Ragnar - Wasatch Back

Van #1 minus Karlie, who went home sick during the middle of the night

Team Purple Stuff at the Finish Line!  Top - Kevin, Kyle, Scott, Brandon, Tyson & Chris, Bottom - me, Rachel, Jennica, Cami & Kacie

Boys from Van #2 - Tyson, Kyle & Brandon (Beetle as he was called in High School) - these boys are some of Brandon's closest friends ... aren't they ... darling?!

Our team, "Purple Stuff", finished the Ragnar Relay, June 17-18 - and we feel great about it since we accomplished our goal, which was to finish!  Our team time was right around 32 hours and everyone did awesome!

The Ragnar Relay is a 192 mile race from Logan to Park City.  It's basically running up and down mountains, and the route was just gorgeous!  You come up with a 12 person team, divide into 2 vans and constantly have a runner running and pass off the baton (slap bracelet) to each other.  The race spans across two days and you get very little sleep.  We slept in a high school on cheer mats for about 3 1/2 hrs total.  The weather was perfect (other than the night feeling chilly to me), and since our team consisted of family/friends, we had a great time together!

Van #1:  Chris & Kacie Hale, Scott & Rachel Murray, me and Karlie Christiansen (Kacie's sister)
Van #2:  Brandon, Kyle & Kevin Flanagan (family friends), Tyson Camp (Kacie's brother) and Cami & Jennica Redd (family friends of the Camp's)

Looking back on it now, we had a TON of fun and I would probably do it again!  If you would have asked me during the race, I wasn't so sure if I wanted to do it again ... it was a TOUGH course and it's interesting to break up your run into three different legs.  It also creates an interesting pressure that is different than other races, since your whole team is counting on you.  I counted this as my half marathon for this year, so this is my 6th half marathon - I'm more than half way done with my lifetime goal of 10.  Go me!  :)

My total mileage was 14.5 miles.  The first leg was brutal, but I was mentally prepared and it was probably my best leg - it was 7.5 miles uphill (elevation gain of 1200 feet) and was on a rocky/gravel road.  My only disappointment was that I couldn't look around at the beautiful surroundings since I didn't want to twist my ankle.  I didn't walk until the last mile and then walked for just a few minutes, and even then my walk was probably faster than my run.  :)

Brandon's total milage was 18.5 miles and he hardly trained - no surprise!  And of course he still ran much faster than me and did it with style.  "Style" meaning that he ran it in a track singlet (one piece spandex), which somehow managed to be baggy on my skinny husband.  He also did kartwheels up hills, painted his face, and wore other crazy outfits ... if only his co-workers could have seen him. And technically Brandon claimed first place for our team, since he was the anchor runner, and sprinted ahead of everyone to cross the finish line first.  You're supposed to cross the finish line as a team, so we looked pretty ridiculous all chasing and trying to catch up to Brandon. 

We all had some good laughs!  And how amazing is it that all of Brandon's siblings and spouses were able to run it all at the same time!  Thank you, Mom for watching my kiddos!  And thanks to the Hale's for all the support!

p.s.  This race was on my 28th birthday.  Not my best decision ever, but it was very memorable.