Summary:
A Trail Ragnar is the runner's equivalent of a music festival except the drugs are Gu, Nuun, and coffee.
What is Ragnar? This is important to understand much of this blog post. It's a really cool concept of a race. Instead of putting it in my own words, I will quote from Ragnar's website:
"Here’s what we do: long distance, team, overnight running relays that take place in the most breathtaking places in the world. Teams come together to conquer a course over two days and one night, and push their limits, on little amounts of sleep, with friends and a community of runners by their side.
Your Ragnar experience is as competitive as you make it. Rally your team and battle the other teams in your division for the top ranking, or simply make it your goal to cross the finish line together! Ragnar is about coming together and accomplishing something we could never do alone. From an elite runner to the generally active individual, Ragnar is the perfect race for anyone.
In our Ragnar Trail Relays, teams of 8 (or 4-member ultra teams) run relay-style on three different single track loops that start and finish at Ragnar Village. Teams run day and night until each member has completed all three trail loops.
From Friday to Saturday, each teammate runs all three loops. Runner 1 runs the Green Loop (hard), then Runner 2 runs the Yellow Loop (harder), Runner 3 runs the Red Loop (really freakin' hard), Runner 4 runs the Green Loop, and so on until every runner has completed the three loops. The total mileage for each runner is close to a half marathon.
Swap vans for tents, pavement for trails and exchange points for Ragnar Village. Add bonfires, s'mores & a festival atmosphere, and Ragnar Trail Relays are a whole new brand of awesome on your running calendar."
"Here’s what we do: long distance, team, overnight running relays that take place in the most breathtaking places in the world. Teams come together to conquer a course over two days and one night, and push their limits, on little amounts of sleep, with friends and a community of runners by their side.
Your Ragnar experience is as competitive as you make it. Rally your team and battle the other teams in your division for the top ranking, or simply make it your goal to cross the finish line together! Ragnar is about coming together and accomplishing something we could never do alone. From an elite runner to the generally active individual, Ragnar is the perfect race for anyone.
In our Ragnar Trail Relays, teams of 8 (or 4-member ultra teams) run relay-style on three different single track loops that start and finish at Ragnar Village. Teams run day and night until each member has completed all three trail loops.
From Friday to Saturday, each teammate runs all three loops. Runner 1 runs the Green Loop (hard), then Runner 2 runs the Yellow Loop (harder), Runner 3 runs the Red Loop (really freakin' hard), Runner 4 runs the Green Loop, and so on until every runner has completed the three loops. The total mileage for each runner is close to a half marathon.
Swap vans for tents, pavement for trails and exchange points for Ragnar Village. Add bonfires, s'mores & a festival atmosphere, and Ragnar Trail Relays are a whole new brand of awesome on your running calendar."
The Gear:
The Story:
Thursday Travel to Ragnar
Even though the race doesn't start until Friday, they allow you to camp out Thursday night. Two cars left earlier in the afternoon, while the three of us were the late shift leaving after work around 4:45ish. We stopped for dinner at Sonny's, and those jerks had the audacity to only have one sweet potato. They have a drop-off zone open until 22:00 where you can park and unload, then someone will take the car to the designated parking area and shuttle back. We arrived just after 22:00 so we had to make some adjustments. Since the drop-off zone was already closed, we made a beer stop at a random gas station.
The event is at the Georgia International Horse Park, and there's a hotel just across the street. We unloaded there and one person waited as we tried to find the parking area. There was a row of cars parked in where we thought the lot was and just parked there. Apparently that wasn't the actual lot, but we didn't get towed and didn't have to pay the parking fee. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The event is at the Georgia International Horse Park, and there's a hotel just across the street. We unloaded there and one person waited as we tried to find the parking area. There was a row of cars parked in where we thought the lot was and just parked there. Apparently that wasn't the actual lot, but we didn't get towed and didn't have to pay the parking fee. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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| Unloading at hotel |
To add on to the mini shitshow, we had trouble finding where our team set-up camp. The smart thing would have been to find it, then carry our stuff, but no. We decided to pick up a bunch of our heavy items and then go searching. It was dark, there were a bunch of similar looking tents, and it was a large area. You can only guess how that went until someone met us at the port-a-pottys. Then we had to set-up our tents and unwind and drink beer before getting a good night's rest.
Killing Time on Friday
Rise and shine! What a pleasure it was to emerge from a wonderful hole in the tent's raincover this morning. It was a great start to the day.
I now finally get to explore the area and Ragnar Village in the daylight. It's a lot easier to navigate than when we arrived tired in the dark. Many camps were cooking up some bacon. I used my JetBoil French Press to make some coffee, which we brought with us to explore the Village area.
The event starts at 10:00, but they have new starts every hour that are organized by predicted finish times. The teams predicted to finish slower start in the early starts, and then the fasted projected team finish times start at 18:00. Our start time was set for 17:00. We had plenty of time to kill.
The REI tent is serving coffee made 3 different ways. JetBoil French Press, pour-over, and percolator. I got my coffee topped off.
Many sponsors had tables in addition to REI. We got to try samples of the new GU flavors: gingerade and Tutti Frutti. They also had these rad Energy Stroopwafel things too. Nuun kept filling up coolers with a variety of flavors. Krave had beef, pork, and turkey jerky samples.
In addition to walking around to kill time, two of us played a good round of travel Scrabble.
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| So many words with these letters |
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| Panorama of many campsites |
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| Ragnar Village navigation sign |
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| Walking around and exploring |
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| Hammock Forest |
Nuun became my drug at this festival. I kept filling up my water bottle with it all day Friday. I tried so many flavors. I think my favorites were grape and melon. I also combined some flavors when I still had some in my bottle and walked by. I had to top it off! I probably went through at least one of those coolers on my own. Drinking this all day payed off when we finally got around to running, especially in the heat.
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| NUUUUUUUUUUUUN |
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| Our team's campsite, poor flaccid palm tree... |
Final Race Prep
As our start time grew closer, it was necessary to get ready. We checked in and got our race number and belt. Bacardi 151?
Kristin created our kill chart - the amount of people we pass (minus the people who pass us) on each of our legs.
Leg 1 - Green Loop
I got to be the first runner for our team! I'm the one dressed like a cat, obviously. Since we were the second to last start, I thought there would be some quicker people. I was wrong. I was quickly way ahead of the crowd with only one other runner. I dropped him by mile 1.
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| Race Start (Transition Tent) |
The run was supposed to be approximately 4.5 miles. Once I turned off of the field area, the route became a wide rocky trail. The rocks were slightly larger than golfball sized so I could really feel the unevenness on my feet. It then got to more of a single track dirt trail where the running was easier. The Green loop meets up with the Yellow loop for the last mile or two and charges towards the finish. The heat was awful - so happy my next runs were in the dark!
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| 34 Kills (No negatives!) |
Strava matters, especially segments. No CR on the Green Loop segment, and then I was close to the Ragnar Trail Atlanta Finishing Sprint segment that I was determined to make sure I got it on my Yellow loop.
Friday Evening Between Legs 1 and 2
There is a buffet dinner included Friday evening for all runners. We received tickets from when we signed in. The main feature was BBQ! Awesome. BBQ two nights in a row. It was pretty good. The iced tea they served was surprisingly amazing.
Since it was still early in the evening, there was a lot of commotion and activities. We were able to cheer on our team's transitions. When a runner is approaching the end of their leg, there is a mat that all colors cross that will display the team's name at the top of the list on a screen in the transition area. That gives the next runner a few minutes to step into the area and get their colored wristband. As the runner crosses into the tent, the team's name will disappear from the list. Your team rocks if they are still towards the top of the list when the name disappears.
Below are two of our team members. Eric - waiting for Tracy and then Tracy checking out after her first leg.
Below are two of our team members. Eric - waiting for Tracy and then Tracy checking out after her first leg.
Since the heat in the first leg was a struggle, I considered buying a handheld water bottle. I always thought they were goofy looking but since having one, there is a time and place - no regrets! As Monica and I checked out the Nathan tent with the hydration options, they announced a new challenge which was to meet at the table at which we were standing. We were immediately asked to participate and agreed once we realized the prize was a Nathan hydration product. What are the odds! The competition was to see who could hold 2 filled Nathan water bottles for the longest with your arm outstretched to the front. The first minute was on both feet, then after we had to lift up one leg. I think there were eight participants. The top two would win a prize. I came in third :( But I was the first woman! Unfortunately that didn't merit an award. It was fun to try, and I ended up getting a handheld that matched my waist running belt pouch thingy.
They had S'Mores fixins' at the REI tent starting around 8. Since I still had 2-3 hours until my next run, I figured I'd give it a go. I debated using a chocolate Gu for the chocolate portion but just went with the regular chocolate.
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| REI table with s'mores and coffee |
I took some pictures of all the tents as it got darker out. By this time, everyone's campsites should be up. People may be trying to catch some Zzz's between legs soon. Also, everyone began to wear headlamps. I was in love. Always about the headlamps if you've been reading this blog or know me in person. And now there were 1500-2000 nerds just like me wearing headlamps. It doesn't get much better.
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| Tents |
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| Trail map and activity schedule |
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| Cool nighttime snapshot of the finishing chute towards the transition tent |
They were showing movies in the dark. They played Jurassic Park Thursday night as well as Friday night. Friday they also showed Top Gun.
I can't think of Jurassic Park without this video coming to mind. This is probably one of my favorite YouTube videos of all time:
Leg 2 - Red Loop
The scheduling around running this race is difficult juggling between running, run prep, unwinding, sleeping, eating, hydrating, etc. I swear I used the port-a-potties over 20 times while I was there. This was going to be my first run in the dark. Luckily at 23:00 hours, it was still relatively early and not totally past my bedtime. I had my headlamp but wasn't sure if it was going to be bright enough. I borrowed a teammate's flashlight to use too. I was super thankful I had it because my headlamp is good for doing general things at a slower pace, but not good for quickly navigating unfamiliar granite rock and single track trails. Also since it was getting late, I had a Clif Chocolate Cherry shot with 100mg caffeine. I was either going to love it or regret it. |
| Prepping for Leg 2 - 1st Run in the Dark |
One of the biggest challenges at Ragnar is one they don't tell you about. How do you manage your stuff, especially when its dark. So the headlamp is easy and out of the way. Put your handheld water in one hand and your flashlight in the other. Okay, hands full. Next when transitioning, you have to put on the number belt. Your hands are already full and then you have to strap it on and tighten it while starting your run? Too hard.
The Red Loop is by far the hardest of them all. The total darkness did not help either. A large portion of this run is on uneven granite surface going uphill. It's easy to misplace your footing and stagger. It was also exhausting feeling like you're jumping awkwardly up rocks. After that toughness, there was a good amount of easy single track before getting back to the granite, back to the camping area, and then around it to the transition tent. The loop came in about .3 miles short of the 5.5 that it was labeled as. There were a few moments where it was confusing where to go. At one point I thought I was on a trail then came up to a dead end. I was able to see where the actual trail was and get back on track quickly though. I was wide awake due to a combination of probably the Clif Shot caffeine, the thrill of running on trails in the dark, and the constant worry that I will go off trail and get lost. The trails are fairly well marked. The arrows are reflective and can be spotted from a distance in the dark with the beam of your headlamps/flashlights. Below are my Strava stats on this run.
Since it appears that this is a new red loop, I got to create the new Strava segment. Lo and behold, I have the (female) CR!
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| Check out dat Strava Course Record (as of 2017-04-26) |
The Dark Hours
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| Prepping to run in the dark |
Once it was past midnight, Ragnar Village started shutting down entertainment. More people were sleeping in between legs, and it was much more quiet. I tried to get a quick cat nap in, but it was difficult to sleep. I still had caffeine keeping me up, and I always worry about not waking up in time. I'm pretty sure Jim would have killed me if I was late to the start of my next leg. There were many people chatting with each other at campsites, but that noise didn't bother me. HOWEVER, around 3am when I was actually asleep, someone decided to blow up their air mattress. It was like waking up to a foghorn. Really dude, you couldn't have done that 12 hours ago?? Oh well, I relaxed a bit more before starting to wake up and get ready for the run.
One of our team members wasn't feeling well and was unable to do their last loop (Red). Kristin stepped up to say she would run it. I offered to run it with her since it would be the loop immediately after my leg so she would have company, and we could conquer it together.We would take it easy, especially since I was determined to get the Strava CR for the Finishing Sprint (which would not be available on the Red Loop). Also Kristin got lost a few times on her Red loop so we needed to get her some RED-emption. I now had to prep for back-to-back loops.
Leg 3 - Yellow Loop
The Yellow Loop was by far my favorite. It was like Cadillac at Tom Brown with a hint of Munson. It was really twisty with plenty of people to pick-off, especially when it merged up with Green. It was still dark during this run, the air was cool, and the trail wasn't too technical or hilly. I kept a comfortable just above 9 minute pace knowing I had to sprint to the finish line for the CR and then start on the ugly Red Loop immediately after. I got my CR!!
"Leg 4" - Red Loop
As I sprinted into the transition area, Kristin was there waiting for me with the banana I requested. She handed me the banana and then I took off my slap bracelet as she moved the belt over from my waist to hers. You are allowed to run with one human pacer, which is why I was able to run with her. We started out slow as I caught my breath and kept it slow for awhile. I eventually ate my banana while we were running, and then I held on to banana peel the rest of the run. We started out in complete darkness, but the sun began to rise. We were greeted with a cool breeze as it slowly became lighter. We suffered on the granite, but when we got to the trails everything got better. We also saw that the trail ran along a body of water! The things you miss when you are running in pitch black darkness. It was a beautiful run with views we did not expect.
We got to a steep hill and decided to just walk up. It then happens. I get "killed" for the first time. A very in shape fast guy was charging up the hill AND had the energy to give encouragement "You can do it - just up the hill, you got this." In my mind I thought "Oh hell no", and we just started letting out excuses. "We are picking up an extra leg for our team." "We've already done this loop." "We're doing extra!". I don't think he cared at all, but we got hilariously defensive and laughed at ourselves. At the top of the hill we resumed running again. The granite part was a lot easier when you can actually view a broader area of where you're stepping with the aid of the sunlight rather than a flashlight.
Kristin was picking up speed when we got close to the finish. I tried my best to keep up. She passed someone close to the finish mats, and since we were a team, I absolutely had to pass this guy too. I put my head down and gave all that I had to edge him out just before toeing the mats. No way were we going to have 11.5 kills, it had to be 12. We had a good time on the loop getting some more miles in and having the chance to run it in the dark and during the day.
We got to a steep hill and decided to just walk up. It then happens. I get "killed" for the first time. A very in shape fast guy was charging up the hill AND had the energy to give encouragement "You can do it - just up the hill, you got this." In my mind I thought "Oh hell no", and we just started letting out excuses. "We are picking up an extra leg for our team." "We've already done this loop." "We're doing extra!". I don't think he cared at all, but we got hilariously defensive and laughed at ourselves. At the top of the hill we resumed running again. The granite part was a lot easier when you can actually view a broader area of where you're stepping with the aid of the sunlight rather than a flashlight.
Kristin was picking up speed when we got close to the finish. I tried my best to keep up. She passed someone close to the finish mats, and since we were a team, I absolutely had to pass this guy too. I put my head down and gave all that I had to edge him out just before toeing the mats. No way were we going to have 11.5 kills, it had to be 12. We had a good time on the loop getting some more miles in and having the chance to run it in the dark and during the day.
Done! ...With My Legs
19.8 miles (within 14 hours) later, I was done with all of my loops! I finally got to put on my finisher shirt that I purchased earlier. I loved the trail map design on the back, the colors, and that it's a long-sleeve technical tee. I love my long sleeve shirts. They only had so many, so if you waited until you were done to buy it, you wouldn't get one. I'm glad I didn't delay.
I also splurged on the expensive breakfast that they offered and that I swore I wouldn't spend that much money on before the event. I really wanted hot, filling food.
Now that it was a normal time in the morning, the heat and humidity got gross again as our last few runners completed their run. It was nice to sit back and relax.
Team Finish!
Every team is allowed (and encouraged) to run across the finish line with the last person. We all prepared as Jim hit the indicator mat, and we knew he'd be coming in fast. As he passed us entering the shoot we jumped in and followed as they announced us finishing. Good job, Halley's Comets! We did it.
We took a photo in the transition tent immediately after Jim finished the very last leg in the crazy heat and humidity.
Now that we finished our race, we were able to pickup our medals! They are sporks with bottle and can openers. How cool. They also combine together with a nice message.
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| Ragnar Trail Find Your Inner Wild Together we conquered Ragnar Trail. Together we can do anything. We are Ragnarians.  |
We were also able to update our final KILL CHART. No one finished in the negative, and we had some high numbers. Good work, team. Next time maybe we will get a clicker counter and press the button every time we pass someone and be obnoxious about it. Or give out gold star and smiley face stickers to everyone we pass. As noted by a teammate, the chart wasn't ruined by morning dew but by the tears of our casualties.
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| Final Kill Chart |
Winding Down
The saddest part of a fun weekend is packing up and going home. Half of our team rode back together and continued on with a good time. It was nice coming back Saturday late afternoon having all day Sunday to unwind and get ready for the week.
I had a great experience with my first Ragnar Trail. I would definitely love to do another, and maybe run it as an Ultra with a 4-person team. The camping, the running, the teamwork, and the developing better friendships made an incredible three days.
I had a great experience with my first Ragnar Trail. I would definitely love to do another, and maybe run it as an Ultra with a 4-person team. The camping, the running, the teamwork, and the developing better friendships made an incredible three days.
Hurdles:
- Amazon. Again. I paid extra for 1-night shipping for a solar charger. My phone battery sucks. It was supposed to arrive Thursday morning before leaving. It did not arrive until Friday. Amazon gave me a refund on the 1-night shipping plus a few extra dollars for the inconvenience. Luckily the big Bluetooth speaker I brought was able to charge my phone. It was slow but kept it on the entire time.
Relevant Quote:
"Find your inner wild."
Other:
Results are not official until about a week after the race. They post preliminary ones and have a time to dispute if needed. We won first in our category, which means 1st place. We are very glad that Runaway Reaction decided to compete in the Corporate/Public Service category as they are also a mixed gender team and finished less than a minute faster. That would have been an infuriating second place.
They mail the team awards to the captain! We got belt buckles/bottle openers that are pretty rad.
