Thankfully, Congress doesn't run Ragnar and the Federal government has nothing to do with our relay - we might never have even started had that been the case. However, they still managed to butt their annoying Capitol Hill issues into our race by causing course re-routings and cancellations, as well as providing us runners with some seriously good government-related van postings (I wish I had a dollar for every "Honk if you hate Congress" sign I saw along the way).
Pre-Race
We arrived in Cumberland sometime around 12:30am on Friday morning, meaning we essentially took a nap before meeting up with the DC van in the lobby at 5:30. We wanted both vans to be at the start to see Gina kick start our trek to DC, as well as to help decorate the vans and have a few laughs before splitting up for our various legs.
We went through the safety briefing and gear check without a hitch and got all of our race paraphernalia that we would need for the duration of the relay.
Our start time was 7:00, so a little before, we all wandered down to the starting line so that we could cheer Gina and the other racers on as they started their first legs.
The Course
At just under 200 miles longs, the Ragnar DC course takes you from your starting point in Cumberland, MD through the back hills and mountains and state parks of western Maryland, through the outskirts of Frederick and then down into Virginia and over the Woodrow Wilson Bridge to the finish at the National Harbor. Because of the government shutdown, one of the legs on the course was altered and another three were cancelled completely, thus shortening the course to just over 180 miles in total length.
Looking back over the course, there really weren't any easy legs. Even if it happened to be a low mileage leg, there were significant climbs with hundreds of feet in elevation gains and losses. Here is the overview of the entire course:
You can tell from the elevation chart that we start at a pretty significant height and slowly make our way down through the duration of the course. However, what it doesn't show in this version are all the little bumps and rollers that are scattered throughout. Even though there was a net elevation change of -1,175 feet, we still climbed roughly 15,500 feet in total over the course - those are some serious hills.
If you want a complete breakdown of each leg then click here. There is way too much going on for me to go through each one, so if you feel like
The Relay
We split our team up into two vans of six runners. After Gina passed off to Liz, those of us in van 2 piled back in to head back to the hotel for a quick nap, shower and to get our stuff ready to go for the day. We met up with van 1 again at exchange four and cheered Denise on during her tough climb, as well as some other runners from various other teams. That's the best part about Ragnar - it doesn't matter who you are, you'll get cheers from everyone. You could be the slowest person on the course or you could be the fastest, but either way, you'll get supported by everyone. Because they all know exactly what you are going through and what it takes.
Van 2 got the hand off from Roger around 2:00pm and we were off on our own journey for the day - a tough 40 miles total for the van, with some significant uphill climbs. Van 1 went off in search of food and a nap to get ready to take over sometime around 7:30 while we ran on - and on and on and on and up and up and up.
After we handed off we took a drive to my Uncle John's house where we were able to lay down for a few hours nap before meeting up again at 11:45pm to start running through the night. We ended up passing directly behind my uncle's house - where van 1 had gone to so that they could get some rest - no more than 200 yards away. Running through the night is a pretty interesting experience. For some reason, I always seem to have my best runs during the night legs of the course and I look forward to them every time we run.
Shannon handed off to Gina around 5:00am and we headed to one of our teammate's houses for a quick nap (again) and a shower before heading out to meet up for our third and final legs. This was the first time I have done a Ragnar where I have had the luxury of actually sleeping in a bed and having a shower during the relay. Usually we are fending for ourselves in sleeping bags or trying to curl up in the back of the van to get some shut eye at one of the exchange points, but it just so happened that this course took us close to where we knew people, so we jumped at the chance to get a few decent hours of sleep. And it definitely made a difference - even if it was only for a few hours, a bed was so worth it.
Three of the final six legs were cancelled due to the government shutdown (apparently we were supposed to be running on federal property that was technically closed during the furlough - even though roughly everyone and their mother was continuing to use the trails) so we had to double up on runners for the final legs. I opted to run all three of the final legs, including running over the Woodrow Wilson Bridge with mamadukes to bring us home to the finish.
We crossed the line sometime around 1:00pm on Saturday afternoon - roughly thirty hours after starting. Our overall time was amazing and everyone did an awesome job. It was one of the toughest courses out there and we conquered it one step at a time.
Post-Race Party
If there is one thing that Ragnar does well, it's post-race parties. Considering that 50% of all team names have something to do with beer or alcohol in general, it's no surprise that you get your fair share of drinkers at the post-race party. Combine that with the fact that you just ran a significant distance on little sleep and you've got yourself a collection of some seriously tired, hungry and thirsty people. Thankfully, the race directors know that a Ragnar without beer and food at the finish would be one that not many people signed up for.
After we crossed the finish, we had our team picture taken and got our medals and then headed over to the beer tent. Another great thing is that there are always people that don't want/don't use their free beer coupon and are more than happy to give them away to those of us looking to consume more than our fair share. Thankfully, we found a few of these good souls so we ended up with quite the assortment of booze at our table. The race directors were also awesome in providing a good variety of beers to choose from - but one fail is that there were no gluten-free options, which meant Shanpet had to go boozeless. Had we known we would have come prepared with a bottle of vino - or maybe a tequila shot?
We hung out at the National Harbor for an hour or so before wrapping up. Since we had so many locals on our team, there were only a few of us staying over in Alexandria, so we all said our good-byes and farewells in the parking lot while we sorted out the vans. There is always the inevitable, "Who's shirt/hat/shoe/sock/belt/light/charger/etc. is this?", that occurs when you spend too much time in a car so we had to figure out where everything belonged and then we hit the road to the hotel for an epic night of debauchery - and karaoke.
Wrap-Up
I debated back and forth about how much I was going to breakdown each leg and I came to the conclusion that I don't want to spend that much time going into detail about everything that happened during the relay. As you can see from the shortness of the above recap, for a race that took thirty hours, I didn't give you too much insight. However, I think that Ragnar is one of those things that you have to experience for yourself before it will actually make sense. I could use all kinds of flowery words and nimble phrases to paint you a pretty good picture, but it still wouldn't be the same.
Until you have actually sat in a van for hours at a time, cheered on your fellow runners (even if they weren't part of your team), asked strangers in vans for water because you seriously didn't know if you would make it to the next water stop or exchange point without collapsing, peed in so many porta-potties you actually lost count, and just generally displayed behavior over the course of a weekend that many would consider insane - you just won't understand.
There's something about running in the middle of the night that is both terrifying and exhilarating. There's something about getting out and cheering for random strangers as they run through your "tunnel" of glow-lights at 3:30am in the backwoods of some far-flung city or town or state. There's something to say about people that willingly choose to lead a life of little sleep, few showers and lots of miles over the course of thirty-some-odd hours. There's something about "the wet seat" in the front of the van that only people who have experienced Ragnar would understand. When you go to ridiculous lengths to make sure your van is decorated in a way that only kindergartners - and other Ragnarians - would think was cool. When you get so delirious from too much running, too little sleep and way too much junk food that you think what you're doing is actually normal and you can't understand why other people don't "get it". When you are already talking about what your next Ragnar is going to be, and you haven't even finished the one you're doing.
Until all of those things make sense, there's not really any point of me going into massive amounts of detail about this weekend. Because it won't really make sense to you. Those of you who have experienced Ragnar will just know, and those of you who haven't won't. You'll read the words and you'll get the picture, but you won't feel it. And, in the end, Ragnar is all about feeling it, whatever it is for you.
It could be the thrill of doing something you never thought you could do. It could be making it to the top of a climb that you never in your right mind thought you would reach. It could be the feeling you get when you cross the finish line with your teammates and know that you've just accomplished something bigger than yourself. It could be doing something you never though you would - or could - do. It is the feeling of relief that you're last leg is done, but the sorrow in knowing that it's over.
There are many people who run Ragnar and decide that they will never do it again. And then there are those people who run a Ragnar and are already planning their next one before the dust has even settled - or the van has even been cleaned. I fall into the latter category. I have the bug.
It's not because I'm a glutton for pain - there are far harder things I could be doing than Ragnar if that were the case - and it's not because I like running all that much. I think it's more about the sense of adventure, the fact that there are 11 other people relying on you to do your share and pull your weight and run to the best of your abilities. It's not about the competition - it's about the camaraderie. It's about being part of a team and having fun and cheering people on, even if you don't know them. It's about meeting new people and making new friends.
And if you can get past the long hours in the van and the lack of sleep and the distance and the pain - if you can get through it all and then go back home, go for a run or go to the gym or just go out somewhere and see someone else wearing the Ragnar symbol and give them a shout, then you'll finally understand.
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