Race Recap: Ragnar Relay Northwest Passage - Part 3

Read part 1 and part 2 to catch up.

Okay, where did I leave off...oh yes...sugar coma.  It was about 2:00 in the morning and we got the hour warning from the other van.  I woke up a sleeping Paul and told him to be ready to run 7.8 hard miles of hills in the dark in 60 minutes.  SOO glad I wasn't in his position!  We all woke up and donned our safety gear and glow-sticks.

Van 2 came in with their last runner and just like that we were off our LAST runs.  Paul did an awesome job on the 7.8 and we loaded him up with Gu and support the whole way.

My LAST run - Leg 26 - 3.1 miles:

My last run was about 3:30 in the morning and even though I only had 20 solid minutes of sleep, if that, I felt like I had enough energy to run this last leg hard.

Mile 1 - 9:29 <---gigantic hill that everyone pretty much walked up
Mile 2 - 8:31
Mile 3 - 8:34

2.96 miles = 26:16

Garmin said the leg wasn't even 3 miles and I was ok with that. Since it was pretty much all downhill I pushed it the whole way and gladly handed off to Lindsey and just like that I was done done done!  Can I sleep now?

I gladly cheered on Lindsey, Karol, Emily and last but not least Prentiss.  That is him above running while the sun was rising.  THIS is why you do these crazy relays...sharing these gorgeous views with your 5 new best friends.

Our silly no sleep faces

WE ARE DONE!
We handed off with van 2 just after the sun completely rose and then I took the best shower of my life.  Despite the fact the locker room was so hot the ceilings were sweating the shower felt great and I felt like a human being again.

We made our way to the finish line in Coupville and scouted out a breakfast spot.  I ate a cinnamon role as big as my head and we drove straight to the finish line festival and crashed on the grass.

Team #187 Casual Encounters crossed the finish line in exactly 27 hours at 11:15 AM.  Our average pace was 8:31 (we had some SUPER speedy boys who helped that pace significantly).

We stayed for about an hour at the finish line, enjoyed a beer, and took off for the ferry. After cleaning and returning the van I took the best nap of my life.

I can honestly say that the past 27 hours were some of the best in my life.  Will I do it again?  Absolutely, in fact at the finish line we were talking about next year's team already.  My friend and teammate Lindsey put it perfectly when she said that she loved this race because they managed to take a single person sport and turn it into a team sport.  I'll end on that note and encourage any of you out there to try a relay in your running life...you will not be disappointed.

Good luck to all my Hood to Coast readers out there...I can't wait to read your recaps!

Race Recap: Ragnar Relay Northwest Passage - Part 2

You should probably read Part 1 if you haven't already!

After stuffing our faces to fuel for our second legs, we hit up Fred Meyer for glow sticks and water...two race essentials! Then we headed to the next place we would switch off with van 2 in Bow, Washington. Never heard of Bow?  It's a tiny little town south of Bellingham about 10 minutes off I-5.  It is pretty much the beginning of the Skagit Valley and provided amazing views for evening running. 

Van 1 ready to run again:
Around 6:00 that evening van 2's last runner, Preston, came flying in and just like that we were off again.  Most of us had legs under 4 miles so we knew this section of runs would be quick.  Van 2 wasn't excited about the short break we were going to give them and told yelled at us via text message to SLOW DOWN more than once.

Paul ready to rumble!

My second run - Leg 14 - 3.5 miles:

I had this secret goal in my head to try and run this in 30 minutes or less but when I did the math in my head I thought, sub 9:00 miles the whole time...that will NEVER happen.  I am NOT a fast runner!  Well I proved myself wrong.  The adrenaline rush of the whole event, not letting your team down, and passing runners gives you way more energy then you thought you ever had.

Waiting for my slap bracelet

Beautiful country and great team support!

Mile 1 - 8:41
Mile 2 - 8:46
Mile 3 - 8:55
Mile 3.5 - 8:27

3.51 miles = 30:40 <----SO CLOSE to 30 minutes!!

Seriously, I'm pretty sure I had an out of body experience for this run because I don't even run this fast when I do intervals. Maybe it had something to do with the downhill nature of this run, but I killed it and I killed 5 people along the way :).  It was definitely warm during this run and the van started stinking after we all sprinted in the heat of the early evening...I would like that shower now please?

It started to become dusk and at 8:30PM the reflective vests must go on and runners have to wear head and tail lamps for safety.  Lindsey, Karol, Emily, and Prentiss screamed through their runs and we were all done with our second runs in less than 4 hours.

Bubble dance!

Nice action shot at the exchange!

Romantic sunset photo with my Linds!

We met van 2 at the next major exchange near La Conner.  It was a new place for the exchange and I would rate it a major fail by Ragnar this year.  I rarely have anything negative to say about Ragnar except this exchange was SUPER crowded and there were no showers or food available.  We hiked up a large hill to meet our runner and the rest of our team before gathering our sweaty team and finding some food.  We were LUCKY that a roadside diner was still open at 10PM, but I don't know what other teams did in the middle of the night to find food.  Linds, Emily and I ended up taking a baby wipe shower in the restaurant bathroom, which was at least one step up from a porta-potty baby wipe shower and change.

Sleep Time (or so I thought...):
After chowing down we went to Deception Pass State Park to grab some shut eye before it was time to run again.  I got my sleeping bag out and grabbed a patch of grass right next to the van.  Just as I was drifting into a semi-conscious state I received a flashlight in my eye ball with a voice proclaiming that "You CANNOT sleep next to your van, you might get RUN OVER!".  I tried to argue with the flashlight voice, but I didn't win.  I got up and went into the van, reclined my seat and got approximately 20 minutes of shut eye.  Lindsey and I woke up and dug into the sugar stack we had and proceeded to illuminate our many glow bracelets and necklaces in preparation for our night runs.

Part 3 coming...