Ragnar?? I thought you said Ray's Bar.....

3:20 a.m. race day and my cellphone starts beeping... "We're down a runner, Tara's son is sick." My first thought.... FUCK! *sigh* Fast forward, 6:15 a.m. our first 6 runners are at the levee and ready to go! We have our flags, our gear and are waiting for our "safety" meeting, 7 a.m. Tara Jo takes off! Now this is when it starts to get interesting (well, ok, that started at 3 a.m. when we were down a runner). The other 5 of us head to the van, get organized, make a quick pit stop and head to our first exchange. My heart is pounding my stomach is in knots and I seriously want to puke. 8:30 a.m. i'm waiting in the chute for Tara Jo, 8:35 a.m. I take off on my first leg, 6.2 miles. BRUTAL is the only way I can explain it. I have not had a run go that poorly since my very first run where I barely made it 7/10 of a mile! It was hot and the sun was beating down on me and all the blood I needed to fuel my body was working on digesting the bagel I ate far to close to my run. blah. Continue this leapfrog patter for our next several runners. This is Ragnar.... Run, Eat, Sleep?, REPEAT! Our van ran the first 6 legs then handed off to van 2 of our team to run the 2nd 6. Around 6pm we then started our 2nd 6 legs. My 2nd run went MUCH better, to put it mildly I dominated it! 8.3 miles in the dark with a 2 mile gilmore valley-esque hill with a 3 mile long decent done in an hour and 32 minutes. Overall I'd say Ragnar was a success and I do plan on doing it again next year! All the craziness of running, eating quick snacks with no real meals, not sleeping and being packed like sardines in a van with five other people is so worth it! Imagine doing something you love (ok, if you're a runner, something you love) with thousands of other runners cheering you on,spending 2 days with some of your closest friends, laughing and talking and you have Ragnar! And the title for this post.... one of the many very creative team names. :)