Just before my 3rd run wearing my very own official Ragnar "Runner" shirt
This is an example of what a relay exchange looked like. Runners standing around waiting to take off on their run. Spectators, teammates waiting to cheer their runner in... orange tape and orange cones to designate the exchange area. Cars driving by on their way to the next exchange or following their runners Exchanges could be just as fun as the time in the vehicles there was always an air of excitement, people bragging about their "kills" (the number of runners they had passed on their runs), looking for teams that our van was keeping pace with to see if we'd gained any time on them. Looking at all the crazy decorating on the vehicles! Ours was pretty tame compared to some- sorry no pictures. 
What an amazing experience! You honestly don't really understand what it is like until you experience it. Our team ran the 188 miles in 28 hours 43 minutes. I personally ran 3 hours of that and 13 of the miles... on 3 hours of sleep. I ran 3 legs each between 4 and 5 miles. The first leg was in the heat through the gorgeous farmland of Eden (seriously that was what the town is called). My next leg was between 1:30am and 2:30am up Hogback Summit from East Canyon State Park. It was a fabulous run with clear starry skies and a cool breeze, quiet and almost peaceful except for the cars driving by and the fact that the uphill seemed to stretch on forever! My last leg was 4.6 miles and was completed in the driving rain with lots of friendly runners with a smile and a wave of encouragement as they passed me by.
This is Creighton on his first run at dusk (all runners have to wear the reflector vest and blinking red light on their back and a headlamp between 8pm and 7am). 
This was the same run he did last year -only I got to be there to see him come in :)
This was the same run he did last year -only I got to be there to see him come in :)Everyone had to run up some form of a mountain, summit etc. Some had long runs 7 to 9.6 miles for instance, or short 3.6 miles (straight up a mountain)
This is our friend Doug Phillips who ran the 3.6 mile precurser to the actual "Ragnar" leg. It is hard to tell from the picture but his entire leg was a steep 7.6% grade. It was very physically challeging even for a good runner like Doug! Aaron ran the "Ragnar" leg and did it with 10min miles, and 24 kills! Incredible!
This is our friend Doug Phillips who ran the 3.6 mile precurser to the actual "Ragnar" leg. It is hard to tell from the picture but his entire leg was a steep 7.6% grade. It was very physically challeging even for a good runner like Doug! Aaron ran the "Ragnar" leg and did it with 10min miles, and 24 kills! Incredible!The elements conspired to give us the ultimate experience and extremes-- it was perfect! Just before Craig began his/our team's final leg he was saying to himself... please let the rain stop,please please please. So the rain stopped, the sun came out; however, the minute we all crossed the finish line together it began to pour again. So we hurried and got our picture taken and ran to our cars. I don't have a finish line picture yet except the official one which I assume will post in a couple of days. 
This is an example of what a relay exchange looked like. Runners standing around waiting to take off on their run. Spectators, teammates waiting to cheer their runner in... orange tape and orange cones to designate the exchange area. Cars driving by on their way to the next exchange or following their runners Exchanges could be just as fun as the time in the vehicles there was always an air of excitement, people bragging about their "kills" (the number of runners they had passed on their runs), looking for teams that our van was keeping pace with to see if we'd gained any time on them. Looking at all the crazy decorating on the vehicles! Ours was pretty tame compared to some- sorry no pictures.This is Natanya Nielsen, my neighbor and wife of our team captain Aaron, she was our secret weapon! She did sports massage for everyone in both vans for the entire 24 hours. She was also the only other female in the van with me so I was so glad she was along. She got even less sleep than the rest of us.
This is Doug and Aaron chatting about Doug's 9 miler. Time in the vans was spent talking about the highlights of the just finished run, joking about kills, laughing at the funny slogans and decorating on the other vehicles and cheering any and all runners on as we passed, sleeping (although never very well), snacking and listening to the sage advise of more experienced runners ahem... Aaron.
This is Ryan he was the youngest member of our team at 14. He did great!
This gorgeous view was from the car on the leg for which the Ragnar is famous... it is a view of the valley of Midway from the dirt road that goes over the mountain and drops down into Deer Valley. Notice how green everything is this year thanks to all the rain!
Well here's to all the insane people who took part in this amazing race! I now know why it is so addicting, why everyone can't wait to do it again! It is, as I said, an experience to be experienced!
It was verrrry cold, so I wore my sweatshirt the entire time I ran. I really thought I'd be taking it off so I had my number pinned to my shirt. Oh well, next time I'll know- before April 1 you will be wearing the sweatshirt the entire time!
My 90 day goal was part of a great program Craig and I have participated in the last 90 days called Outlook. As part of the program I had 2 buddies who I talked to daily and those great ladies were there to cheer me on the day of the race. Love ya Jules and Sally you rock! Doug who is one of the facilitators is in the back left corner and he and my running mentor Ashli Roberts actually ran the race with me. About a week before my race I got my first official runner's injury and so I ran my race with a knee brace. But even with the brace on I still improved my time by 4 minutes!
Of course Craig and the kids were there to cheer me on. I love that my little girls race around the house now until they are breathing hard saying they are 'exercising'. And Emmalee's favorite game on the Wii fit is the running- she runs around the couch and kitchen breathing hard- it is so cute. Guess its rubbed off a bit on them also! Mom and Dad were in town for my race and made it just in time to see me cross the finish line. Dad was behind the camera and somehow I didn't get a single picture with them in it. Thanks for the support and love mom and dad!
