Adirondack Ragnar Relay

Its official. We’re Ragnarians!

Team B.A.D. started off in Saratoga Springs at 8:00 Friday morning! Melissa, our team captain, started out the 192.7 mile relay with her first leg in Saratoga.

Yes, it was raining…for the whole day on Friday.  Anyway, our van (van 1) was first to go, meaning we had the earlier start. We each ran our legs until We got to the the first major exchange to let van 2 take the lead.

Look who was working at the exchange in Saratoga! Alicia! She was awesome for coming out in the rain as one of our Team’s volunteers.

My leg was the 5th leg and I ran from the SPAC parking lot to the Saratoga Race Track (in the pouring rain!) We were required to wear reflective vests at all times because the weather was so bad. My leg was 3.2 miles, which I ran in about 30 minutes (9:36 pace).

Despite the weather, and the fact that every piece of gear we owned got wet, we still managed to make the best of it. We had some hours to kill until we had to meet up at the next big exchange, which was at Million Dollar Beach in Lake George.

There were indoor showers, indoor bathrooms and concessions at this exchange, which was a plus!

We hung out until it was time for Melissa to start her second leg.

Shortly after we met her at the next exchange. It was going to be getting dark soon! Each runner had about 7 hours in between runs so it was nice to get to rest the legs for a bit.

(If you can’t tell–that’s a runner coming in, getting ready to swap slap bracelets –Ragnar’s version of the baton)

My next run was starting around 9PM, which was a straight shot up Route 9N from Bolton to Hague–right along Lake George. It was SO dark I couldn’t see the lake, but I bet it would have been a nice view! It was still drizzling, but it wasn’t cold, thank goodness! I had my headlamp, tail light and a mini flashlight. Chris actually paced with me during my run, and its a good thing he did. I ended up rolling an ankle .6 miles into my run! It HURT. Another van, which happened to be filled with nurses and EMTs stopped for us and taped up my ankle. (Thanks ladies!) I debated on walking the rest of the leg, but it was dark and getting later and later, so I made the decision to keep running. It wasn’t comfortable but in wasn’t in horrible pain either. I finished the remaining 5 miles, slowly. I did, however, make the decision to NOT run my final leg of 8 miles. I figured it would be best to stay off it because I have a little over a month until my marathon and didn’t want to risk injuring it further.

Now our van wasn’t scheduled to run again until 4AM. We pulled into one of the major exchanges and tried to get some sleep. Obviously, it wasn’t happening in a cramped van. I managed to get a few minutes of sleep, so I felt okay.

At around 7:30am, Chris and our other teammate Kyle split up my third leg because at that point, 8 miles was going to be ALOT for both of them to run at once since they had both ran their legs plus extra legs (Chris ran with me on my second leg, Kyle ran with Kristin on her second leg). I’m so thankful they could take over. They gave that leg everything they had! You guys rock.

(a portion of what was supposed to be my 3rd leg)

After our van’s leg it was about 8:45 am. Our van was DONE!! We exchanged with van 2 at Ausable School and went inside with our sleeping bags to try to get some sleep. They also had breakfast of pancakes and eggs!

Unfortunately, it was some of the worst food ever. The pancakes were spongy and the eggs were rubbery, but it was better than nothing. 🙂

A few of us went into the gym and managed to get 2 hours of sleep, which was nice.

Finally, it was time to drive up the the finish line at Lake Placid! Van 2 was supposed to be coming in around 2:00! We met them at the finish line and crossed together. It was awesome. We were DONE! I can’t believe we ran almost 200 miles, in the RAIN.

Time for beer! Lake Placid Brewery’s UBU Ale!

Ah, Ragnar. It was an experience I’m so glad I got to partake in. Sure, it would have been more awesome if the weather had cooperated. It was tough, it was wet, at times cold, cramped and we were all very tired, but we got through it! WE CAN SAY WE DID IT. Melissa did a great job as our team captain, too! People might wonder, why the heck would anyone want to run the dark, rain, and through the night on little sleep? Because we’re runners, and we’re crazy. 😉 We love running.