A few years ago, after doing an olympic and 1/2 iron man as a relay and the Mountain to Sound relay, I decided I kind of like doing relays in general. I also wondered if I could essentially do two half marathons in one day and count that as a “marathon”… So I started searching for some kind of running relay that might fit the bill. I found this website for the Ragnar Relay and was intrigued. Start in Blaine, WA end up 187 miles later in Langley, WA, done with 12 people in 2 vans, each person doing a leg of 3-8 miles over 24 or so hours.

The problem was: I had no idea how to organize a team and I was too chicken, slow and injured to try just signing up for a team that I had no connection with through the website. Then came the email: Andrea, a friend of a friend has a team and they need 1-2 people, does anyone want to help?

I had been working on rehabbing my hip from an injury 2 years ago and bursitis and had only just gotten back up to 4 miles maximum, but somehow this seemed like an ok goal. Particularly since their team name was “Spongebob Slowpants” – my kind of people. So arrangements were made, I was on the team and training began.

Logistics were handled by email. I was assigned legs 11, 23 and 35 of lengths 6.8, 4.8 and 3.7 miles respectively (although the website said the second leg said 6.3 miles). The first leg was noted to be a “hard” section, second “very hard” and third “moderate.” I figured I could run the first one,run walk the second and at least walk the third. I got a great packing list from Andrea and some extra info from  Roxanne. We coordinated who would buy/bring what for the Van 2 for the day of the relay. I had no idea how much *stuff* we were going to need. I read the very overwhelming “race bible” to try to get a feeling for what I was getting into.

I was trying to stay calm on the day of the race. My hip was achey. The traffic was bad getting on the highway, and I got a little turned around getting to Microsoft (where I was meeting the van), so I was a little late. Fortunately I was able to find the big white van easily enough and Andrea made me feel very welcome.

We loaded the van, found our spots (they even let me sit up front so I didn’t get car sick!) and we left only 15 minutes later than originally planned and head north to Bellingham to exchange 6 where we plan to meet Van 1. I immediately started to take pictures.

First bit of humor: The TomTom GPS has a Homer Simpson voice. We arrive in Bellingham at exchange 6 and park the car (which eventually won for best decoration) and I immediately notice the various decorations on all the vans and the team names. The team names were really funny – you can see them in the results. Some were really good like this one:

The rest are in the gallery starting on page 4.

Andrea checked us in, had to show we had 6 safety vests, 6 blinky lights for our butts, and 2 headlamps, then we had to attend a safety briefing and pick up two orange safety flags. After a trip to the women’s room a bunch of us started following a blonde haired woman thinking it was Rox, but it was some Random Blonde Chick – hence Rox’s new nick name for the trip.

We waited for Van 1 to show up with our packet that included our bib numbers, etc. We bought some food from the folks who were doing a sale as a fundraiser and ate it, Andrea kindly gave me an extra cucumber when one of mine fell on the ground. This was a very fortunate things as she could taste the other cucumber she had left on her later run…

Once they arrived, I was introduced to the rest of the team. The “clipboard” of times for each leg was handed off to us in Van 2, and we all went over to the exchange point to wait for Debby.

As we pass him we open the window and scream “Nice Butt!” Seems silly from the van but feels really good when you’re butt is being objectified. Eventually we stop a mile or so down the road to give him some encouragement and water – he’s been running along side of the sound, on this beautiful boardwalk. Unfortunately this was just the “calm” before the hill. Even as we were driving up the narrow, switch backed road, we knew this was *not* going to be a fun leg. (Seriously, click the link and check the hill profile).

Roxanne took over at this point and ran 3.4 miles down the road to exchange 8. I think her leg was considered “moderate” because it was “only” 3.4 miles, there’s still a hill in there. I think it was this set of exchanges where as we started to drive off, someone in the van looked up and says “Where’s Rox?!” like we were missing a runner. Oh yeah, she’s on the course.

Andrea took over for Leg 9 and 6.1 miles. (If you click on the link for the image below you’ll see Rox hitting Andrea with the slap bracelet.) Here’s where I learned what a “road kill” is: Andrea passed another runner! It apparently doesn’t matter if the other runner passes you back.

This was getting to be close to the time where we had to wear safety vests and blinky lights on our backs. It wasn’t quite time to wear the headlamps, but this section of road for Andrea was very shady and we stopped a bit down the road to give her a headlamp. By Betsy’s leg (10), all the full safety night gear was required. We went to exchange 10, and I prepped myself for my 6.8 mile run for leg 11 – a “hard” leg (“that’s what she said”) with 289 feet of elevation gain, mostly from mile 1.5 – 2.5. I figured I could walk….

The run was BEAUTIFUL – not too warm, not too cold. I got to see the sunset as I was running westbound. It was getting darker and darker and I just kept putting miles under my feet. Unfortunately I was road killed 10 times, but everyone was SO polite. My team mates passed me by and told me I had a “Nice butt” – which really does feel good. They stopped a couple of times to cheer me on, once before I turned onto Bow Hill Road, and once on the hill, which is especially helpful. There’s this feeling like “I can’t walk now, they’re WATCHING!” so I chug up the hill further. It was great incentive. But as Andrea said – leave some out on the course because I had two more legs to do that day. There was some guy who had said a the bottom of the hill that the hill was over just when I passed I-5. Never believe anyone on the side of the road that tells you “it’s just a little further!” He was off by a few blocks. I did wind up walking about 2 blocks of the hill, but that was it. I was pretty proud of my accomplishment, particularly given my concerns over my lack of training and injury. The downhill was sweet.  Eventually I crossed route 11 in Bow WA, the route I had been on twice for the Ride from Seattle To Vancouver and Party (RSVP) and I thought “In three weeks my friends will be on this cross road” and smiled.

It continued to get darker and darker and I found myself very happy to have the headlamp and even be the occasional road kill (nice to know others were on the road). Total time for the 6.8 miles was 1:08 – basically a 10 minute mile even with that hill although the Garmin stats say a 10:10 minute mile.

I finished my run with a resounding slap of the bracelet onto Tristin’s wrist, stretched a bit and took my rightful place on the sweat seat (the seat closest to the door with the towel. I was totally “race dumb” and couldn’t find anything and was trying to find something to eat. I had 1/2 a bar and we started to talk about finding food at the next exchange. Chicken Teriyaki was sounding REALLY good.

By this point we each had glowing necklaces on our necks too. We stopped a few miles down the road (after the requisite “nice butt!” call out) to make sure Tristin was doing ok, particularly since it was getting really dark. The smell hit us as soon as we opened the doors to the van. “We need more Cow-Dung!” and “Cow-dung take me away!” were two quick witticisms that emerges. We saw a female runner and the team tried to give her support, thinking it was Tristin. It wasn’t. “Do I know you?” was all we heard as she ran past. When Tristin we arrived she thought we all looked like zombies with the glowing necklaces. We all were amazed at her ability to somehow run through this smell. Tristin completed leg 12 at the exchange, Van 1 took over and I drove the behemoth van to LaConner to see if we could find food, showers and some sleep.

There was a LOT going on when we got to Exchange 18 – a lot of people coming and going, and it was hard to find parking. This was as opposed to what we had been seeing so far, which was mild crowds. It was loud and noisy, but we found the showers. Unfortunately since it was around midnight when we arrived, nothing was open in LaConner (no Chicken Teriyaki!) and there was little food at the exchange (some fruit and hot chocolate). I wound up eating some “Frankenfood” (a Powerbar), and Tristin shared her pita chips and hummus which REALLY hit the spot. I also showered and changed which felt really good too.

Andrea and Rox curled up in the front seat, Shawn the smart one curled up ont he floor with his sleeping bag over him. Betsy, Tristin and I each got a bench. I now know I would have slept better had I gotten out my sleeping bag. I checked my email, which I probably shouldn’t have done. It was noisy outside. I think I got about 1 hour total sleep.

3am came wayyyyyyy too soon. We woke up and the exchange was almost empty. It was eerie, spooky. Apparently there were only 4 or 5 teams on the road behind us.

Shawn got ready and the folks in charge asked us to please follow him really closely for Leg 19 because the road through the Swinomish Indian reservation was very narrow. This was contrary to the instructions we received in the safety briefing that we weren’t supposed to just tail our runners, we could support them and then move 1/4 of a mile down the road. Shawn chugged along with all of our encouragement. We saw another car behind us for a while moving slowly, then it suddenly disappeared.

While we were on the road stalking Shawn we saw a road sign for a cross street. “Pull and Be Damned Road.” I tried to take a picture but my camera’s flash didn’t work.

At exchange 19, after Rox started her amazing sunrise run on Leg 20 we started to realize that our times were not looking good for actually finishing the whole race. Teams have to be to certain exchanges by certain times or they shut them down. We needed to be at exchange 24 by 8:30 AM and our runners/times were just not looking like we were going to make that in time. We decided instead of Andrea running Leg 21 and Betsy running Leg 22, they would tandem Leg 21 (2.7 miles, easy) and I’d run leg 22 (4.2 miles, moderate) instead of Leg 23 (4.8 miles, Very hard – although the website says otherwise).

We stopped briefly to offer some support for Rox and took this great picture around sunrise:

We did the transfer at exchange 20, Andrea and Betsy were off and we had Rox again in the sweat seat. I prepped myself for my leg and we waited at exchange 21. Andrea and Betsy took longer than we expected to get there, and we wondered what had happened. It turns out both were injured in just 2.7 miles! Betsy fell and took a nice chunk out of her knee and Andrea pulled a muscle. We also found out that we were now the last runners on the road – all the other teams behind us had dropped out.

I was standing there ready to head out when I had an idea: I looked at the hill profile for leg 22, and although easier than Leg 23, I was still worried that I wasn’t going to be able to run it fast enough that then Tristin could make it through the 5.4 miles of leg 24. I had a sudden brainstorm – what if Tristin and I tandemed leg 24? This had a couple of bonuses: I would get to run over Deception Pass, which just seemed cool. Tristin liked that idea because when they modified the route and took 1.5 miles off leg 23 (which was good for me), they added it to leg 24. This way I could actually run the whole leg, do the hand off at exchange 24 to Van 1, and Tristin could do her original 3.9 or so miles to just across Deception pass and get picked up. It was a plan.

The route started with an uphill, which wan’t so much fun, then a nice downhill. Unfortunately my left knee started to bug me with the huge downhill. I wound up walking a bit. The road was very narrow in places and they had cones up to keep traffic in their lanes. It was a bit nerve wracking. The team drove passed, screamed nice butt, stopped a couple of times for me – all so encouraging. I managed to do the whole thing in around 58 or so minutes, according to the Garmin, but I forgot to stop it right when I made it to the exchange. I did stop to take a couple of pictures on the route including these over Deception Pass.

After they collected me and I started getting some calories in me (Accelerade was very tasty, I needed it!), we drove back to get Tristin on Deception pass:

Our next goals were to a) find food somewhere in Oak Harbor and b) figure out what of the last 6 legs we could do, c) get to exchange 30 and d) get more sleep, if at all possible.

We found a place to eat in Oak Harbor but my brain for the life of me can’t remember the name.  I was SO hungry for real, hot food but my stomach was also rebelling a bit too. I ordered oatmeal and 2 scrambled eggs, and had some toast, but couldn’t finish it. I was *so* tired I could barely stay awake through breakfast.

After breakfast we went over to Exchange 30, which was again bustling with people when we first arrived. With the injuries and a time pressure (I really needed to be home by about 9pm so I could get ready for a 7am flight the next morning), we decided to skip legs 31-34, have Rox run leg 35 and Shawn run Leg 36.  I contemplated running my original leg (35) in Tandem with Rox, but I just felt like with my knee bugging me and it getting much hotter, I’d be too slow (I knew I’d have to walk some) and the Van would have to come back and get me. In the end I just took a shower. Then I found a latte and, unexpectedly, bumped into a woman named Joanna that I knew from grad school.

While we were at the exchange we heard one of the funniest things ever from an adjacent van: “If by boogie, you mean walk, then I’ll be doing a *lot* of boogie-ing on my next leg”… We were cracking up at this one.  This became a whole theme of “If by <X> you mean <some lesser expectation of X>, then I’ll be doing a *lot* of <X>.”

Once Debby showed up at exchange 30 and tagged off to Shawn, he ran down the road a ways. We were off in the van and picked him up a mile or so down the road (’cause he runs fast). We skipped legs 31-34 as the day got hotter and hotter, and finished up with Rox running Leg 35 and Shawn running leg 36. The first mile of leg 35 was uphill so we stopped to give her support and spray her with water. The day was getting hotter and hotter. Shawn, “I trained a whole two weeks for this?”,  ran a really strong anchor leg, and we gave him a lot of water support on all the uphill portions.

We all got to run with him into the finish and get our medals.

Most people enjoyed the shirt I was wearing – from Spamalot – it said “Not Dead Yet”.

The most awesome part? That the medal doubles as a bottle opener.

We ended the afternoon with a few of us “Shark story virgins” listening to Bob’s INCREDIBLE shark story, and finding food in Langley at a restaurant with the world slowest service. I wound up sleeping a bit on the way home.  Somehow I got home by around 9pm, exhausted with only 2 hours of sleep total. Was it worth it? Hell yes. And yes, I’d do it again, although I don’t think I’m quite ready to organize one yet…

Roxanne came up with the following Van Awards:

1. The stud man award goes to none other than Shawn (two words – hills – miles)
2. The purple heart award goes to Betsy (injured in a run and still maintained a good attitude)
3. The newbie award goes to Lauren given by default, but you were a strong member (that’s what she said)
4. The survivalist award goes to Tristin (not many people could have lived to tell the tale after that cow pasture leg)
5. The all-around showman ship award goes to Andrea for organizing, driving, and keeping everyone and everything in check and having fun.
6. Most pee breaks award goes to Roxanne (kind of goes without saying…)

It has been a long time since I posted anything here (and probably 2 1/2 marathons on my part, Mercer Island and Seattle’s 1/2 in 2008). This Mercer Island I sat out, but cheered on two of our running group to a weary finish I’ve posted photos of Stephen and Susie in the gallery.

A bunch of us are training for the Seattle 1/2 marathon again. Some of us are thinking of doing the “Other Seattle 1/2″ – paying for the Seattle 1/2 marathon, jumping on around where you enter at the I-90 express lanes, running the flat part of the course and geting off.

So far training has been going well. We’re not meeting as a group for weekday runs, but we are getting together on Saturday mornings. So far we’ve run (or some have walked part of these…)

• Burke GIlman trail starting at University Zoka north, approx 4-5 miles, coffee at Zoka after
• Burke GIlman trail starting at Gasworks park north, approx 5-6 miles, coffee at Essential Baking Company after
• Alki north and then east starting from Starbucks/Alki Bakery, approx 5-7 miles, coffee at Alki Bakery after
• Greenlake/Ravenna/70th Ave NE route  – starting at the north end of Greenlake for 5-6, coffee at Chocolati after
• Roanoake/Burke Gilman/Lake WA Bike Route/Madison/Lake WA Blvd/Interlaken, for 6.3 miles, coffee at Cafe Dharwin after
• Mercer Island loop, starting at the Mercer Island Park and ride, 7 miles and coffee at Tully’s after
• Alki beach south to Lincoln park for 8-9 miles, coffee at Alki Bakery after

Next week is going to be Leshi south to Seward park for 8-9 miles, coffee at Starbucks after.

Notice a pattern?

It’s been a while since I’ve written – but fear not, the Kitties have been active.

Susie made her goal of doing 4 1/2 marathons in one year: Phoenix, Seafair, Super Jock ‘n Jill, and the Seattle 1/2!  Kristen also did Seafair and the Seattle 1/2. I don’t recall who else did other 1/2 marathons…

Sharon, Jennifer and Brandy completed the Barb’s race 1/2 ironman! Amazing.

Lauren did 150 miles on the first day of the Seattle to Portland (STP) bike ride. Elizabeth completed her first STP – and amazingly enough completed close to 130 miles on the first day.

Joan completed the Portland Marathon and Sylvia completed the NY Marathon. Yes, I said MARATHON.

Megan had cute little Madeline

But the greatest thing in my mind was coming back together to support Girls on the Run by doing the Diva Dash for the 3rd year in a row. Here are some photos from that REALLY cold morning. At least it didn’t snow until AFTER the race

Thanks once again to Susan (for hosting the post race comestibles) and to Richard, Michael and Paul for preparing said food.

Carlos is now an honorary Kitty – as he received a shirt when we arrived… Here are the photos from the Rock and Roll 1/2 marathon… In attendance: Lauren, Ruben, Susie, Sandra and her friend Linda (from BC), Vickie, Megan, Carlos and Sharon.

Upshot: There were a LOT of people. 37,000 I think was the final count. Not counting spectators. The expo was just ok, it was kind of light on the swag and the shirts they give out, while colorful, aren’t performance shirts.

The run is well supported – drinks every 2 miles on the 2 separate routes. The route is really flat… although the garmins say about 1200 feet of elevation gain and 11000 ft of loss (net +100). The end is a madhouse – wayyy to many people.

So what’s next? I’ve heard noises about Whidbey, Vancouver, Seafair… triathlons… the Seattle To Portland bike ride. I think for now most of us will coast – 5 miles during the week, 1.5 hours on the weekend. And just having fun.

I’ve set up sending posts to this blog by email. Send me an email if you’d like to know how.

Some of the Phoenix bound group has already arrived, others are leaving today. The low on Sunday is supposed to be close to 35, the high should be around 55, which will be more like what we’re used to running in… More will be posted from the road…

From Sharon, for the Holidays

Susie, Jennifer and I were scheduled to run on Saturday morning. I received an email from Jennifer about 1am on Saturday and a voice mail from Susie on Friday around 10pm that they weren’t able to run. I received both of these messages on Saturday morning around 6:30am and was tempted to just crawl back into bed. But I figured since I was awake and it wasn’t raining outside, that I’d run. I decided to start the run from Seward Park; there weren’t a lot of runners when I started out, but I did see a few rowers and cyclists. I hit the 62:30 mark just past Madrona Park and on the run back more runners and walkers were out. I ran about 10-1/2 miles. Overall, it was a beautiful crisp morning. As much as I prefer running with you gals, it’s always good to do a long run by yourself once in awhile. I’m going to need to muster up my own self motivation in preparation for the 1/2 Ironman. So this was definitely a good “test.”

Twas the night before the run, when all through the house,
Not a runner was stirring, not even a mouse.
Their clothes were hung by their bed with care,
In hopes that OTHER RUNNERS soon would be there;
The runners were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of Sports Beans danced in their heads;
And hubby in his pajamas, and I with my running hat,
Had just decided to go for a long winter’s run.

Wishing everyone Happy Holidays, Joy in 2007, and Happy Training!

12 minute miles
11 water bottles
10 miles jogging
9 percent grade
8 teen hundred feet (elevation gain)
7 th mile was walking
6 people working
5 miles an hour
4 neighborhoods of Seattle.
3 zones of heart rates
2 hours running
and a resulting really sore a**.

Well not really.

Here’s the cue sheet we put together.

Or you can check the map at gmap-pedometer.com.

Saturday, December 9. 24th Annual Christmas Rush Fun Run 5K & 10K*. Kent

Saturday, December 9, Street scramble at the market (2 hr option only, only open to 230 participants) – http://www.streetscramble.com/

Sunday, December 10. 22nd Annual Jingle Bell Run 5K*. Westlake Center, Seattle.

Sunday December 17, 2006 12Ks of Christmas, Kirkland WA.
Sunday December 17, 2006 Christmas Classic marathon, half marathon, 10miles, 10K, 5K and 1 mile. Olympia, WA

Saturday December 23, 2006 Santa dash marathon, half marathon, 10miles, 10K, 5K and 1 mile. Olympia, WA.

January 1, Road Runner Sports Resolution Run, Flat 5K run/walk with optional trip-n-drip polar bear dive into Lake Washington at the mile 3 mark. Finish line indoors with beer garden, food, and fun. (I think it’s at Magnusson Park)

(for those of you not doing Phoenix).
Saturday, January 13. Bridle Trails Winter Running Festival - 5 & 10 Miles & 50K. Bridle Trails State Park, Kirkland.