Last weekend I embarked on a very crazy adventure known as the Ragnar Relay! It consisted of a 200-mile relay race on a team of 12 people. I had the easiest part (13 miles), but it was still definitely a stretch for me!
Last Friday morning, after a very sleepless night, I got up at 4:30 AM to go meet my team to start the race. I was the first runner on my team, which was exciting!
My first leg was 4.8 miles. It began at Rocky Gap State Park in MD.
The terrain was a little tricky for me to navigate, as I'm not used to having to run in wooded trails, dodging tree roots and big rocks. That part of the course wrapped around a lake, and it was absolutely gorgeous. I was also happy because it was at 9 AM... before the heat of the day set in. When the course started, we ALL unfortunately got off track right away, and veered off unto some VERY steep hills. The temporary detour nearly put me into a panic, because I hadn't been anticipating the course to be that hilly! I ran most of that course with Shannon Merrell, who was running with me on a competing team.
After I completed my first run, all 11 of my other team members had to run their parts-- so it wasn't until 8PM that I ran again. My second leg was 4.9 miles on the side of a highway. I was wearing a reflective vest and a headlamp, and was dodging roadkill left and right! I had a gorgeous view of the moon the whole time. My favorite moment of the WHOLE race came during that leg when I finally saw the "1 mile left" sign. I literally threw my arms up in the air in the victory sign. It was a relief to know that the end was in sight!
I finished my run at 9PM, and once again had to wait for my other teammates to run their legs. I ran again at 5:20 AM, after a few hours of "sleep" underneath train tracks. Trains thundering over your head and sleeping in between two strange men is not conducive to getting a good's night rest. Therefore, when it was time for me to run my last leg I was COMPLETELY drained. It was only 3.3 miles, but every step of it was sheer torture. I had to stop and walk three or four times because I was so exhausted. And running on the sides of those deserted country roads was creepy! Definitely my least favorite leg.
When 6AM finally rolled around, I was done... but I had to wait for the rest of my team to finish. We all met up at the finish line at National Harbor where we all got medals.
It was a VERY exhausting, but fun experience! I'm glad that I did it!
You go girl!!!
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