I woke up from my slumber and looked at my watch – it said 12am. Tossing my throw blanket aside that I was using as an impromptu sleeping bag, I sat up and stared down the dimly lit high school hallway. Amidst the sea of runners still passed out on the floor, I recognized the two sleeping bodies next to me as my High Cloud teammates Tom and Edgar. We were in the middle of Ragnar after all….
The Ragnar Relay is a running event where a 12-person team runs 200(ish) miles, day and night, relay-style, from Cumberland, MD, to National Harbor. During the relay, each team member runs three legs, each leg ranging between 3-9 miles and varying in difficulty. Only one runner goes at a time. The rest of the teammates are in support duty inside one of the team’s two vans. It’s a relay so as each runner begins, the rest of the crew in the vehicle drives ahead, cheers their runner on, and meets them at the next exchange point to pick them up while dropping off the next runner. After the first six legs, Van #2 takes over with the next six runners. After these six runners go, it’s time for Van #1 to pick up again…and so on…and so on…until 198 miles later, everyone ends up at the finish line. There were 250 teams participating in DC’s Ragnar Relay Race this year.
At the high school, the six of us in High Cloud’s Van #2 were resting up after Leg 1. We stretched and groggily made our way back to the van. It was a moving locker -- stocked with bagels, peanut butter, cookies, Powerade, water, lots of baby wipes, clean clothes, wet stinky clothes, and some slightly muddy sneakers.
Wakey, wakey, you still have two legs left….
We strategized for our next leg as we drove to catch up with Van #1 at the next major exchange. They were currently “on” and the first half of the High Cloud team was putting in miles. I was runner #7 (the first runner in our van) and our second leg was in the pitch dark of the night. Safety first – we were required to wear headlamps, tail lights, and a reflective vest. Running in the dark gave me a lot of incentive to run faster. For fear of the boogieman, I found myself chasing the blinking red tail light of another runner. We were out in the ‘burbs running through neighborhoods that were sane enough to be in bed at this crazy hour. We were the insane ones – running at 2am. The only vehicles to pass me were the other crazy team vans decorated with painted windows and inflatable cartoon characters strapped to their rooftops racing to the next exchange.
Lien, Runner #8, who was just one day beyond her 60th birthday, reviewed her next leg course and asked what a “very hard leg” referred to. She wasn’t a fan of running in the dark, but I explained that it meant it was going to be really hilly. She exclaimed back, “Oh, I love hills! Give me hills.” Later on, she smiled as she ran up a mountain with an elevation gain of 1020 ft.
Edgar, Runner #9, kept staring at me and wondered how much he was drinking when I convinced him to sign up for the race a month ago. Tonight, not only was he a good sport about running despite having a lacrosse injury, he also stood like a Christmas Tree as the women on the team decorated him with glow in the dark necklaces, bracelets, and an earring clip.
Kathleen, Runner #10, went Lady Gaga and had costume changes for each of her legs. Fans of our van were stopping to pose for pictures with her.
Jake, Runner #11, was still a little bitter. His first leg was relatively flat. While he got our longest legs in the van with a total distance of 19 miles, he really wanted HILLS! Jake got his wish when he was assigned to run Sugarloaf Mountain. I drove through the gravelly roads praying that the van would be able to climb up the mountain without ending up in a ditch. On the other hand, Jake was running the trails with little resistance grinning from ear to ear. Seriously, who are these people?!!
We met up with Van #1 again at the next major exchange. This time, Rhyne, our team captain, appeared looking like a shorter version of Rupaul with sneakers. He was wearing a fluorescent green wig and knee high school girl stockings. A clown, a devil, a cowboy, a jester, and a ballerina proceeded to pop out of Van #1.
There were no more team hugs at this hour. We were starting to smell funky after having been trapped in a van for two legs of a run and 22 hours.
Tom, Runner #12, was all smiles as he ran over to hand the team baton, a slap bracelet, to Rhyne who was also Runner #1 on the High Cloud Team.
Those of us in Van #2 wished Van #1 “Good luck and have fun!” and strategized for some real food during our break. You know it’s rough when your idea of gourmet is the International House of Pancakes…and you are actually sober.
Inside the restaurant, there was another party of six seated at the table. One of their runners was passed out with his head on the table. Over breakfast, I stared across at Jake and noticed that if his mouth was not chewing then his eyes were shut for a quick nap. We were all starting to dwindle.
Fuel up, you’ve got one more leg to go….
With one leg left, I stood in the exchange waiting for Jessica, the ballerina and Runner #6 from Van 1, to run towards me with the team slap bracelet. I sprinted through the bustling city of Bethesda with a huge pair of fairy wings on my back and a race bib on the front of my shirt. As I stopped in the crosswalk waiting for the pedestrian sign, drivers would smile and wave.
In a few minutes, I was running back into a parking lot full of white cargo vans and heard my teammates cheering my name. I took the bracelet off and slapped it on Lien’s tiny wrist. After high-fiving the rest of my team, we jumped back into the van to go to the next exchange so that Edgar could have his last turn as well. At this point, my body was begging for Starbucks.
We dropped off Tom for the last leg and sprinted the van to the finish line to meet up with the rest of our team at the National Harbor. All of the exhaustion left our bodies as we were now on elated to almost be done. We greeted each other with smiles and momentarily forgave each other for how bad we each smelled, giving congratulatory hugs once again.
At last, Tom was spotted running down the boardwalk. As a team we picked up our banner and ran towards the big orange Ragnar archways together. The announcer yelled across the microphone, “And now crossing the finish line is Team High Cloud!”
The Ragnar Relay...not just an opportunity to race...it's a moment to convince 11 other friends to take a break from the mundane and laugh through some insanity.
198 miles + 30 hours + 12 runners + 2 vans = ONE CRAZY TIME
