Last Friday and Saturday, Michelle and I joined a Co-Ed Relay team to run the Ragnar ‘Great River’ Relay. Ragnar is a series of relay races across the US. The Great River version routes from Winona, WI to Minneapolis, MN. Our team covered 193 total miles between the 12 of us. We each ran 3 legs. Going into the race I really didn’t know what to expect, other than I would be spending the next 30+ hours in a van with 5 other people.
Our team started at 1:00pm on Friday and I was the 5th runner, so my leg started around 4:30pm. I pushed it a little bit since the section was fairly flat and I felt good. Immediately after I finished, I could tell my IT Band was going to be annoying. My next run wasn’t scheduled until 1:40am so I had some time to rest and take some Vitamin I.
Michelle before her night run
Once we got finished with the 6th Leg, our van went ahead to exchange 12 and waited for Van 2 to finish their legs. During this down time we ate and tried to get some rest. The rest turned out to be minimal but it didn’t really matter because we were all excited for the night run. The temperature outside was cold but once you got running it was perfect. The sky was clear and we were running along the banks of the Mississippi River which offered us some spectacular views. My leg consisted of a big uphill followed by a long downhill and another climb. To be honest, I was kind of scared being out alone running with nothing but a headlight. The van dropped me off at the exchange and then took a different route to leap frog ahead. By this point, no other runners were around. It was just me and the back county road. I did finally catch up to another runner and then spotted our van waited for me at the top of the hill. Overall, the overnight leg was enjoyable, except the downhill wreaked havoc on my IT band.
Our van finished the second legs around 2:40am and went ahead to get some sleep before the morning run. Unlike the last break, we all got around 2 hours of some much needed rest. By the time van 1 was finishing up we were ready to run the last leg. I took some more Ibuprofen for the knee and started out around 9:00am. I could tell right away my legs were sore and didn’t have much energy. This was by far my slowest leg but also the longest. Once I finished, the only thing on my mind was eating. For the last 24 hours I was trying to stick with exercise friendly food. Now it was time for the greasy, post race goodness. I was glad to be in van 1. We could changed clothes and relax at the finish line, while van 2 ran the remainder of the race. Our team of 12 finished in 25 Hours 41 Minutes and 16 Seconds or an 8:00/ mile pace. Not bad considering we had a team full of newbies to the relay screen.
Overall, I loved the event and would do another relay again. It was great getting to know others runners, who were mostly from the local running club. I guess the best way to put it is, relays are a good social twist to a traditionally individual sport.
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