mcsolar99
Cool Runner |
 posted Apr-01-2007 11:17 PM
   
from the web site:
"Ragnar was a 9th century Norse King. He was a pirate, a raider, a conqueror, an explorer, and a wild man. The tough, fearless, rugged attributes of this Norse King are shared by all who participate in a Ragnar Relay."well, ragnar never was able to drive around in a car for 24 hours, so i imagine he was a bit more wild. this was the inaugural arizona ragnar relay; it featured 71 teams from all over the country. it covered 187 miles with 8700 feet climbed and 9600 foot dropped, from wickenburg to scottsdale arizona.
 teams were 12 people, and the relay was divided into 36 legs (although there were ultra teams with fewer members). i was lucky enough to be on a team from a local tucson runner store, and we had a great group of 8 guys and 4 gals. there was a 34 year age range, and quite a range in running experience too. we were divided into two vans with runners 1-6 in one, 7-12 in the second. we drove through 3+ hours of friday rush hour traffic and got to wickenburg an hour before the start. the start went off in waves friday, from 10am through 6pm; we were seeded in the top four teams starting at 6pm. a mostly bay area google team wore flashy matching warmups, a utah-based marathon-gis.com team looked fast, a high-school team with a hugely long name about chickens with testicles were loud, and we were there too. i was the last of 12 runners, and in the second van of six; so we watched the start, got a sandwich in town, and headed towards our first exchange. the exchange 6 site was at a campground, and had a party atmosphere; although as we were the late arrivals it was dying down. the high school kids were amped, digging the band, doing backflips and chin-ups. google and marathon-gis came through, and we followed by 15-20 minutes. off we went into the dark. the route was mostly roads, and got pretty rural. our early runners crossed some cattle guards, which are un-nerving in the dark (the moon was full though). but running through the desert at night was great. you could see forever -- i clearly saw the turn lights for my route for a whole mile. it was a little pesky; i'd swear the turn was 200m away... but a mile later, i'd finally get there. the "stick" was a blue slap wrap,and here's our first exchange:
 since we were the last wave to start, we spent our first shift all alone, running in the dark. we hardly saw any volunteers at the exchange sites, and didn't see any other teams on the road. there were coyotes though! and endless stars... my first leg was a small climb; i ran the 7 miles at 6:29 pace... i wasn't quite in the groove, probably from waiting so long (i ran at 2am). since i was last, we then drove to the next major exchange and tried to sleep. the van was packed, so two of us tried the dirt parking lot, and i actually got something like an hour of sleep or so. woke up and wandered to the exchange site in time to see google come in, followed two minutes later by marathon-gis. we had thought that we would start catching teams around sunrise, but our team came in and said they were starting to pass people... and several teams were within our grasp. sunrise was near, and the best part: 4 of our next legs were downhill! we started to pass teams, and finally see other people on the course. our team captain laid down a 3.8 miler at 5:08 pace down the hill... we were flying! my second leg was rolling, just after sunrise. the desert was beautiful, and for part of the run i passed a citrus orchard, so for two miles i smelled citrus blossoms! at the half-way point, i finally saw my first runners ahead. caught one guy, gave him a pat on the back, and looked after the next guy, but ran out of space to get him. second leg was 5.5 miles at 6:13 pace. we got some breakfast and drove to the next major exchange. a large bike race was also going on, and we drove descended through a national forest with some awesome desert scenery, traffic slowly following cyclists with runners on the left side of the lane... talk about a land of many uses. we waited in a parking lot in the salt river canyon for a while.
 so to get out of the salt river canyon... a climb. whew! glad they weren't my legs. the climb out averaged 4% grade, but our two hard-core women teammates hammered up and over, passing lots of our competitors... and even having some fun doing it.
 we got into civilization again, and our team captain laid-down an awesome 10k passing 9 other teams. the start was staggered with the idea that teams would finish at nearly the same time, so runners were everywhere now. and it was getting hot! i did my old trick of dipping my shirt in cooler ice-water and wearing it, so for about an hour before my last leg i was cooling off. i got to do the anchor leg, 3.8 miles at 6:16 pace. passed on guy after 200m, then raced an older guy on a bicycle, but didn't see another runner until about 0.5 miles to go. he was about 300m ahead, and i hammered, but didn't get there. the "finish" etiquette was that your team joined you to cross the line, and as the guy slowed to join his team the thought did occur that i could get him, but i smiled, joined my team, and we jogged across. about 15 seconds later they took our finishing shot; i'm the guy who looks ready to collapse in the white in the front row.
 so we averaged about 6:40 min pace for the whole 187 miles; finished third overall, 1 hour 40 behind second, but 40 minutes before fourth. we were the fastest in the running store category: mission accomplished!
http://www.ragnarrelay.com/delsol/results07.php this was a spectacular event; i'm still sore and sleepy, but i'm hooked. it's a lot like an ultimate frisbee tournament... great team atmosphere, fun people, great scenery, and lots and lots of hard sweaty running. i'd like to just mention that the weather in tucson in october is equally spectacular, and this next one has a masters category... 
http://www.arizonaodyssey.com/home.html
IP: Logged |
As long as we aren't expected to average 6:40 miles over rough terrain......I think it sounds like a blast!
