Ragnar Trail Relay Mud Race!! 6/7

Laura, Jennifer, Sharon, Callie, Natalie, Angela, Erin (Sarah and Kim not pictured)

Is there anything more fun than running in deep mud in the dark??

I had really been looking forward to this trail race. It was only the second trail relay Ragnar had hosted and the design appealed to me more than their traditional distance runs (no vans required). There was a base camp where everyone (and I mean everyone) put up their tents and then there were three loops that started and ended from that spot. Two loops were 6.2 miles and the third was 3.5 for a total just under 16 miles to run in about 24 hours. The other seven women on the team are fun energetic women who I was excited to spend time with. I imagined ourselves hanging out around the campfire, gazing at stars, and enjoying the beautiful trail runs. It was NOTHING like that but in the end there was some fun to be had. It rained and rained and rained! It was cold!! The cold was good for running but the majority of the time I was not running so then I was just cold. The rain created some thick mud everywhere and stranded us in our tents. I was the #2 runner so thankfully when I took off on my run Friday afternoon the trail was still in pretty good shape….there was some mud but it was manageable and the run was BEAUTIFUL!

Notice the lovely conditions on Friday in the lower left picture!

From there the conditions got worse. I lucked out with my night run being my short run. I was terrified when I started. I had a head lamp and I was holding a spare in my hand but it was foggy, and rainy. The mud made it really slow and I was VERY cautious which made me even slower. After surviving I was able to catch a little sleep (after I dried out and warmed up in my sleeping bag).  By the next morning ALL the teams were really behind because of the weather so they said we could start doubling up. We just took the chance and tripled up our last runs so we could be done by 12:30!! They didn’t mind and the run was so much more enjoyable with company.  I’m more of a social runner so that really helped. The rain had stopped and while it was still muddy it wasn’t ripping off your shoes:)We picked up our fancy medals, broke camp, and headed home.

So, would I do it again? I don’t think so. I really really HATED the night run. Maybe if I had a buddy to run the whole thing with me. This is also a big time commitment (two full days with driving) and a lot of down time. My long runs were really beautiful with forest floors covered in ferns and densely packed tall skinny trees.  A girl ran by me on my first run and said, “this is just like being in the Hunger Games!” I responded with, “hopefully we don’t die!” They also provided us with a spaghetti dinner on Friday night, smores, and hot chocolate!

This is right before Natalie, Erin, and I set off on our last run. You had to leave and come back from the bridge in the background!! It was nerve racking flying down it trying not to fall!