Ragnar Relay DC 2010

This was quite an epic road running weekend for me.  I participated with 11 other runner friends in the Ragnar Relay DC event.  It's a 201.5 mile road race from Cumberland, MD through rural MD, DC, VA and then back across the Potomac River to National Harbor, MD.  We began the race at 8:00am on Friday, September 24th and finished around 5:30pm on Saturday, September 25th.  Our team finished 143rd out of 226 teams in 33:28:20.

During the race the twelve of us were split into two vans of six people.  The first van started the relay at 8am on Friday morning, passing on a slap bracelet at each exchange point until they get to exchange 6 where van 2 takes over.  At that point the first van gets a few hours to rest, eat, hydrate and get ready to run again!  There are three legs per person for 36 exchanges total, so our van got to rest three times during the course of the race.  I ran a total of 16.7 miles, including a total incline of around 1,500 feet.  My first let was the most brutal.  It was a 5.6 mile climb up and down a mountain!  Needless to say, I was a bit sore for a few days.

Note the elevation chart!

I have found it challenging to put this experience into words.  I had a blast with some old friends and I also enjoyed the opportunity to make new ones, too.  Two days of running and not much sleep was pretty taxing on my body... however, I'd do it again in a heartbeat. In fact, most of us on our team "The Sofa Kings" (it's a play on words... I'll let you figure it out... see the back of our shirts below for another hint) are already planning our next event!

To get an idea of how fun/crazy/difficult this event was I will leave you with a link to another similar relay race that takes place out in Oregon.  It's a 3 minute trailer for a movie coming out next year about the Hood to Coast Relay Race.  We ran with a different company in a completely different part of the US, but the feelings of the event are the same!  Enjoy!

Me descending the "mountain" about to reach exchange 8



Exchanging our team slap bracelet at leg 8

  

The back of my t-shirt reads, "Sofa King ready for a nap"