Who’s crazy enough to travel to San Francisco, CA & get
in a van with 5 strangers for an adventure?
That would be me! Last weekend I
was fortunate enough to participate in the Napa Ragnar Relay Race. I started running in Ragnar Relay Races in
2011 with 11 women I didn’t know. It was
an experience of a lifetime, and I couldn’t wait to repeat it. To me, these races are different than 5k,
half marathons, full marathons that you do on your own. To me, these races differ from the obstacle
course racing that I have grown to love.
Running is involved. But there’s
so much more than that to Ragnar. The
experience can’t be replicated in any other race.
Not familiar with what a Ragnar Relay Race is? It’s a relay that covers approximately 200
miles. There are two vans with 6
people. Van One starts early Friday
morning, covers varying distances per 6 runners, then Van Two takes over. Everyone has a chance to run three different
times (called legs) alternating between the two vans. When you are the van running, you park, get
the next runner ready, cheer them off, and help aide the runner who just
finished. Repeat until all runners have
finished their legs. At the end you are
supposed to run to the finish line together, get your medal, beer and pizza,
and celebrate your accomplishment. Easy,
right?
If all goes as planned, that’s what should happen. Finding 12 people who mesh well together is a
challenge. This was my fourth Ragnar.
But my first out-of-town Ragnar with strangers as I usually do the local
Northwest Passage in WA. I usually do
these races with people I know. But I
thought I would take a risk and go on an adventure. Plus I had longtime friends in San Francisco
that I was going to visit. It seemed
like a win-win situation. I would get to
see my friends, meet new people, and sightsee the Bay area.
Let me start by saying that if the Captain of the team is
not organized, everything else is doomed.
From the beginning there was an obvious divide between the two
vans. Since I’ve done these races
before, I knew that we might not all gel well together. I was in Van Two. But the lack of communication between our
vans was horrific. We never knew where
they were. That is crucial to know so
that we can get our first runner ready.
The Captain chose to keep things to herself, like our finisher
shirts. Why? I have no idea. The first chance I got, I got my shirt
without her knowledge. She was focusing
on getting decals on our vans and what we needed to wear at the end of the
race. Not important! I know its fun to decorate the vans and we
all chipped in to get the decals. But
honestly, that did not take precedence over communication. And what we wore at the end of the race,
would not bring the team together. If we
didn’t fix the communication there was no point in pretending we were a team of
12.
My van consisted of interesting characters. One lady had never done a Ragnar. The other lady was retired Navy. One guy was from Wyoming. One guy was a native to Iran (I only mention
this because he was self-deprecating and constantly made fun of his Middle
Eastern background). Our final team
member had done the most Ragnars out of our group. The funny part was that no one knew anyone
else, including the Captain!
Getting to the first exchange was chaotic. We thought we had more time to eat breakfast
and get supplies. But we were
wrong. There was no message about Van
One’s start. Nothing. Until we asked. And they were about an hour behind
schedule. Ugh! The major exchanges between the two vans are
bigger than the exchanges amongst a van.
The first and last exchange have vendors and lots of action. The first
exchange that day was low-key. I would
say low-energy. I don’t know why? We were excited. But it didn’t feel as crowded or
energy-filled.
My first leg was hard.
It started uphill. Isn’t that
awesome? My calves were on fire, I
started feeling shin splits, and my toes were going numb. Plus my infamous knee was hurting like nobody’s
business. I wanted to cry. This was a recipe for disaster. There was no view of any pretty scenery. The mountains were dry and it was hot. Luckily, the first leg was only about 4.5 miles. I can honestly say that I questioned why I
decided to do this race. What was I
thinking? I was hurting and missing my
family. I doubted I had made the right
decision.
After Van Two all finished our legs, we decided to get
dinner. We had dinner at a Mexican restaurant. It was so fun! We pranked our first-time Ragnar teammate and
told the restaurant it was her birthday.
She got a dessert and we all sang happy birthday to her. We tried to get some rest before running
again. Van One notoriously has a lighter
load. Meaning that they don’t have as
much mileage. I took my sleeping bag to
an open area and shut my eyes. Before I
knew it, it was time to go. It was so
cold that dew started forming on my sleeping bag.
My second leg started around 1am. I hate running at night. My depth perception is not the greatest. Plus many times at night you are on your
own. Sometimes with no other lights but
your headlamp. Having a good headlamp is
important, plus the safety vest, and blinkers.
You need to make sure cars can see you on the road. Small bumps in the road at night seem
gigantic in your mind. I feel I’m extra
paranoid at night. I’ve been known to
get lost at night. I struggled to be
brave. My crutch is always my husband
who has helped me during night runs.
This time I was on my own. I
prayed a little longer and hoped for some strength to get me through the night
run. My knee hurt at first, then the
pain went away. I was able to turn on
the turbo and finish strong. My Van was
awesome and leap-frogged me throughout my leg so that I would feel at ease. There were 3 runners after me and it got
extremely darker. To the point, that
when we were supporting our runners, we couldn’t accurately tell it was them
until we were face-to-face. Night
running can either be your favorite, or can be your fear. I chose to conquer my fear.
After Van Two had finished our second legs, we finally got
some much needed rest. This time, I
slept in the van. It wasn’t the most
comfortable, but honestly it didn’t matter.
I was too tired to care. When we
woke up, we ate a small breakfast and got ready for our last leg. It was starting to get hot. The one thing I hate more than night running
is running in the heat. I’ve had bad
luck running in the heat. I always wear
the wrong outfit or use all my water.
Hard lessons I have learned throughout the years.
The final breakdown of communication happened on our last
leg. Our 10th runner was
literally running a half marathon as his last leg. First of all, that is a terrible idea
Ragnar! It was close to 90 degrees and
it was a non-support leg. Non-support
meant that we couldn’t aide the runner.
Our runner was struggling. He
sent a text and before we could respond, the Captain responded. She told him, it was too bad he was
struggling, but that it was against the rules to help him since he was on a
non-support leg. Wow! She is heartless. We stopped and helped him anyways. A few minutes later, she calls back to tell
us that we need to hurry because two people from Van One need to catch a
flight. This was a surprise to us. She indicated that we should skip our last
legs to make it back in time and so that everyone could get a medal. We ignored her and did our legs anyways.
My last leg was hot.
Let me repeat, it was hot. Close
to 90 degrees is not enjoyable, even in the shade. It took all of my energy to not gas out. By this time, I no longer had knee pains, but
I was just plain tired. You cannot
imagine how glad I was to be done. Who
would have thought that it would be close to 90 degrees in San Francisco in
late October? Sometimes global warming
does not benefit me!
We went to the last exchange to meet the two runners who
supposedly needed to catch a plane. When
we got there we were told that they thought it was us who needed to catch a
plane. That the Captain had told them
she was concerned about us missing our flights.
To top it off, turns out the rush to get back was because 4 out of 6
runners from Van One had set up a spa appointment and didn’t want to lose their
deposit. Again WOW! I don’t care that they weren’t there at the
finish. It would have been a fake
reunion. I’m upset that they lied. Liars are never pretty.
We quickly got our medals.
Van One had already chosen the better puzzle pieces. The funny part is that if you place the
medals together, they form a saying about unity. We got some pizza and then it was time to
clean the van. I had to get all my stuff
to meet up with my friends. Looking
back, my legs were not scenic, I could have done them anywhere. I will look more carefully in the future to
look at the route itself and not just the mileage.
All in all, Van Two rocked.
I wouldn’t change my experience with them. I learned a lot about what not to do and feel
that I know what needs to happen in order to make the next Ragnar event a
better experience. Although the
interaction with Van One sucked, it doesn’t sway me from participating in a
future Ragnar race. I hope that the
positives written here (meeting new people, running, and adventure of a
lifetime) entice you to do a Ragnar race in the near future.
Run. Rest. Drive.
Repeat.
Grace Martinez, 4th time Ragnar Runner
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