In less than 2 weeks, I’ll be spending my Friday and Saturday sharing a van with 5 friends for approximately 30 hours while running from Wickenburg to Tempe, Arizona. Sounds like fun, doesn’t it?! Ragnar is a running relay that is usually around 200 miles. Most teams have 12 people; each person runs a pre-determined distance, between 2 and 13 miles, three times. There are two vans of 6 people each. While van 1 is running, the others in van 2 are resting. The runners “leap frog” each other the entire race. It may sound crazy, but I promise it’s the most fun you’ll ever have running! The total mileage per person ranges from 11 to 23 miles so there’s something for the friend that is just getting started as a runner to those crazies that can’t go a day without it.
Running is such an individual sport, but Ragnar events bring a team camaraderie. If that doesn’t hook you, the night run will. The race has thinned out by that point so you may or may not see anyone else on your night run. Your senses are heightened and the rush of adrenaline is unlike anything I had ever previously experienced. I’ve done my fair share of running over the past 10 years and my middle of the night runs are some of the best and most thrilling I’ve done!
This will be my 8th Ragnar event, but first as an “ultra” team so instead of the usual 12 runners, we’ll be running as a team of 6. I have a total of 26 miles, which is the least mileage of any of us. I figured if there was ever a time for me to run as part of an ultra team, this was the right opportunity having trained and run a marathon a few weeks ago. And I lobbied for the least amount of mileage since I’m still recovering from the marathon! I’ve loved all eight Ragnar Relays I’ve done and I’m excited to see how running as part of an ultra team compares!