Wasatch Back Ragnar 09 Relay Race Begins

Wasatch Back Ragnar Relay June 2009 #2

The day of the Wasatch Back Relay race and I was awake by 3:39 am. I drank several ounces of MonaVie Active before running up the hill to the Timpanogas Transit Center and caught the first bus of the day at 4:37. I was dropped off at 106th South in Sandy and waited for Annie to pick me up. I was a little worried about being forgotten so I called her to make sure she was up and aware I was there. We were named The MonaVie Runners with the team number 415.

When we arrived at the MonaVie parking lot, I was surprised to see it empty. The van we were supposed to have reserved wasn't available. The rental agency let us down and we were in a lurch. Annie made some calls and soon showed up driving a really nice truck she borrowed from her father in law. I was impressed that this truck could seat six of us and have room to stash our stuff in the back. 

We drove to Logan and arrived at the Ragnar staging area. There were pavillions set up and people everywhere talking and preparing to start the race. It was a beautiful sunny day and the atmosphere was charged. I was fascinated by some of the colorful costumes teams were dressed up together. One team in particular went all out dressed in American Indian tribal dress.

Steve checked in with the race officials and showed we had brought the required reflective vests, LED lights and flashlights. We examined the contents of our team packet and we began to orient ourselves to the race. We pulled out our running numbers, van numbers and a wristband (the wristband is used as the baton). Since Rena was to start the race, Steve demonstrated how to use the wrist band baton used during an  exchange point.

Everyone was anxious to start and see how Rena did on her leg of the race.While we waited, we talked and pinned our race number, 415 on to Rena. She was ready to run! We all walked over to where the race was to start and Rena took her place in the pack. 
 Rena started the race. We drove ahead a little ways and checked on Rena as she progressed. It looked like she was doing fine and was keeping a good pace. Soon we saw her running along side another runner. We were laughing and happy she had found a running buddy to push out the last part of her first leg. Of course, Rena still hasn't heard the end of this...her sisters use it for fodder to tease her! I admire Rena's friendly and outgoing personality and her ability to connect with people. Rena earned the nick name "Aphrodite" for her ability to make everyone feel loved.

While we waited at the exchange point for Rena to come in and send Karli off to start her leg, I was surprised to see some runners pushing themselves to nearly passing out. I saw a man run in to the exchange chute gasping for air like a fish out of water. He passed his team baton and proceeded to collapse while first aid checked on him to make sure he was okay. He had definitely pushed himself beyond his limits.

Rena came in and passed the baton (wrist strap) to Karli. She shot off and was off listening to her ipod tunes and skipping a good beat. We followed Karli and checked on her several times. She was either really focused or she had her tunes up pretty loud. When we got her attention, she smiled and waved us on--what a trooper!

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