Ragnar Wasatch Back ~ Awesome, Exhausting, FUN!

The Basics

Ragnar is the name for a series of long-distance relay races that are all over the country.  The Wasatch Back was the first one, started ten years ago, and modeled after a similar relay series called Hood to Coast in Oregon.  Teams are comprised of 12 runners who each run 3 legs of the course.  Each team is divided into two vans of six runners each.   Van 1 starts and each of the six runners takes a turn while the van follows the same course, leapfrogging ahead and stopping to cheer their runner on and offering water, fluids and other support along the way.  At exchange points, the runners pass a slap bracelet on to the next runner.   Each runner has three assigned legs, ranging in length from 2 to 12 miles.  After all of van 1's runners have finished, they pass off the slap bracelet to the first runner in van 2.  The first van then has a break while van 2's runners take their turns.

When a team is put together, they each put in their 10K race pace.  Each team is then assigned a start time based on their speed so runners are starting anywhere from 5 in the morning until 2 o'clock in the afternoon.  In this way, they ensure that the course can be set up and stay open for only certain periods of time.  Our team started at 5 in the morning on Thursday and was slated to finish at around 5 p.m. on Friday night.

Most people have this kind of reaction when they hear about it:

My Experience

Going into the race, I knew only two people on my team -- my running partner Ellyn, who moved to Washington a few months ago but drove back for the race with her sister Meagan, and Ellyn's friend Natalie, who I'd run with a couple of times when she'd come down to visit Ellyn. 

Natalie, Ellyn, Meagan and I were joined in our van by Kelly Patterson, a quiet, strong runner who works in medical billing in Caldwell, and Megan Cousin, a very sweet 23-year-old recent BYU graduate in Humanities who is hoping to get an internship at the Smithsonian for the summer and then go on to graduate school.  We really had a wonderful van.  We got along, I kept us on track of where we needed to be and helped us find our way when we would get lost (guess I take to the organizing role naturally), and there was absolutely no friction or crankiness at all.   Meagan, Ellyn's sister and our strongest runner (she's very amazing!), has run a ton of marathons, halfs, and lots of these relays but she said our van was the funnest team she'd ever been on.  It was my funnest team ever, too. 

I met three of the girls from van 2 -- Melanie, Jenny and Crystal -- in Park City on Wednesday afternoon, where Natalie and I separately drove to leave our cars at the finish.  The parking lot we'd been told would be good to leave our cars at was empty and blocked off, so we found a junior high a half mile from the finish line and left our cars there.  The five of us then drove to Logan, where Melanie, Jenny and Crystal checked into their hotel before we drove to Angie's, a local restaurant, to meet the rest of the team around 6:00.  Two of our team members, Megan and Rachel weren't able to meet us there but the rest of the team enjoyed visiting and swapping running stories.  The food was okay, but not fabulous.

Most of the team Wednesday evening

After dinner, we headed over to the Walmart parking lot to buy supplies and decorate our two vans.  I didn't see that it was such a big deal to decorate it, but it ended up being more fun than I expected and it's definitely part of the Ragnar experience.  (Tip for van decorators:  Window paints?  Not good.  Window crayons?  Awesome.  Stuff that you stick to your van with magnets or tape?  Usually falls off.).  Almost all vans are decorated with their team name, the name of the six runners on their van, and a place to count all the "kills" they make.  A kill is how many people you pass on each leg.  Since our team's name was "Crazy Train" I drew a train trying to incorporate as many crazy elements of trains I could -- a runaway prison car, a couple of circus ones, whatever.  It was a decently decorated van by the time we were done, and we made van 2 look similar.  Later, as we were running, it was great fun to see how clever and elaborate some teams had been with their names and decorations.  I took pictures of some of my favorites.

 Van 2:

 Van 1:

Other cool vans we met along the way:

  

 

 

After the decorating, Natalie, Ellyn, Meagan, and I managed to stuff all our things tiny two-door car and headed to a friend of a friend's of Natalie's empty house where they graciously let us stay the night, or what was left of it.  Meagan and Ellyn were exhausted after driving all the way from Washington, leaving at 5 a.m. that morning, but still, we didn't get much of sleep as we had to get up at 3:30 and get to the start line at 4.

Starting Legs

It was surprisingly cold with a bitter wind that morning.  We were grateful that temperatures wouldn't get too bad later in the day, but hadn't really prepared for how darn cold we'd be as we hung out at the start and waited in line for our van's safety briefing, where they told us about using flags when we cross the road (and reminded us that they aren't magic flags that stop traffic, so be careful!), running against traffic, etc.  We picked up our shirts and our goodie bags and headed to the start line to see Runner #1, Kelly, off.  She left a little bit late, with the 5:15 group, and then we headed back to the van to meet her when the runners rejoined the road in a few miles.  They spent the first couple of (cold) miles on the Bonneville Shoreline trail there before heading back to follow some roads south through small towns south of Logan.  We had fun cheering Kelly on and then it was time for Natalie to run, then Megan, and Ellyn.  These legs were through the beautiful rolling farmlands as we headed towards the famous "Avon pass" road. 

freezing cold at the start:

 Kelly ready to go:

  

 That's Natalie running just below the balloon:

 Another view of our beloved van:

 One run down, 17 to go:

 Natalie finished:

 My favorite thing about running is the views I enjoy while doing it.  This race was stunning! 

 Ellyn providing support for Megan:

 Megan running:

 More beautiful views:

 Me enjoying the day (but still in a jacket because hey, it was still a bit nippy!):

 Megan:

 Ellyn getting ready to head out:

 

 Once we hit Avon, we knew the famous "Avon pass" would not be far away:

 I loved how crowded with vans the entire course was -- something like 1500 teams were participating over the course of three days (Thursday to Friday teams and Friday to Saturday).  Many of the roads we were on were pretty remote and I bet they see more traffic in those three days than in the rest of the year.

 And here comes Ellyn:

 with Natalie providing support

 These kids had an otter pop stand so we bought one for Ellyn. 

 Love the farm implement and old wagon decorations:

Runner 5, Meagan, got the joy of running the first part of the Avon Pass, climbing 1400 feet in 7.4 miles on a dusty, rocky dirt road -- and passing pretty much everyone along the route!  The rest of us got between 3 and 12 kills on each of our legs.  Meagan got between 40 and 60 on her longer runs!

 so dusty:

 

 Meagan's a 35-year-old mom of five and very likeable.  I don't think I'll ever be as fast as her, but she definitely inspired me!

 Beloved van, now covered in dust only partway up the hill

We stopped near the top of the rise for the exchange.  It was lovely there, with the hills covered in yellow wildflowers.

 

 Here I am ready to go

 More vans:

 Waiting with other runners for the exchange:

 Meagan coming in fast!

As runner 6, I got to exchange with Meagan.  She passed off the by-then-pretty-sweaty slap bracelet and I was off.  I climbed 260 feet in the first mile and a half, then dropped down steeply -- 1200 feet lost in the next 3 miles.  If the road hadn't been full (and I mean full -- it was challenging!) of ankle-turning rocks, I would have simply watched the view in awe because it was stunningly gorgeous the entire way down.  It was also dusty and each van that passed by kicked up more of it in my face.  The last quarter mile was particularly dusty and I tried to cover my mouth and breathe through my nose for that part.  I felt strong and fast and ready for the downhill -- I'd trained pretty well for both my uphill and downhill runs, heading up and down Provo Canyon, including the Sundance turn-off road, as well as running up and around the Provo Temple several times.  I loved this leg.  I was excited to be running and feeling great.

Unfortunately, my old nemesis, my right knee and calf, gave me problems a couple miles from the finish.  It was mostly just an aching pain I could run through, and I hoped it wouldn't get worse.  The pain got mildly intense the last half mile, but it didn't slow me down.  I finished the 6.9 mile loop in 1:14, about a 10:50 average pace.  Pretty good for my running level and the difficulty of the course.  I stretched out my calf and leg and IT band pretty well and the pain dissipated quickly.  I hoped it would be fine for the next leg I had, a difficult 8 mile climb, but I didn't worry much about it then.  I put it out of my mind and focused on enjoying our first break. 

I was so covered in dust that when I washed my face later, the paper towels looked like I had just wiped foundation off.  Even my socks got dusty under my shoes:

First Break
It was around noon when we made the exchange to van 2.  We grabbed a few of the free goodies available at that exchange point, including Great Harvest bread (yum!), and then drove directly to the next exchange, at Snowbasin Ski resort, where we tried to recover, partly from the run, but mostly from the lack of sleep from the night before.  There was a grill inside the ski resort that had overpriced food ($14 for a burger and $1.50 for a bag of chips?  I don't think so!) so we skipped that.  I did enjoy the real bathrooms they had inside though (there were plenty of lovely Honeybuckets outside as well).  It was in going down the stairs at Snowbasin that I began to realize my knee might not hold up through my next leg.  It felt fine until I started going down stairs, when it throbbed with every step down.  We ate some of the food we had in the van and then laid out our sleeping rolls and tried to sleep on the grass near the parking lot.  It was challenging, with some vans rolling in blaring loud music and lots of conversations and things going on, but I think I slept a half hour or so.

Meagan, Ellyn and Natalie:

 All of Van 1:  Kelly, Meagan, Me, Meagan, Ellyn, and Natalie.

Middle Legs
Exchange 13 was a bit confusing, as there were two legs that started at the same place.  One was a 2 mile trail loop that van 2 had just completed and the other led to a short-cut to the main road.  We saw Kelly off and then gathered up our stuff and took some time getting back to the route to support her.  As we got on the highway, we kept an eye out for her.  It had been about 30 minutes since she'd started, so we figured we'd see her around mile 3.  She wasn't there.  We kept going.  At first, we thought, "wow, she's really fast on this downhill!" but as we kept going, we started to worry.  She wasn't at mile 4 or mile 5, and we knew that fast as she was, she couldn't have gotten further than that, so we turned around and went back, hoping that nothing had happened to her.  I said I hoped she hadn't gotten confused and run the last lap instead of this one but others reassured me that they'd probably clearly marked the course.  We then thought that maybe she'd been injured or someone near her had gotten hurt and she was helping?  Finally, we found Kelly just a little ways into the course.  She'd run the entire 2 mile trail loop before hitting the exchange again and realizing the mistake.  What was supposed to be 8.2 miles turned into 10.2 for her, and we tried to support her as much as we could, cheering her on.  I'd bought a sprayer at the garden shop before I left town (like the kind you put Round-up in) and filled full of water, it was welcome relief from the 5:00 afternoon heat.  We'd drive a few miles ahead, cross the road and spray all the runners coming down, then meet Kelly to provide anything she wanted (water and gatorade typically for our runners), then drive ahead a mile or so to repeat the process.

 Natalie, Me, Ellyn, and Meagan being supportive.  ;)

Kelly made the best of her extra-long run, and we joked that now we could say we were the only team who ran 200 miles instead of the 198 everyone else did.

The next exchange was at a gas station, so I ran in and bought a tub of ice cream and plastic spoons for our team.  It was a nice treat, though no one pigged out on it and we had lots left over.  Megan and Natalie had good runs and then while Ellyn was running, it was starting to get dark and I started to worry about my 8.2 mile leg that rolled upward 1000 feet.  On impulse, I asked Meagan if she wanted to switch legs with me, since I was worried about my knee.  She said sure, but I batted the idea around in my head for a bit, worrying that I'd hate myself for being wimpy, but also thinking that if my knee gave me problems, I would struggle all the way up that hill.  The fact that it was getting dark and I knew I'd be running that leg in the dark made me decide to switch. 

So I ran a 4.2 mile leg instead.  There was a few hills, but nothing too difficult.  My knee started hurting the minute I started running, though, so I was glad I'd made the decision to switch (and grateful Meagan is in such amazing shape she can take two very hard legs in a row on!).  I was able to run through the nagging pain and enjoyed the cool evening air while I ran.  The leg was through country roads in a small farming town and it was pretty.  I finished up in about 45 minutes, about 10:50 average pace again. 

Then for the next 8 miles, as I saw the steep rolling hills Meagan had to climb, particularly towards the end of her run, I felt a bit guilty, a lot grateful, and somewhat regretful.  I'd prepared for some uphill and I really wanted to test myself.  In choosing the easier leg, I had given up the "I conquered it!" feeling I'd been hoping for, but I also preserved my strength and running ability by not putting myself in the way of more serious injury.

Night Break
We hit the next major exchange point around 11:00 at night and we were all bone-tired by then.  It didn't help that the exchange was at a campground with a horrendous parking situation or that we had to drive what seemed like forever with pretty poor directions to the rodeo grounds in Oakley, Idaho.  Our van was quiet as we all felt the fatigue of being up since 3:30 in the morning and running twice.  As the miles passed and our destination seemed way too far away, I started to think to myself that I never wanted to ever be that tired again in my life.  I was never going to run another Ragnar, I thought.

The events of that night only confirmed that opinion.  We got to the rodeo grounds past midnight and I was so tired I grabbed my things, pulled on my jacket, set up on the lawn, pulled the sleeping bag over my head, and went to sleep.  I didn't stop to change or go to the bathroom or even find a way to brush my teeth.  I was out for a few hours until I woke up freezing cold all over my body.  I don't think I've been that cold in the last twenty years.  There was frost on the lawn near us and I checked my phone:  3 a.m.  I went to the van, where Kelly and Megan had slept and tried to warm up there, but it wasn't much warmer.  I spent an hour shivering there before heading over to where there was a pancake breakfast provided.  For $5, I got a few pancakes, a sausage, and some eggs.  I enjoyed some free hot chocolate by a fire there as I tried to get over the cold.

There was a physical therapy place there were I decided to get help for my knee, which was giving me pain every time I tested it in a short run.  The funny thing was, these PTs, who'd been seeing runners all night long and surely had seen tons of running injuries, were baffled about my calf and knee and what could be causing the problem.  Seems like whatever I've got is not a common running injury.  They let me use their stuff to stretch out my calf and roll out my injuries and I hoped it would be enough.  I knew I could handle my 2.1 mile leg, but I was hoping to switch for a harder leg.  Poor Megan's feet were covered in blisters and if my knee would let me, I would have loved to have taken her 7 miler that morning.  I did feel better after the stretching and foam rolling but not confident enough for 7 miles!  Megan did great, though, and we were all so proud of her as she tackled several tough, tough, hills on her poor, blistered feet.  I ran with her for a bit a couple of times and I enjoyed that.


Final Legs
We made the exchange with van 2 around 5 or 6 a.m. and Kelly, who'd taken the coldest leg and the longest leg of the day before, once again started us out strong in the cold.  It warmed up fairly well through the other legs.  Ellyn did awesome on her long downhill 6-miler.  Meagan joined her as a pacer and just to cheer her on as a sister.  By now, it was getting pretty hot, so once we were allowed leg support (some parts of the course are too narrow to allow the vans to stop), we enjoyed pulling out our sprayer and giving the runners some relief as they went by.

Pretty view of the Jordonelle Reservoir

Meagan and Ellyn getting ready to run Ellyn's leg:

 Megan after her final run.  This girl was awesome -- you'd never know her feet were a mess of blisters the way she smiled through all her runs!

Meagan flew through her 3 mile leg and then I finished up with my last leg, an easy 2 miler through the streets of Heber.  Partway in, I heard someone running up behind me.  I moved over to let the gal pass, but she stayed right with me for a bit.  I slowed down and suggested that we run together.  We did and enjoyed a fun visit.  Rachel is a 17-year-old who loves to run, but not competitively.  It was fun to talk to her and the miles passed pretty quickly.

And me, just before my last leg:

Finishing Up
It was awesome to be done and I was grateful not to be in van 2, which had run through the heat of the day on Thursday, through most of the night and then had to run in the heat again and tackle the famous "Ragnar" mountain at the end -- so steep that even experienced runners end up hiking it rather than running it.  It's broken down into two legs of about 4 miles each.  Both climb about 1600 feet in that distance.  We noticed that on our pace calculators (that estimated how long each leg would take our runners), it figured 80 minutes for those four miles.  After the steep climb, another runner drops 2400 feet in 8 miles into Park City, and the final runner does a lap around the "P" mountain there before finishing on the track at Park City High School.

Since it was around 11, our van started to look for something good to eat.  We were considering a restaruant in Heber, but found it was closed.  A quick internet search told us there was a Cafe Rio in Park City, so we headed there for lunch.  It was delicious, and I was so famished I ate more than I should have and felt a bit sick by then.  The Cafe Rio was near the Splash Pad, so we thought about using that to take a bit of a shower, since none of us had bathed since early Thursday morning.  But despite the hot sun, there was a cold and steady wind that nixed that plan.  We drove instead to the junior high where Natalie and I had left our cars.  This was now a parking lot for Van 2's last exchange, but the attendants let us in and we parked near our van and walked over to the high school to hang out and try to rest.  They had showers inside the school for $5, and I thought I'd do that, but after taking a wrong turn and getting lost, I figured I'd just forget it.  I found a bathroom and cleaned up and changed into clean clothes and that felt good enough.  The finish line was pretty noisy, with a live band on one end and piped music on the other, teams finishing up every so often, and a few free things being handed out (energy drinks with tons of caffeine and tea drinks (um, no), but also fat boy ice cream and Little Ceasar's Pizza (two free pizzas for every team after they finished).  Megan visited the first aid station to get her blisters bandaged.

After trying unsuccessfully to sleep at the finish line, I headed over to the van and took a short nap in the shade of the middle school.  It was quiet there and I needed the sleep.

When I got back, I had time to visit the first aid tent for two small blisters.  There were three people in there getting IVs at the time and I felt decidedly healthy in comparison.  I also went to the physical therapy tent to see what they would say about my knee problem.  Meagan told me she'd been around tons of runners for years and had never heard of my problem and the physical therapist here at first seemed as baffled as the one at the rodeo grounds that morning.  Finally, he told me the pain was more likely to be from perhaps some arthritis in my knee or some cartilage damage.

We met up with the girls from van 2 and hung out at the end waiting for our last runner to come in so we could finish together.  We finally found her and finished around 5:15.

 

We got our medals, posed for pictures together as a team, got our pizzas, and then four of us -- Meagan, Ellyn, Natalie and I -- headed over to clean out Van 1.  Kelly and Megan joined us after a bit.  It didn't take too long.  We had a lot of fun piling all the trash onto the ground and then placing Megan's blister-inducing shoes (which she'd had since high school) on the top for a picture.

Van 2 drove over to drop off Ashley, our team captain, who owned van 1.  We said our goodbyes and then headed home.  I was exhausted and slept as much as possible the next few days.  But it really was a ton of fun and I'd love to do it again, cold, freezing nights, no showers, sleep-deprivation and all.  Maybe in a few years.