks after each set of 6 legs. Time enough for food, sleep (almost), hospitals, and enjoying the scenery.<br><br>
to be continued.....
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top