Last weekend I ran Ragnar Relay So Cal with my Ultra Team, Skirts Go Commando. As I attempt to write this race report, I can’t help but think, “Where do I even begin?” With so much happening in a space of 36 hours, it’s difficult to get a handle on what should come first. I know that some of you just want the facts of the race (sorry, not my style), while others want all the details. If you are the latter, you’ve come to the right place. So let’s start at the beginning.
Meet Team Skirts Go Commando
I finally headed to Huntington Beach last Thursday, excited and a bit nervous both about the event itself and about meeting my team, none of whom I’d met before. The synergy of a relay team is so important and can make the difference between a successful event and a failure.
We weren’t exactly complete strangers, though. We are all Ambassadors for Skirt Sports, so I knew that we had at least love of running in skirts in common. And I had interacted with my team on our Facebook page.
My teammates and I were literally from all four corners of the US! With me in Southern California, we had Candi and Jenn coming down from Alaska, Brooke really crossing the country from Maine, Siri traveled from Florida, with Allison, MC, and Matt, (MC’s husband and our driver), coming in from Virginia. MC, our captain, was who I replaced just three weeks ago after she broke her foot at another ultra race.
I was new to the Ultra scene, but some of these ladies had some serious miles under their belts. In addition to previous Ragnar Relay races, many have done races from 50k to 50 miles, and probably beyond.
When I arrived at our Airbnb near Huntington Beach, Allison was already there and the others arrived shortly. We had our first taste of close quarters, fitting all eight of us into a small apartment. For the first time in many years, I slept on a top bunk!
Before bed though, we went to dinner, dropped my car off at my stepson’s place, and sorted our gear a bit. Then, a fairly poor nights sleep and we were ready to head to the start line of Ragnar Relay So Cal!
Ragnar Relays start in waves, with the slowest projected teams starting first and the speedsters starting later. Our start time was slated for 7:15, so we arrived about an hour early, giving ourselves time to check in, watch the safety video (Ragnar takes safety very seriously), and paint the van.
A Quick Lesson in Ragnar
Since I was clueless about what exactly Ragnar was until I did my first five years ago (I thought the letters RAGNAR must be an anagram), I assume there might be others in the same boat, even though there are more Ragnar Relay races popping up all over the world all the time.
In a nutshell, each Ragnar Relay is a race that is about 200ish miles long, usually from one big city to another, for example, Huntington Beach to San Diego. Teams of 12, usually, take turns running the legs of the relay. Most teams have two vans for each half of the team. While Van 1, with runners one through six, is in action, Van 2 can eat, sleep, etc. Then, after the first six runners, all vans meet up at the next exchange and Van 2 takes over. And so on, for a total of 36 legs, running straight through the day and night.
There are also Ultra teams, which consist of six runners, which basically means doubling up the mileage for each runner. Runners may either run six legs separately or do as team Skirts Go Commando did, combine legs so that it’s more like running three legs. For example, I, as runner number three would run legs five and six, 17 and 18, and 29 and 30. My team made the decision before I joined, but I really liked it this way. A lot less dirty laundry for one thing!
The challenge of being on an Ultra team, aside from running double the mileage, is that there really is no downtime. Your van is always “on.” With planning, runners can get an hour of sleep here and there. Just as important is getting your driver some sleep. He faces the same challenges because he is needed to move his runners from one locale to the next in a timely manner.
Speaking of vans, each team decorates their van. We used car crayons and added our team name, twitter handles, and a few other things. Some of the vans are decorated to the hilt with lights, stickers, magnets, even mannequins.
Ragnar Lingo
There are a few terms native to Ragnar which are important to keep in mind. In addition to the obvious, like legs and exchanges, you should know about kills and tagging. Kills are when you pass another runner during your leg. Runners keep track of the number of others that they pass and those “kills” are recorded, along with a runner’s number of legs, on the side of the van.
Tagging has advanced since I ran my first Ragnar. The idea of tagging is to write/mark your team name on other vans. Most teams seem to have had magnets made, with which they tag other vans. It’s fun to read the other team names (and to steal some of the best from the other vans).
And We’re Off!
So it’s taken me 1,000 words to get to the start line. Read the first paragraph again. This is how I roll.
So, we arrived at the start line in Huntington Beach, checked in, got safety checked, got the van decorated (not to mention food and coffee in your favorite runners). Finally, 7:15 and we’re off. Allison was our first runner and she was running the first two legs, which were both ranked easy, a total of 5.8 miles. We knew Allison was pretty fast so we needed to head right over to the second exchange.
We can blame it on the fact that we had just started, that her first leg started and ended on PCH in Huntington Beach, or that we were just confused, but we sat at exchange number two, thinking we were at the first one that Allison would pass through just so we could cheer her on. When too much time went by, we figured we’d missed her and started scrambling to the next exchange. Then we realized that we needed to be back where we’d been. Confused? We were too. In any case, we headed back, missed Allison’s finish by a couple of minutes, but finally got our second runner Brooke out on the road. Allison is still mad (kidding!).
Brooke was up next and she had 12.2 miles in her two legs. It was starting to get hot. We were inland and the sun was shining brightly. We wanted to make sure that Brooke got some encouragement and water, so we found a couple of spots to pull over so we could cheer her on and fill up her bottle. Then we scooted ahead to exchange five, where I would be starting my two legs.
I had 10 miles to cover in my two legs, all of it in Santa Ana. The weather was warm. Because we were inland, there wasn’t a lot of breeze and the sun was bright. We spent a lot of time at traffic lights. A lot of time. I was running about 9:40 miles, but when averaged with the traffic stops they were closer to 12:30! I was really happy to see my team along the way to refill my water and give me a little encouragement.
The second of my two legs was six miles and rated Hard. I would beg to differ. I think it was very hard. It had over 600 feet of climbing, much of it in one long hill, plus it was pretty warm (I think it was around 1-2:00). I was definitely slower during this leg and needed to walk quite a bit during some of the uphills. The downhills weren’t much better because they were steep, which is so hard on knees and quads (and my toes!).
I stayed pretty steady though, finishing the 10 miles with about an 11:30 pace (that’s including the traffic stops in the first leg!). As I finished and sent Siri off on her leg, I was feeling pretty good. I’d used my Nuun Endurance, plus an extra Nuun tab, refilling my bottle once, during my run, so even though I hadn’t used a gel I felt like I was good on my nutrition and hydration.
Siri was out on her legs, which totaled about 12.3 miles. She also commented on both the hills and the traffic lights. She did great, then passed the slap bracelet on to Candi, who was looking at 14 miles. With both runners, we hopped ahead to offer them water and encouragement, then headed to their exchange to prepare for the next runner. Candi was the first that was looking at evening hours, so as required by Ragnar she wore her reflective vest and carried her headlight and taillight. The rest of the team was also required to wear our vests starting at 6:15 pm (and continuing until 7:00 am).
Jenn was our last runner with 9.3 miles on her two legs. We were able to catch Jenn at the end of her first leg to cheer and hydrate, She finished her second leg in Dana Point, a virtual exchange, which is probably something exclusive to Ragnar which I’ll explain in my next post. It was finally dark, and, of course, we were still running.
The Shiner
If you follow me on Instagram, you probably know that I had a bit of an incident following the finish of my first leg. As I mentioned, I finished strong and sent Siri on her way. After that, I walked with a few members of my team over to an area that had been set up as a Ragnar shop. I didn’t have my wallet with me, so I just followed along as they shopped.
About 10 minutes after I finished, I started to feel a little, um, shaky. I said, out loud, I need to sit down. So I did. Or rather I found a place to lean, which made me feel better. After a bit a stood up and then, well I’m not quite sure but I think I fainted. The next thing I knew I was on the ground being helped up by my team and the First Aid guy. Apparently, I also hit my eye (eyebrow), on a curb, so they gave me some ice, made sure I was in my right mind (but am I ever?), then allowed me to go back to the van with my team.
The shiner definitely got worse as the weekend went on. And yes, when you must go to the first aid tent you must also get a photo with your first aid guy!
Coming up next: Did I survive the shiner? How did we do in the middle of the night legs? Stay tuned for Ragnar So Cal Part 2: Legs Two and Three!
And Now It’s Time for the Running Coaches’ Corner!
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Weekly Linkups
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The Running Coaches’ Corner with Marc and Me!
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SO fun! Well, except the shiner part. It’s not a great race unless you have a shiner, right? Lol! Glad you are ok.
I’m waiting for when the bruise starts to fade. It hasn’t happened yet. In fact, every morning I wake up and it seems a little darker.
Other than that, it was tons of fun!
Ragnar always sounds so fun! Although the shiner doesn’t – glad that you are ok from that!
It is so much fun. Runner fun, you know. Not everybody will get it.
Looks like you all had way too much fun!
Way too much!
Besides the shiner (so glad that you are okay!), it looks like the first part of the Ragnar race was really a lot of fun!
It really was!
I am all about the details! Bring them on! I am wondering if not having down time might actually be better? Why do you think you fainted? Glad you are ok and can’t wait to read more
I frrequently get a little lightheaded toward the end of a hard effort. I’m not sure if it’s related to my exercise induced asthma or not, but when it happens I have to stop and wait for it to pass. Could be a drop in blood pressure, since it seems to happen when I stop or slow down. I suppose I should get it checked out, though it’s something I’ve dealt with for years. Never actually fainted though. 🙂
What an awesome Ragnar Team. Love that AK Jenn was there with you. I would love to do another Ragnar with you again sometime! Sounds like you had a blast!
Thank you for allowing me to run Ragnar vicariously through you, Debbie! I have never done a Ragnar before, but I would love to – I just don’t want to organize. Love the nake of your team! 🙂 Sorry about the shiner, but it doesn’t look too bad and gives you a story to tell!
I’m so bummed you fainted, but obviously glad that you’re healthy and ok. I’m getting so excited for the idea of me and my friends running a Ragnar. Thanks for the inspiration and motivation!
Sounds like a ball – aside from the shiner! Glad you’re ok!
Most excellent recap of our Ragnar adventure! Happy to have shared the experience with you!!
Gosh, your poor eye! But, I love the team name, and your painted window is adorable! I’ve done a smaller relay (76 miles, just one day), and the teams are starting to do the tagging thing, too. Our relay is May 11th, and we’re trying to come up with a clever window cling or magnet to “share” with everyone.
You always have the best recaps! Now you’re making me want to do another Ragnar! I’m sorry you fainted and got a shiner – it looks like you had a really fun team! Looking forward to reading Part 2!