Weekend 11 - Run Like Hill

We are on our way home from Las Vegas. Tauni is taking her turn at the wheel. Our team, “Run Like Hill,” successfully completed the Ragnar in 33 hours. I am having a hard time wrapping my mind around that number. My first Hood to Coast team finished in just over 25 hours and I thought that was slow. With this team, however, time was irrelevant. For several of us, just doing it was accomplishment enough.

We spent the night before the race on a houseboat at Callville Bay on Lake Meade. My brother Tracy’s daughters - Renee, Sarah, and Kelsey - were all relay rookies and jumbles of nerves. On the way to the houseboat they drove the first part of the course where they would run, which only served to raise their apprehensions to the point of tears. They, with Sarah’s husband Ryan, their brother Chad, and sister-in-law Michelle, comprised Van 1.

The pre-race tension was broken somewhat by brother Geoff’s recorded team cheer:

What are we gonna do? Run.

What are we gonna do? Run.

Are we ready? Shiii...

Are we ready? Shiii...

Are the Hills in the house? Woof, woof, woof.

Are the Hills in the house? Woof, woof, woof.

That cracked us all up.

The Van 1 group departed early, with Tracy and his wife Joeen, our photojournalist. Progress reports trickled in as they finished their legs. Their fears had melted to something seriously approaching euphoria. As they neared Exchange 6 I checked in frequently with Renee for their ETA. Her last text to me before the exchange, “So excited to see you guys in a few minutes ... this is sooo much fun!”

This was also a first time for my niece Brittany, who, together with her husband Ryan, Tauni, son Brandt, future son-in-law Blake and me, made up our group. Unlike Tracy’s daughters, however, Brittany seemed positively serene. After a long day of waiting we finally met Van 1 at the Callville Marina, Exchange 6. Ryan handed off to Ryan and we were on our way. While we waited to send Tauni off at Exchange 7, Amy Donaldson’s van parked behind ours. Amy, who writes for the Deseret News and is running and writing a chronicle of the complete Ragnar cycle in her blog, cheerfully announced that her team would finish last, as is their custom. She told me one of her teammates had lost 180 pounds since he started running. He corrected her, slightly, agreeing that he had lost 180 pounds but gained 20 back. After Amy’s van pulled out, the Domestic Divas, Kristin Barrus’ team, pulled in (Kristin being my 90 day coach). I introduced myself to her team mates, who had heard about me from Kristin. I didn’t see Kristin as she ran into the exchange, but saw her soon after, her face flushed with effort, clearly having reached the elusive level 10 (max effort).

I brought four pairs of running shoes with me, which I freely admit is excessive. Anxious about my knee, I wanted to find the pair that would work best and planned to try out three of the four pairs during the race. After walking and jogging in all of them, I finally settled on Nike Lunar Glides for my first leg. I also brought support tights and two knee braces, which seems only slightly less excessive. As it turned out, I ran in the Lunar Glides all three legs but started with a CloPat strap and switched to tights and an Ace brace to support my knee for my second and third legs.

My legs got progressively harder - leg one 3.1 miles and partly uphill, leg two 4.6 miles and uphill into the wind, and leg three 5.6 miles uphill. Following Kristin’s coaching, before running I visualized myself crashing through barriers and getting stronger each leg. In the event, it went exactly as I imagined. During my first leg I quickly found myself in slight oxygen debt but became somewhat more comfortable the further I ran. As I crested the final hill I could see the exchange maybe 1/4 mile away and lengthened my stride, ran in at a decent pace. I began my second leg at about 2 AM, a cold wind blowing. I took the the Wil Colom birthday collection of songs to accompany me, figuring that it would take about 15 songs to get me through the leg. I lost count of the number songs, but recall listening to the end of love song collection, the gospel and patriotic sections, and the beginning of the civil rights selections. Back in the van I twice played through Diane Ross performing “We Shall Overcome” with the Budapest Philharmonic. Leg three passed through a beautiful red rock canyon, finishing at Spring Mountain Ranch, where tame burros roamed the parking lot. The gospel songs carried me through the final miles of the leg. After handing off to Brittany I hugged Tauni and then had to fight back tears, a race first for me. I have never felt such a sense of achievement upon completion of a race; I really believed I would never be able to run like this again.

This race experience delineated itself sharply between the three sets of legs. The first 12 legs run through the Lake Meade National Recreation Area. The scenery is dramatic, starkly beautiful. Leg 12 finishes at Lake Las Vegas Resort, a luxurious high-end resort built in the optimistic days before the Great Recession, green lawns and palms in sharp contrast to the jagged brown hills surrounding the resort. Exchange 12 has been my favorite exchange at every relay I’ve been involved in, and this was no exception. Runners are seemingly all high from having completed their first legs, fatigue and sleeplessness having yet to take their toll. The Lake Las Vegas oasis provides fantastic swimming pools, hot tubs, cabanas and food. Some runners relaxed by the pools and cabanas while others enthusiastically cheered on teammates at the exchange. Our group ate pasta together after sending off Kelsey at the exchange. Tauni’s brother Mike had offered to let us stay at his condo at the resort. Little did we know how massive the resort would be, and we elected to head to Exchange 18 rather than try to waste time trying to find it.

We were among the first to arrive at Exchange 18 in Henderson, a large park and concert venue. There most of us rolled out tarps and sleeping bags on the grass and tried to sleep. Knowing better than think I could sleep, I wandered around, jogged yet again in my Skylons and Newtons enough to conclude I best stick with the Lunar Glides, and finally pulled out my Kindle and read for a while. We sent Ryan off around midnight. By this time the wind was blowing and it was getting cold, enough so to complicate the decision about what to wear when running, long sleeves or not. We followed Ryan for the first part of his run, who reported a course marking issue that we promptly reported to race central. Tauni was cold and anxious before her run. I held her at Exchange 19, trying to calm her and keep her warm. Always nervous to run in the dark late at night, she asked that we keep close and provide a lot of support. After a couple miles she threw off her long-sleeved shirt and waved us on. Our fatigue grew and moods darkened as we approached leg 24, Brandt's leg. Brandt lightened things up a bit as he took off in his skeleton costume; I thought to myself there is a reason he works at Disney. Anxieties rose as Brandt’s leg veered onto a rocky trail. Tauni insisted we watch him carefully. Fortunately the trail ran in close parallel to the highway. We stopped several stops where I was able to give him water. I saw one runner lose it, f-bombs flying. That was definitely the low point. In the dark of night, I thought the course needs to be routed off the trail, but I eventually got some perspective, realizing that the changing conditions must be taken in stride and viewed as part of the overall race experience.

Brandt finally handed off around 6 AM at Exchange 24, which is located near an old school. I gathered that the school was of some historic significance and son Dan explained later that the exchange itself had some interesting features. By that time, however, we were all so tired that we couldn’t appreciate it and wanted to get to Exchange 30 and rest as quickly as possible. At that point I seriously questioned my resolve to run the Ragnar Tennessee. While I was thinking, Tauni, a madwoman in a hurry, grabbed the wheel of the van and asked me for directions. I searched the Ragmag for off van driving instructions but couldn’t find them. I then plugged GPS coordinates into my Tom Tom, selected yes to the option that warned of dirt roads on the route. As the sun rose we found ourselves on an empty and deeply rutted road that seemed to have been built to connect scattered mobile homes and dirt farms. As Tauni voiced her exasperation that the Ragmag lacked off van directions, Ryan sweetly pointed it that it did, which demonstrated my inability to read with comprehension during a Ragnar. After driving 15 miles or so we finally reconnected with the race course and followed it to Exchange 30. There my vision of a tranquil grass resting place was shattered, the exchange being located on rocky patch of dirt, the apparent remains of a landfill, various household articles including shoes and small appliances strewn here and there. Volunteers there served pancakes in an effort to raise money to save the old school at Exchange 24. I tried some and they weighed heavily on my stomach but was pleased to hear one of the volunteers say they had served over 1000 order of pancakes with a lot of runners still to come through. The line at the portable toilets was long, several panicked runners having to cut in the front in order to do their business in time to meet their teammates at the exchange.

After what seemed like a very long time, the Van 1 group arrived. They were all in high spirits, particularly Sarah. She joyously announced, “This is the happiest day of my life!”

I replied, “Happier than your wedding day?”

“Oh yes,” she said, “I already told Ryan.” I assume he understood.

Back on the course, everything became hilarious. Leg 31 is a killer, 10.1 miles with an 1100 foot climb the first 6.5 miles. Per the Ragmag the leg is unsupported, which the women in my van, given the leg’s difficulty, considered downright cruel. They insisted that I pull off to give water to Ryan. When I resisted, citing race rules, their response was that it would take three violations for us to be thrown out. I told them I was far less concerned about that than jeopardizing next year’s race permit, which they thought was ridiculous. As I pulled off the road, I announced, “This is freaking scary!” They all thought that was uproariously funny. Near the top of the hill we met Ryan again. Mari asked if he wanted her to finish his leg, to which he answered, “Heck, yes!!” Mari prepared to run and we pulled off one last time just over the crest of the hill. When he arrived Brittany questioned his manhood, telling him he didn’t appear to be injured, at which point he flipped her off and kept running. Mari eventually did get her chance to run, accompanying Blake on his last leg. I was anxious before my last leg, changed outfits and shoes a couple times, and to my surprise felt very strong throughout the leg. Everyone on every team seemed giddy at Exchange 36. We sent Brandt off, stopped once to give him water, and then drove to the finish to meet the rest of our team.

At the finish Joeen handed out Run Like Hill t-shirts. Renee, unfortunately, had to leave to catch a plane before we all arrived. Her absence from the team picture created a mini-crisis, which was resolved when her brother Geoff agreed to stand in for her with the understanding that her face would be Photoshopped onto his body for the official team shot. Tanner Bell announced our arrival at the finish line, and I saw Dan as soon as I crossed. It made me very happy that they were both there when I finished my first Ragnar, the founders together for that moment.

I learned long ago that with relays the journey is the reward, but this time I experienced an unexpected feeling of satisfaction, even joy, after the race. After checking in at the hotel we got on an elevator with another group of runners. One of them, a veteran maybe a few years younger than me, rhetorically asked, “Does anyone actually enjoy these while running them?” Looking back, the answer is yes, but for the middle stretch of this race the answer would definitely have been no. In the wee dark hours of the morning I was ready to again call it a running career, and was trying to devise the right way to break it to Tanner that I would definitely not be running Tennessee. Before the evening ended, maybe even before the race ended, I was mentally making plans for Chattanooga. In the end, all of it was worth it. This was an unforgettable experience and will be part of family lore for a very long time.