Okay, this is a super long race report for a super long relay race. So just go ahead and look at the pictures if you have no interest in details. The Wasatch Back Ragnar Relay is a 180 mile relay. Each team has 12 runners. Our team was lucky enough to have three support people/drivers as well. Each runner has three legs and between 13-19 miles total. The race starts in Logan and follows the back of the Wasatch mountains to Heber, then ends in Park City. It is a breathtaking course!
Here is our team: the M.O.F.I.A. Mommas
I’ve been looking forward to this race since October. I was excited for the challenge of the crazy leg up Guardsman’s Pass, excited to spend a whole weekend with my friends, and excited to celebrate after the race. The last thing that I was really looking forward to is watching our newer runners succeed, and to do it.
There were a few things that I was unsure of with this race. First, I wasn’t sure about all the logistics of it. Kind of like my triathlon—I didn’t really get how it was all going to work until I actually did it. Second, I was worried that I’d be alone running in the woods somewhere in the middle of the night. That freaked me out—I have visions scary people or bears hiding in the woods just waiting for a solitary runner. Third, I don’t like people to watch me run. Somehow the idea of having a van follow me made me nervous. Performance anxiety maybe? I don’t know.
It was so fun to see all the girls the first night at the hotel and before the race. We have such a fun group of women! Our team was called the M.O.F.I.A. Mommas (I could tell you what MOFIA stands for, but then I'd have to kill you, he he.). Our tagline was “If You had 57 Kids, You’d Run Too!” Hard to believe that with all 15 (12 runners and 3 drivers) of us we have that many kids. The other team names were pretty funny at first. Then by the end of the weekend, I got annoyed with all the little clever potty humor puns. Me, the queen of the diarrhea song was sick of potty humor. I must have been really tired.
The night before the race we went to dinner in Logan, then checked out the start line and went to our rooms to open our gifts from some of our other friends—that was so sweet! Thanks girls!
Runner # 10 (that's me, I was runner 10)
It was a little hard to hang around and wait to start running. I am not used to that! I was starving it seemed and ate all kinds of random things before my race. I wanted to be fueled, and was just basically really hungry by lunchtime.
Leg #10
The first leg was really hot. I felt great that first mile or so. I have a hard time not starting out too fast—the adrenaline just gets me every time. But then I felt myself slowing down. We started climbing a hill, and that last part—though it wasn’t a big hill was difficult. I was hot, my feet felt like they were burning from the hot blacktop, and overall, I just wasn’t that impressed with my time. I think I averaged 9:20/mile. It was fine though, not race pace for a short distance, but okay. I was almost throwing up at the end. My lungs were burning and I was gagging.
We went to the next major exchange. It was one of my favorite parts of the race. We all got out our sleeping bags, laid them right down on the weeds and talked for awhile. It was still pretty early so it was hard to sleep. It was really fun to be there in the midst of all the excitement and energy.
Leg # 22
My second leg was at 1 or 2 am. It was so nice and cool! Before my turn to run, I got an awesome glimpse of the moon on some lake. Don't know what it was, but it was beautiful. I loved that leg. I love running in the dark, and with all the vans and runners out, there was nothing to worry about. I didn’t want to start out too fast or to use up my energy on this leg knowing that my last leg was going to be hard. So I put my country music on—my cheesy country love songs that I enjoy running to, and just enjoyed the run. It was so great to be able to run in the dark and not be alone. I absolutely loved it. I’ve always loved being out at night, but for safety reasons, I don’t run at all in the dark or on solitary roads. I loved not being able to see too far ahead, or too far behind. It makes focusing on the feeling and the experience easier. The last half, I felt like I could step it up and work harder, so I switched music and tried to go a little faster. I felt great. I wasn’t dying at the end.
After each runner in Van 2 completed our first two legs (all of us did fab--it was so nice for each of us to have a good run), we headed to the cabin for a couple of hours of sleep. It was heavenly. I was exhausted! We all felt sick when we got up and headed to the next exchange. I think no sleep and snacky food was taking its toll on our bodies.
Leg #34
The Ragnar leg was crazy. As I watched Jenn O. fight her way up the first half of that stretch of Guardsmans Pass, I realized that running wasn’t all that much faster than walking for most of the runners. I’d done a course that I thought was similar several times. It was the same average grade in the same distance. However, it wasn’t hot, and it wasn’t on gravel, it wasn’t 8500 ft elevation and it wasn’t after not sleeping more than a couple hours in the last day. Those things seemed to make a difference. I also felt like though the average grade was 7.9%, there were lots of really steep parts, then it would flatten out for a bit. After a few minutes of running, my calf muscles just burned like crazy and I knew that I couldn’t maintain it. So I did a walk/run routine. At first my Garmin didn’t work, and when I finally got it to start, I had to laugh when I’d glance down and see that my pace was 24 minute miles. Crazy. I averaged 11:30 on my last training run. But I just knew that there was no way I was going to finish that hill with even close to that pace. I don’t know what my time was overall—but it was between 18 and 20 minute miles I am guessing. So I just told myself I was on a hard hike and tried to enjoy the scenery. It was beautiful! We’d finally gotten past all the scrubby oak trees and were up in the Aspens with shade and snowy peaks. It really was a beautiful *hike* lol. I didn’t feel hot. My team was so supportive! I had a icy cold headband, and a cold cloth on my back. I look funny in the pictures, but it was sooo functional. It was great. I was tired at the finish, but it felt great. I hopped in the van and realized I was absolutely famished so I ate tons of trail mix and Ritz. Mmmmm.
We finished off the race by all running in together. I loved that part. It was nice to be done! I did feel a bit like the horse that had been teased with a carrot only to not get it after all the work was done. I’d been really looking forward to hanging out with the girls after the race and relaxing. But there were injuries, emergencies at home, and family. And truth be told, we were all so freaking tired, that we were not all that entertaining. The next morning was nice, we all hung out a bit before heading back. I’ve been thinking a lot about whether I would do this race again. I think I am so used to the format of a regular race. Wake up, run, party, bask in the satisfaction of the achievement. This one took so long to get to the party part, that I was too tired to enjoy it once I got there. I wonder if just knowing what to expect would make a difference? It was a great experience for me either way. I loved the race.
Again, running provided a metaphor for life. This one felt like childbirth to me even more than some of the other ones. As we cheered on our fellow runners during their legs, it felt like we were doulas. I have to say that one of my favorite parts of the race was watching all of our newer runners do so well. Our average pace worked out to be about 10:40/mile and our total time was 32 hours. Which isn’t bad considering the terrain. There were huge hills and mountains to climb on most of the legs. We had some huge hurdles, but overall, A LOT of training and hard work went into this, and we finished as a team and that gives me a lot of satisfaction. I loved the other girls that were in our van—I got to see them at their best, their exhausted, and through it all they were so fun to be with. I was pretty amazed! I was sad on Sunday that we were all heading back to our homes in Idaho, Utah, Texas and Arizona. I am thinking a WB race reunion weekend is in order sometime this fall!
