Ragnar Relay - Del Sol

204 miles - 30 hours to finish -
5th place in our division - 19 miles run -
2 hours of sleep - 2800 calories burned

There were 6 to a van. I was in van 1, we started first. My first run was leg 1 in Prescott, it was beautiful but the air was thin. I ran it well and we were on our way. Shantay's leg had crazy hills but she ran it fast. Next was her husband Jason, he proved his worth early running all 7 minute miles throughout the race (he had the most miles of anyone.) Dara was next, she was so worried because she doesn't consider herself an avid runner - she was amazing, ran fast and passed several people. Rochelle was up next, she was a superstar! Jeff (Dara's husband) finished us off, he was fast and ran through very dusty conditions. Van 1 finished their legs by 2 p.m. and it was hard to find a place to eat because apparently there is no such thing as restaurants in the country. We stopped at a steakhouse which had all of 2 tables and a couple couches in it. A few of the members had a beer. Then we were off to find some "real" food. We saw a sign "Food : pizza, water and other treats." We inquired and someone said it was in a church about 1/4 of a mile back. So we walked past a burned down building, through a fence and found the sweet people of a town north of Wickenburg selling all sorts of stuff. The lady selling the pizza said that the numbers of runners in Ragnar outnumbered the population of the town. That's where we stayed, rested, read and peed until my 2nd leg at 8 p.m. Van 2 ran well and we were ahead of schedule. My 2nd leg was LEG 13 (hereafter referred to as THE OBSTACLE COURSE.) Before I took off the volunteer said to me, "watch out because several runners are falling because it's uneven at exchange point 13." Exchange point 13 was when I finished so at this point I was worried about what Shantay would have to face, she was running after exchange point 13. So, THE OBSTACLE COURSE was the only leg they put full out in the desert, all other legs were on the road. The instructions had said "you will be running on a "trail" and in several parts you will directed by signs to go to the highway, run 40-50 FEET then enter the "trail." It was 6.3 miles, Joey passed the bracelet and I was off. I started off fast listening and singing out loud to "Disturbia", then I saw the first sign that put me on the highway. I stayed there for over a mile, NOT 40 to 50 feet, WHERE WAS THE SIGN they promised? I could see no one in front or behind me. I was worried I was going the wrong way, my Garmin said I had gone over a mile on this road. So I turned around and ran for 1/2 a mile, I found a guy running and asked him if we were going the right way, he was unsure so we ran until we caught up to another 3 guys AND the "TRAIL." This next part was my favorite. Just me and the desert, no cars, no people, even the moon was just a sliver, I looked up at the stars and just smiled, it was beautiful, serene and wonderful. Then I almost tripped, the desert began to be uneven, there were several ditches. I kept thinking, "I don't even want to think about what Shantay's run is like if it's worse than this one." So from then on I kept my eyes down, there were cacti in the way, shrubs, and the "trail" was not clearly marked. At one point there was about 50 empty beer bottles to my left. They took me through about 4 ravines and in a few spots there was a fork without indication as to which way to go. I was passed by several guys and I didn't care, I was not going fast, just trying not get lost or hurt. At one point toward the end I almost ran into a tree and realized the whole path was blocked off, I stood about 5 seconds and some guy passed me, he went right through the bushes, so there I went too. At the finish it finally dawned on me that the volunteer had misspoken, it was LEG 13 that was hurting people not exchange 13. I came in, and my team said they had been worried because so many people had come through hurt and EVERYONE coming through said the same thing, "THAT SUCKED!" My adrenaline has never been higher than after that run, not because I was going fast but because I was desperately trying to not run into a cactus, tree, fall down a ravine or get lost. At several exchange points after we kept seeing the results of THE OBSTACLE COURSE, blooded knees, scraped arms, and frightened girls that got lost and had to yell in the desert "HELP!" But I made it through and it was my favorite leg of the race because it was so crazy, it makes for a good story. The rest of the night runs went well, everyone ran fast and we kept cheering everyone on. We were done at 2 a.m. We stopped to sleep at an elementary school (I could only sleep 2 hours). They kicked us out at 5:30 and we were on our way, driving past the route of our van 2. We ran past Joey, they were ahead of schedule, he was running well. We got to the the exchange point, I drank some Gatorade, peed and tried to stretch. I was so tired. My 3rd leg was leg 25, 8.7 miles UPHILL steady the WHOLE time. We made the exchange and for about 1 mile total I was fast, then I slowed and realized, "I'm hungry and tired, why am I doing this?" By mile 2 I was beat and almost in tears my team was pulled over and while running past I hastily tried to convince them to let me stop, I CAN'T DO THIS. 8.7 is nothing normally to me but it was taking all I had to keep going. As I ran past they gave me some Gu which helped. By mile 3.7 I knew I could finish, 5 miles is nothing. Then I found my pace, which was slow but it was uphill. Several guys passed. I didn't worry too much because I knew Jason would catch them on his turn. Each guy turned to me and spoke, some gave me a five, one mentioned how last year they took them DOWN this road and not UP, WHAT WERE THEY THINKING? At halfway point I heard, "You got this" from another guy. When there were only 3 miles left I picked up the pace a bit, 3 miles is EASY. With 2 miles left I was singing along side the road, "Push it!" When I got to the 1 mile left sign there was a volunteer, I almost hugged her! I don't think I've ever been happier finishing a run. I passed the bracelet to Shantay who was off fast. Then I drank and collapsed. It was finished! The rest of the van rocked, Dara had friends waiting along the road with a sign for her, that was fun! And she finally got to pass the bracelet to Rochelle, who before due to odd reasons we could never get the the exchange point in time. We finished by 1 p.m. and van 2 was off. Joey came in at 4:30 p.m. and we got to run behind him and get our medals. It was a great experience and was much harder than I had anticipated, but worth it all the way!