Ragnar Del Sol 2015

Another Ragnar in the books! We accomplished 210 miles in 34 hours and change in the wide open desert! This was almost the same team as Vegas Ragnar but Kara had to work so Kat took her place.

We were taking on the challenge of doing it ultra style. 6 women —> double the legs! When I first suggested this relay months and months ago I noticed the 13.5 mile leg. Well if we were doing double legs that meant that person would have to run 13.5 + the next leg (which I think was 6-7 miles). No one wanted to do 20 miles in one leg so I suggested we do a 4 legs instead of 3 or 6 legs. I came up with a plan that we would run 2 long legs and then 2 shorter legs. We all ran between 33-38 miles.

We arrived in Phoenix: Retrieved our van, had dinner, headed to the pre-party at Roadrunner to get checked in and decorate the van.

The start line in Wickenburg, AZ:

Stephanie: Runner 3; Anne: Runner 1; Laura: Runner 2; Kat: Runner 4; Erica: Runner 6; Me: Runner 5

We quickly got running. Anne was off:

When you are runner 5 on an ultra it is a looooonnng wait until you get to run. I of course was super nervous because it was hot or at least much warmer then I would have liked it to have been!

We were doing great. Anne, Laura, Steph, and Kat had battled their first legs like rock stars. Enjoying the cactus and desert!

It was finally time for me to run.

Leg 9: 4:30pm: 13.5 miles: 2:23: Average mile 10:28. Here is the profile:

As you can see it is ALL uphill. Since it was my first leg, I was still fresh. It was more of an incline then an uphill. I think the gain was only 400 ft. But still. It was warm at the beginning. But I was going to stay positive and happy. Just a little half marathon. NBD!!! I also was starving all of a sudden at mile 2. Shit! Only 2 gus on me. Shit! (it ended up being fine)

The miles clicked by pretty fast. There were 4 aid stations because this was a NO support leg. There was a girl in a purple tank top that I thought I could MAYBE catch up too. Sometimes I thought I was getting closer to her and sometimes I thought I was getting further away. I finally caught up to her at the mile 9 aid station. I thought maybe we could talk. She didn’t seem to want to. I literally ran her pace but about 5 feet behind her. At the mile 11 aid station we ran side-by-side for a good mile. In the meantime we passed a guy that was run/walking.

At about mile 12 we caught up to another girl. She said we were looking good. At that point it was almost dark. I lost both the new girl and purple tank girl. I had a mile and a half to keep it together. I passed 4 GUYS walking between mile 12.5 and 13. I was feeling really good but ready to be done!!!

I got a medal. Everyone got a medal who did this leg. It is the longest leg in Ragnar history! FUN!

Erica ran the anchor position and we started all over again. I felt like once I ran once it went FAST. We tried to get Subway but it was already closed. We were all really sad. I think I took 2 naps! It was already time for me to run again.

Legs 20/21: 4:48am; 10.2 miles; 1:46; Avg mile 10:23; Rolling hills through some farmland.

This leg started a bit rough. Laura and I got out of the van to use the portie potty before I was up. We thought we had lots of time but we couldn’t find the portie potty. They had dropped them off in the wrong spot(wrong parking lot across the school campus). By the time we figured out where they were we had wasted at least 20 minutes. I had decided that I wanted to wear a long sleeve(I had a short sleeve on underneath my jacket). I went back to the van and Kat was already at the exchange. My watch wasn’t on. I finally started to run. I realize my shirt was on backwards. I loose my pony tail holder right off the bat. I couldn’t get my iPod on. I think I hope this run gets better! I also think it is nice and cool how could it be bad!

Well it was good but my knee started to hurt. My foot was hurting. I just kept pushing through! I passed a couple of girls which is always fun! I finished and the sun was going to come up in minute!

This happened while Erica was running:

We all survived our 2nd legs! Anne was off again just like that! But now the legs were shorter. (except Kat who had a 9 mile no-support leg). The suns out guns out!!!

Sometime in the early morning:

Leg 28: 11:51am: 4.3 miles; 44:16: average mile 10:19: rolling hills

It was HOT! I was going to stay positive. I felt pretty good but the sun was out and intense. This was a very mentally tough leg. I was fighting. It was hot. I passed 3 girls. Right before I passed each one I thought I am going to chat with them for a minute. Just as I was going for the pass each one of them started to walk. I thought dang it! I also didn’t want to walk just so I could talk to them. Even though I thought about it! 🙂

I was glad that it was a relatively short leg. I had a cold Mt. Dew waiting for me in the cooler! I also had lunch and 3 smallish cookies. Well the cookies didn’t sit well in my stomach. As the hours went by until my next leg I got more and more nervous.

I did get in a nap. Not sure how my sunglasses got that way!

Leg 35: 4:48pm; 1:01; 5.75 miles: Average mile 10:44; mostly flat; few little rollers

Pretty uneventful. I just wanted to keep running even if it was really slow!! My knee was bothering me and I think that slowed me. The temperature had definitely dropped. It felt pretty good. I was pumped that it wasn’t super hot!!

It was hard to believe we were at the finish line!!
Finish line festival:


Erica, mom-to-be, rock-star runner, finishing what we started only 34 hours before:

Ultra NOTs!! FINISHED!! BOOYAH!!

Paleta’s Betty’s popsicles!! Delicous!! Do we look tired or WHAT?

Super fun time in the desert!!