Race morning arrived and we all got moving. The game plan was to have everyone at the van, ready to go, by 9am. Carrie was kind enough to offer up her home (and her daughters' beds - thanks girls!) to both Emily and I so everyone was local and didn't have to worry about anything in the morning.
The ladies all began assembling and we knew it was going to be a great day (and a half). Skyler, Elise's hubby, and his brother Dave also arrived. Dave was going to be our driver and Skyler was the co-pilot/ navigator/ documenter.
Before I move on, I've GOTTA give these guys props! Even though it may seem like running is the most difficult part of Ragnar, the driver and navigator are of UTMOST importance! They have to be on their game 100% of the time (whereas we only need to be focused when it is our turn to run). Their roll can literally make or break us (I mean, we are out there to have a good time, but we also want to WIN!). And these guys lived up to every expectation and more! THEY ROCKED IT!
We attached our capes, added some temporary tattoos and made sure to get a few pictures before jumping in the van and making our way to Huntington Beach to get this party "officially" started.
The capes (and shwings) totally help us FLY!
Temporary tattoos and wet sponges... A MUST for pre-Ragnar shenanigans!
The team!
HAHAHA! Carlee did NOT get the memo... I jumped WAY TOO EARLY!
There we go... A successful jumping picture with EVERYONE in the air!
Once we made it to Huntington Beach we had to check in, watch a CORNY safety video and, OF COURSE, take more pictures! This was actually when we found out that Emily, who was starting us off as Runner 1, would be able to push Emma, Allison's daughter who has Rett Syndrome, for the first leg. And that's when the tears first started to roll!
The van! Ain't she purrrrty?!
We all look thrilled and thoroughly entertained, right?!
The starting line! Getting ready to go!
The first leg is only about 2 miles and is pretty flat (running along the beach for the majority of it), so we were STOKED that the folks at Ragnar allowed Emily to push Emma for it. It was actually Emma's first time getting to run during Ragnar... I don't know if the folks at Ragnar will ever truly know how much that meant to us!
Although I wish I could have stayed and chatted about Emily's run (even though she has a 20 month old, she is a treadmill runner so it was one of very few stroller runs she has ever done), it was time to run! I was Runner 2 and 8 for the team and had to get my booty in gear.
Love that the Ragnar photographer caught me heading
out and Emily and Emma in the background!
My first leg was approximately 4.5 miles and I would be running on behalf of Brandy, Layla, Alexus, Madison and Kyria.
We wear pins with pictures of the kiddos that we are running
on behalf of
If you don't follow @SparkleAthletic on Instagram or if you missed the video they posted, here are the 190 precious girls (and boys) were dedicated our 190 miles to:
A video posted by Sparkle Athletic (@sparkleathletic) on
I was pretty nervous, but I am normally nervous before ANY race (whether it's a color run or a marathon). I knew once my legs started moving I would settle down a bit. That first run was very energetic and, thankfully, full of shade! The total distance ended up being about 4.65 miles and I finished it with an average pace of 7:47/mile.
Running on sand and loose gravel is NOT my jam, but I'm happy to report I didn't
fall or twist my ankle! SCORE ONE FOR THE GOOD GUYS!
Handing off the "baton" to Allison so she could go KILL it!
I had told the team my estimated pace would be about 8:00/mile so I was happy
to see that I was a little under that (especially since I knew my runs would probably
only get slower from that point)
After I finished we jumped in the van to go find some lunch. Subway it was. I got a sandwich with extra spinach, extra pickles, some red onions, avocado and light mayo. Seeing as we are an ultra team, we don't have a ton of down time in-between our runs so I knew I should scarf down my sammy to give my stomach as much time as possible to digesting it.
Before my next leg we had to get through the rest of the runners, Allison, Carrie, Kristen and Elise. This first round of runs was great, but warm since we were running during the hottest part of the day. Thankfully at the first major exchange (which is where Van 1 and Van 2 converge every 6 legs) we were able to meet up with a great crew, have a little dance party, eat some snacks and reenergize for the next step of runs.
At this point, I bet some of you are nodding off, so I better stop here... I thought I'd make it through my first three legs in this post, HA, guess there's just too much to share! Thanks for making it this far (if you're still with me) and remember to pop back tomorrow for the next installment! {PS Not every post will be this long, especially the night legs when photos are near impossible to grab. Hopefully you won't need to refill your cup of coffee to make it through the remaining posts...}
I absolutely have loved seeing all the pictures on Insta and now here on your blog! I have run little 5ks for different people back home, and it is so inspirational to do something for them! Can't wait to hear about the rest of your race!
2 comments:
I have done race for the cure before.
Can't wait to read more. This wasn't too long. :-)
I absolutely have loved seeing all the pictures on Insta and now here on your blog! I have run little 5ks for different people back home, and it is so inspirational to do something for them! Can't wait to hear about the rest of your race!
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