Ragnar Relay 2012 Wrap-Up

First off, for those who aren’t familiar with a Ragnar Relay race, I found this video that does a pretty good job explaining it. Let me just add that with the teams I have been on, we have never rented a van due to the expense, but it sure would have be nice to have the extra leg room. Oh, and you also get a medal at the Finish Line.

And yeah, it is fun.

So I received a telephone call from my friend/neighbor about two weeks before the race. She asked if I was interested to join the Coke Swire corporate team as they had a few runners who dropped out. When I found out that Coke was covering all the expenses except food, it was a no-brainer. This was the third year in a row that I have run the Wasatch Back Ragnar Relay, and the one word that would best describe the race this year was: HOT!!! Usually, the lack of sleep is the biggest challenge, but this year it was also extremely warm and difficult to stay hydrated. Overall, eight of our twelve runners were rookies, so we really didn’t expect to break any records (we finished in just over 33 hours). In the end, the runners in our van were great and extremely supportive, especially in the heat, and believe me, I sure did appreciate the encouragement.

In years past, my first run had been split into two separate runs, but due to some damage to the Old Snowbasin Road from last year’s wet spring, the road was not drivable and they had to combine the two legs into one. Overall, the climb from Pineview Reservoir up to Snowbasin Ski Resort travelled 7.3 miles with a total elevation climb of 1830 feet (see the embedded maps for all 3 runs at the bottom of the post). At the start of my run, it was just after 6:00 PM and still 78 degrees outside. I dipped a bandana in the ice water in the cooler and wrapped it around my head, which helped a lot. I was hoping to finish under 75 minutes, but I just missed at 78 minutes. The frustrating part is that I only had 6 “road kills” while I was passed by 13 other racers. Holy cow there were some amazing runners.

My second leg was a nice, fairly flat run for 5.5 miles around Rockport Reservoir. I started about 6:15 AM and the sun was just coming up over the mountains to the east of the water. It was beautiful! But it was also very cold (only 42 degrees) and I actually ran in a sweatshirt. The elevation climb was about 430 feet, mostly up to the top of the Rockport dam. I finished in 52 minutes, so nothing to brag about, with 11 road kills and 6 runners who passed me.

My third leg was another killer. The first mile was uphill to the top of Guardman’s Pass, and then downhill for about another 6 miles to the Deer Valley Ski Resort parking lot. I started around 5:00 in the afternoon, and it was about 83 degrees. I again used the ice water bandana trick. One other challenge was the altitude and thin air at the top of the run (almost 9000 feet above sea level). Also to make matters worse, about 2 miles into the run, the insole of my left shoe slid forward and crowded my toes as I was running downhill — ended up with a small blister on my toe. I actually felt pretty good during the run, but the next day my anterior tibialis muscles were shredded from all the eccentric contractions coming down the hill. At any rate, I finished the 7.2 miles in 63 minutes. I had 9 road kills, but broke even with 9 other runners who passed me.

This year was probably the toughest Ragnar yet for me personally. Would I do another one? Of course! I can’t wait for the next one. It is always a challenge. Slightly different from a marathon or half-marathon, especially with the elevation changes, but it brings a certain satisfaction knowing you have overcome the struggles and difficulties the race presents.  And don’t forget, …it is fun.

© Copyright 2012 Jeff, All rights Reserved. Written For: Jeffrey Olsen