Yep. I’m a Ragnarian and I’m proud! I, along with my 11 teammates, the Dirrty Dozen, finished Ragnar So Cal on Saturday. I have showered, eaten some “real” food, and slept (11 hours, something I haven’t done since I was a teenager), and while I still have some brain fog, I have been reflecting on the amazing experience and the 11 fabulous women I am fortunate to call new friends. They are:
Carrie from Family, Fitness, Food, Gillian from That’s G, Amy from It’s All About the Journey, Melissa from The Valentine RD, Jill from Tree Fitness, Jamie from Sweat Guru, Jillienne from Chasing Raspberries, Kia from Bohdi Bear, and the non-bloggers, Kat, Lizzie, and Jenica.
Amy was our captain and she was AMAZING!!!! I was a latecomer to the team and I felt like all I had to do was show up. She handled almost everything and helped to create what turned out to be one of the most memorable experiences of my life.
I will be sharing more over the next few days, but for now I want to show you some pictures memories from the weekend. The order is a little random, especially the pictures from van one, because as I mentioned, my brain is still a bit fuzzy.
More pictures and more details coming through the week. I still need to sleep a little more, think about the race, the team, and the experience, and put it into perspective and words that make some sense. For now, I’ll say that I had no idea what I was getting into, how hard it would be, how rewarding it would feel, and especially how much I would want to do it all over again.
Have you ever done a Ragnar Relay? Would you like to?
That looks like SO much fun!!! I really want to do one someday. There’s one in south Florida that looks awesome.
Congrats to you and your team!
I am a total convert to the culture of Ragnar. I think everyone should do it at least once!
Awesome. I could never do this.
Sure you could! One of the great things about Ragnar is that there is something available for all levels. Yeah, Jamie and Lizzie had 24-26 miles, but one of our runners had 10. With a little training, it is very doable. Of course if it is the sleeping in the van, no real food thing you mean, I understand 🙂
Congrats Debbie! I like the idea of it, but I think sleeping in a van and not being able to eat properly might make me a liability to my team!
But, ya know, everyone is in the same position. That’s part of the fun! You can also plan better nutrition (van 1 seemed to eat much better than we did!), and sleep on the grass at the big exchanges in a sleeping bag, which in retrospect sounds brilliant.
LOVE this, Debbie!!
Thanks Gillian. I had such a great time and I love every woman on our team. It was so good to meet you.
I’m doing my first relay in September. You got me super stoked to so it!
You’re going to love it!
SO awesome! I’m excited to do a relay someday. Glad you had such a good time!
You would love it! It really was an amazing experience.
I STALK all these pics on face book too as the whole CONCEPT is intriguing to this nonrunner.
a gaggle of WOMEN? SUPPORTING? LAUGHING? RUNNING IN THE PITCH DARK?!
love it.
It was one of the best experiences of my life. I love those women, each and every one.
WOW!! Congrats on such an amazing race! I had never heard of this race, it looks amazing and extremely challenging! I look forward to reading your follow-ups 🙂
I had never heard of it until recently, so I was shocked at the hugeness of it all.
How fun & exciting! Even though I’ve never wanted to do a half or full marathon, THIS is something I’d love to do in the future!
The experience goes way beyond the actual running part of it. The friendships, the culture of Ragnar, are just so much more.
i’m always so impressed by every single person who can run these races!!! looks like a blast!
Thanks! It was a great experience.
Looks like you all had a blast! So jealous!
Don’t be jealous. Just do one yourself!
Congrats, looking forward to hearing more!
Thanks! It was an amazing experience.
These pictures are great! Thanks for sharing! I was following the team tweets from Jaime over the weekend. It’s getting me excited for my HTC relay with the Nuun team in August! Thanks for the inspiration. Cheers!
Relays are so much fun! Good luck in yours!
I love this so much. I’m so excited for you all and loved seeing all the photos over the weekend. Looked like an amazing experience and can’t wait to hear more. CONGRATS!
Thanks Christine. I’m glad you were following along. It really was so much fun.
It was great meeting you this weekend! We had so much fun! I can’t wait for the next relay!!!
I’m ready to sign up for the next one (I can hardly believe I’m saying that!). It really was so much fun, and great to meet such amazing ladies!
That is so cool! I would love to do something like it! What a beautiful place to do it too.
The last leg in particular was so pretty. And we were pretty lucky with the weather. While some of the girls thought it was too hot, this desert rat though it was just perfect.
I loved reading this, Debbie, and I’m glad you had such a great experience! As you know, I just set up my team for Washington DC last week! It’s going to be so fun!
Will this be your first? It was such an amazing experience I can’t wait to do it again. And believe me, I never thought that I would say that!
Yes, my first Ragnar! One of our friends has been trying to get us to run on his team for years, but we always had a football game that weekend and couldn’t make it. This year we are actually skipping a home game to run it, and I’m the captain.
Congrats – I’m doing Ragnar Cape Cod next month!
Good luck! Is it your first! You’re going to have a great time. 🙂
Nope, I did RTB NH a couple of years ago. First Ragnar though 😉
I want to do one of these soooo bad! Thanks so much for sharing your pictures! It looks like you had so much fun!
We did have so much fun! You should do this! People are always looking for teammates, so it’s pretty easy to get involved. I only knew a couple of our team beforehand but it didn’t matter. We were friends instantly.
Awesome Debbie! Just awesome! I am a huge fan of running relays! I have done the Reach the Beach in NH and the VT 100 on 100 more times than I can count. It would be awesome to do one so warm and gorgeous with such an inspiring bunch of women! It looks like you had a blast and had some amazingly solid running! Congrats and thanks for posting!
I was so surprised about this event. I had no idea of the culture of relay racing and of Ragnar. I was so lucky that I had such great women as my teammates. They played a huge part in the success of this event.
How fun! My secret dream is to do a Ragnar… but I need to become a longer distance runner again first 🙂 You ladies rocked it!
Thanks! You know they make it very doable for all runners. There are shorter legs and shorter total distances, which is perfect for newer runners.
OMG I loved following on FB!!! The pics are amazing & beautiful & you all are too!!! I missed meeting you in Irvine. I did not even know the van was stopping there until a couple days before & I could not change an appt.. 🙁
Sorry I missed out on meeting you again! We actually spent quite a lot of time in Irvine, at the Amtrak, where we left our cars and at the balloon park where our first exchange took place.
Can you remind me which post explains how this race works. Congrats on expanding your boundaries and having such a great time with your team! Love all the photos and captions
That sounds like an amazing time! I do not think I could ever do something like that but seeing the 12 of you have given me some inspiration.