Question: What is a Ragnar Relay?
Answer: It’s a team of twelve runners that are cooped up in two vans for approximately two days getting stinkier by the hour…
Question: What will you do for two days?
Answer: Run, eat, drive, wait; run, eat, drive, wait; run, eat, drive, wait (notice the lack of sleep)
Question: How do you go about picking member for your team?
Answer: You very carefully select runners based on their 10K pace sucker or bully your friends into running on your team.
Question: Why do you want to run Ragnar?
Answer: Why would I NOT want to run Ragnar?
Question: What do you think will be your favorite part about Ragnar?
Answer: Sleeping in my own bed after the race is over.
After years of being invited by my friend Chuck to join his Ragnar Relay team, and turning him down because I didn’t want to miss our Virginia Tech football game that same weekend, I took the plunge this year and set up a team! So far we have seven Cruisers (four Hokies) on our team, with the newest Cruisers being Meagan and her husband Barry! We will actually be missing a home game, but you can bet that we’ll be checking our phones for game updates!
It seems daunting putting the team together and remembering all that I’m reading in the Ragnar Bible, but this is what I live for… planning running events! It seems like the biggest chores will be:
- finding three volunteers
- organizing the whole food thing
- renting the vans or deciding to use our SUV’s – I have the Cruisermobile (a full sized SUV) that has driven many a runner to many a race, but Chuck warns that by the end of the relay it will smell quite funky, and I may never want to drive it again…
- purchasing required safety equipment
- coming up with costumes, or at least designing team shirts (Note to my teammates: I am not a costume kind of gal, so don’t panic)
- Questions:
- What overnight excursions have you participated in?
- Have you participated in a Ragnar Relay as either a runner or volunteer?
- Who’s racing this weekend?
Each time I have done one of these, we made food an individual responsibility. Of course, we all brought plenty of food to share, but it reduced the stress of the captains a lot. I had some old yogurt containers (that I could throw away once done)filled with rice + tofu + broccoli for after my first two runs., plus plenty of snacks to share. It made it that much easier because we are all running and fueling/refueling at separate times to be in charge of your own food.
So glad Meagan and Barry are joining you!
I am racing this weekend: Platte River Half Marathon from Littleton to downtown Denver.
Amy recently posted…3 Excellent Things in 4 Hours
You make an excellent point about the food, and I am leaning in that direction. Meagan and I are working on Logan in hopes that she will join us, too!
Good luck at your half, and have fun!
Sounds awesome! You’ll do a great job of planning everything! When is it?
I’ve never done a relay other than in track and field!
Abby recently posted…Eat Sleep Ride: a book review
It’s September 12-13. I’m so excited!
Ragnar sounds totally awesome and we will be doing one eventually. Here in AZ we have Ragnar where all the runs are loops so there is a base camp. No need for a van. This is my ideal lol.
the running schlub recently posted…A Little R&R
I love the loop idea, but it will be cool to say that we ran 199 miles from Cumberland, MD to Washington,DC.
Our MRTT group just signed up for the DC Ragnar too! So excited/nervous!!
Deborah recently posted…What happens in Vegas…A weekend at Canyon Ranch @ The Venetian Las Vegas
I think our MRTT group has a Ragnar team, or maybe some of our runners are joining another local team. The Cruisers are the group I’ve been coaching/running with for years. We can start the smack talk when the race gets closer! LOL
Whoo hoo! So excited for you! I’ll actually be running Ragnar Chicago in June! I was selected to be on the official Swirlgear team! I’m so excited for this! A little scared too, not sure how I feel about running in the dark ;/
Sue @ This Mama Runs for Cupcakes recently posted…Foodie Friday–Lasagna cupcakes
Awesome! That means I can pick your brain after your Ragnar Relay so I’ll know what to expect. How cool that you’re on the Swirlgear team. Congrats for being selected!
Hey wait a minute… nothing was said about missing a home game during the soliciting process! 🙂 Just kidding. I’m really excited about the relay! I’ve always wanted to try one.
I need more info on volunteers, because I’m pretty clueless on that part. When I told my dad about the relay the first thing he said to me was “I don’t know about you anymore.” But the second thing he said was “okay how can I volunteer. Where can I help out?” So it looks like we can count on him for something! But I don’t want to force him into anything.
I am most scared of running in the dark by myself and getting lost!
Meagan recently posted…Weekly Workout Roundup – Mar. 31 – Apr. 6
Thank you, Roger! You guys can read more about the volunteers on page 10 of the Ragnar Bible. It looks like volunteer registration doesn’t begin until July 28, though.
I’m a little nervous about getting lost on my overnight leg, too; but think about the bragging rights after it’s behind us! 🙂
[…] back in early April when I registered our team for Ragnar DC, I picked Runner 8 because it seemed like the hardest position overall. Runner 8 […]
[…] you remember back in early April, I announced that I was putting together a DC Ragnar Relay team. Last week, after several social media […]