Ragnar "Wasatch Back" 2103

24 Jun 2013              Ragnar “Wasatch Back” 2013

            This will be the first ever blog entry written from my Clark Jungle Hammock.  We left Park City today at about 10:00 am and headed to Ely, Nevada.  Our camp is past Ely by about 75 miles, next to the Illipah Reservoir.  More on the campsite later, I want to tell you about the Ragnar Race.

            Racing through the night is tough stuff.  Even though you are not racing the entire time, running and then sitting in a vehicle for the next several hours and not sleeping at all takes a toll on your body.  Each racer completes 3 legs of the race and then has to “rest” until their next turn arises.  During that time you are preparing another runner, cleaning, eating, trying to sleep, cheering, using the bathroom, navigating the road, joking with friends, all while being cramped inside a GMC Suburban.  It is tough.  Then, you have to run again.  There is no recovery, only more mayhem as listed earlier. 

            Our truck was VAN 2 of the “Vegas Zombie Flowers” team.  We were decked out with matching shirts and our vehicles had wonderful murals on the outside representing our Zombie Flowers.  Katherine and I did not participate in the van decorating, but when we saw the artistic talent of our team mates we knew we had not been missed!  I mounted one of our Thule roof boxes on the top on the Suburban for some extra room.  It mostly carried sleeping gear, which we knew would probably not be used, but we began with a positive attitude.  The rear was chock full of 3 coolers and lots of eats provided by our team mate Able.  Tony drove most of the time, except for when he was running.  He and Mary Kay, his wife, got us to every exchange on time and efficiently.  It was like clockwork. 

            I can’t really speak for the others, but I have to tell you about my 3 legs in the race.  The first one was only 4 miles on pretty much flat terrain along a lake. The views were beautiful and the pace was fast.  I went out trying to save a little for the next two, but that didn’t happen.  I finished, giving the bracelet to Able, barely able to breathe.  The temperature was about 90 degrees, and it took me a while to get back to normal.  The second leg was quite strange feeling.  I had to start at 4 am.  Ok, cool.  That is when I start running at home during the work week.  Hey, but I usually get 8+ hours of sleep before.  This was messed up!  After a little confusion finding Josh at the exchange (we were both there, but couldn’t find each other) my 7.2 mile run was along some railroad grade next to the highway, pretty flat and on dirt.  I had to run with a headlamp to see and every time that I looked up, a passing truck would blind me with its headlights.  Then I couldn’t see the trail.  I just never looked up from then on.  It was the coldest part of the night with temps in the upper 30’s.  I had on tights and a long sleeved shirt with gloves.  Then came the freezing cold sweat.  I just kept looking at my watch to be sure I was not going faster that 8:20min/mile.  That would keep me fine until the last leg.  Then I saw Able for the hand off of the bracelet at the exchange and all was good.  I got into the truck with the heat blasting since Josh needed to warm up. He ran before me and the chill was setting in.  I was hot as Hell and I just sat with my shirt off.  Then came my chills.  The human body is quite comical how it handles work, temperature, and comfort!  My last leg was insane to say the least.  It gained 2k vertical feet over 3.8 miles.  For a runner, this is not good.  I wanted to run the whole thing, but some of the switch backs were so steep, power walking with a giant stride was much faster.  Stomp, stomp, stomp, there I went.  Josh was before me with just as difficult a leg.  The two of us were responsible for gaining the altitude to the ridge of Park City.  I finished at 9,000 feet above sea level, handed off to Able, wiped down, got in the truck, and was done.  It wasn’t the distance of a marathon, or like finishing and Ironman, but in a way it was worse.  The sleep deprivation is what kills you, and riding in a cramped vehicle is just icing on that cake.  Your friends and team is what keeps you going.  Somewhere in the middle of the night everyone starts cursing the decision to enter this race, and to be honest, both Katherine and I swore during the Las Vegas and Wasatch races that we would never do another one.  Then for some insane reason, you start planning which one you want to do next less than 24 hours later.

            The drive today from Park City to Ely was totally spectacular.  We drove around the west side of Utah Lake on the way out of Salt Lake City, and then west towards Great Basin National Park.  Passing by the park reminded us of all the great memories of our trip there with Katherine’s brother Charles, and our friend Richard.  We did a few nights up there with them and really enjoyed the place.  West of Great Basin was all new ground for me.  I wanted to take highway 50 out of Ely, also called “The Loneliest Highway.”  Most people take I-80 across the Nevada, and this is a slightly southern route which has NO ONE!  Too bad it is cloudy out tonight, I thought the star gazing would be surreal, but we get what we get. 

            Ragnar was an experience, and to do it in such beautiful country was a delight.  I would do another race like this again for sure.  Now, it’s off to Lake Tahoe.  Let’s see what this highway is like and what the next few days will bring us.  Our legs are sore, and it will be nice to take it easy for a while.