Years ago I thought runners were kind of ridiculous. Why would you run when you could pick up a basketball or Frisbee? Why would you put yourself through the misery and boredom? Confession. I. LIKE. TO. RUN! I enjoy the challenge of pushing my body and mind to do something I originally think is impossible. It is such a satisfying feeling when you complete a race. Last weekend I participated in the Ragnar Relay with 11 other friends. We started in Cumberland, MD and ran along the C&O canal, in to West Virginia, and ended in DC for a grand total of 200 miles. I was a little apprehensive at first, when I heard we'd be running 200 miles. I am still a sane person, and that does not sound fun to me. But when you divide the mileage amongst 11 other people, it isn't too bad. My team started at 1:00p.m. Friday, and ended the race a little after 5:00p.m. on Saturday, which put our time at 29 hours. The official results posted, and were were 21st overall (out of 150 or so teams), and 4th in our division! Our average mile time was around 8:30. Each person ran three separate legs. The craziest part was running by yourself, with a headlamp in the middle of the night. My second leg was at 1:30a.m...with practically NO sleep. My first leg was about 7 miles, and definitely my strongest. We rented a couple of 12 seat passenger vans, slept when we could, and survived off of trail mix, jelly beans, water, and bagels. We did rent a hotel half way through the race, so that we could stop and shower, and attempt to get some rest. I think I got a total of three hours :) Anyway, so glad I participated, and would definitely do it again next year. Here's how I feel about running,
Meet the Unified Yoggers:
Yes, you see that right...at my final exchange, my teammate decided to run his last leg in an American flag speedo. Classy.
My van consisted of: Travis, Colton, Justin, Katie, and Destiny
Here we are at the finish line with our medals!
We ran into our friends from the other teams
11 comments:
You are my hero in every way! Congratulations on this huge accomplishment :)
So impressed! Way to go!
Awesome! Now come out to Oregon to do Hood to Coast!
Way to go girl! We did the Ragnar race with Andrew's family last summer in Utah, but they are wanting to do the D.C. one next year, so if you do it again, you may have some good competition...ok, not really!
You are so awesome! Good for you! And you need to go eat a piece of pie, you are tiny!
girl, i'm like pretty freakin' impressed you did this. ragnar's sound like hell to me (remember how much i value sleep?) but everyone seems to love them. so way to go.
wow, i haven't even seen your medal! my fave pic was the one with the ragnar sign in the background. and you seem to have the key to running mastered--bringing your ipod!
Gosh...I keep thinking if I hang out with people who enjoy running, their "pixie" dust will rub off on me and I will too. Alas, nothing yet. But your post inspired to keep trying.
Yeah, where is your medal?! We need to proudly display it in our house. Congrats on the relay!
I think the reason your third leg wasn't as good as your first one is because you had do run backwards for a mile to keep that image of your fellow teammate sporting 1/16 of the American flag. It had nothing to do with lack of sleep or energy.
No really awesome job. That sounds really fun. I love running too. We should plan a big race together in the future.
you. are. awesome. i always wondered who did this kind of races so i'm really glad you posted something about it! maybe i'll do one someday...
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