Ragnar Relay

Three years ago I ran the Wasatch Back Ragnar Relay with a bunch of my friends. And although I said in my blog post I would run it again in a heart beat, I remember thinking after it was all said and done I would never run it again. NEVER. So many of our team members were injured (poor girls, they were such troopers) so a few of us had to run extra legs to make up for our hurt team members. The half of our team in my car had no idea what we were doing, no idea what we were in for. We ate poorly, didn't get much sleep, and although I laughed a lot and had fun with my friends, I remember NEVER wanting to do this race again. Ask Mike or my sister Emily they'll tell you.

So when my extended family wanted a put together a team for this year, I was slightly hesitant. I finally came around to the idea of running the race with my family, signed up and was committed. I'm so glad I did. This year running the Wasatch Back was unforgettable and so much fun. Honestly.

Our team, THE WYNNERS, was made up of family members and friends of family members, pretty much full of fantastic runners. We had a girls car for VAN 1 and a boys car for VAN 2. In the first car was my mom, my cousin Annie, my cousin Danielle, two of Danielle's amazing friends. Lindsay who runs for SUU and Cassie who is a natural athlete, my amazing aunt Patti (Danielle's mom) who was our driver and myself. We managed to only 3 three hours of sleep in the 31 hours of our race, but man it was such an incredible experience. Our car was so supportive of one another. We were there to cheer on each of our runners as they came to the exchange. We met each of our runners every couple of miles to cheer them on, even on the second day when we were all so exhausted. No one was injured. Everyone was able to run their legs. We actually had food packed in the car to eat, instead of going to a local grocery store and buying chicken nuggets. (Seriously, what were we thinking three years ago?) It was a completely different experience than 3 years ago. I never once had the thought this time around that I was NEVER going to run this again. I honestly enjoyed every minute this year. We had perfect weather and the scenery was absolutely gorgeous.

I was runner 6 again and seriously loved each of my legs. It was nice to be slightly familiar with what I was running. I felt much better prepared this time around and ran each of my legs with more energy than I thought I would have. And nothing beat being with my mom. I was so proud of her. She did so well on each of her legs. What an inspiration.

Unfortunately we'll probably be moving or have already moved next year when the Wasatch Back is being held, but someday I plan on doing this again. Put it on your bucket list, it's a great experience.

Please friends who ran it before and may not have had the ideal experience, run it again. I had no idea it could be so great.